An 11-year-old boy from Mebane, NC. has been called courageous and brave after using a machete to defend himself from a would-be video game thief. The suspect was left with a head wound and had to seek treatment at a hospital in the area.

Local North Carolina news says that an 11-year-old boy was at home by himself when a suspect, Jataveon Dashawn Hall, 19, broke into the home through the window. The boy said that Hall grabbed a pellet gun from the home, before pointing it at the boy and telling him to get into the closet. The boy went and sat in the closet, though he knew that the gun wasn't loaded.

When the suspect went into the living room to grab the boy's phone so that he wouldn't call the police, the boy took his chance to defend himself. He explained that he pulled the machete off the wall and, using the self-defense skills he'd learned with his dad when the home was burgled years before, he was able to hit the suspect in the back of the head.

The suspect then kicked the boy in the stomach and in the head before trying to make off with a TV and a video game. However, Hall dropped these when he found that he was bleeding and fled the scene with two alleged accomplices. The suspect went to a hospital in nearby Hillsborough to get treatment for the head injury but after the injury got worse, he was transferred to a hospital in Chapel Hill.

Hall left the hospital against medical advice but police arrested him at his mother's house after getting a tip and he has since been charged with breaking and entering, second-degree kidnapping, interfering with emergency communications, and assault on a child under 12. The suspect is now being held at Orange County Detention Centre.

The 11-year-old isn't the only youngster to have made headlines for a burglary attempt like this. Two months ago, a group of children in Ohio were held at gunpoint while a group of masked men ransacked the house looking for items to steal, before taking off with several games consoles.

Last month, a man in Florida got five years in prison for stealing a Nintendo Switch from a child. No one was harmed or threatened in that case and police were able to arrest the man quite quickly, but it will still have been quite distressing for those involved.

Video games and consoles are always a hot target for thieves because they are so valuable. For example, a serial video game console thief has been robbing homes in South Carolina.

Source: ABC News