Chicago-Area Homeowner Subdues Alleged Robber With Souvenir Bowling Pin

A suburban Chicago homeowner was able to stop the man apparently robbing his home last week with an unusual item: a novelty bowling pin.

Joshua J. Ziebarth, aged 19, has been charged with one count of home invasion and two of residential burglary.

“A man and woman and child were in the home when he came in, and the homeowner and suspect engaged in a physical altercation,” Romeoville Police Commander John Ferdinardo told the Herald-News April 13.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the male homeowner went downstairs to investigate a sound he heard, saw a knife in the intruder’s hand and hit him over the head with a souvenir bowling pin. The wound is apparent and Ziebarth’s head still shows traces of blood in his publicly released mug shot, but police say he was treated at Bolingbrook Hospital for only minor injuries after the incident.

The family was “shaken up,” according to police officials, but suffered no physical injuries.

The police were called to the Romeoville residence, in the 100 block of Yarrow Court, around 4:30 a.m. Sunday to find that the male homeowner had been able to restrain Ziebarth until officers arrived on the scene. Ziebarth allegedly had a watch he had already stolen from the home in his pocket.

It appears that Ziebarth does not know the family or have any personal connection to them; he lives approximately a mile away, also in Romeoville. Police say he entered the home through an unlocked door in an attached garage.

Ziebarth is now being held on a $1 million bond in the Will County Jail, according to the Tribune, and is due again in court next week.