Homeowner Catches, Detains Burglar At Gunpoint: Sheriff

HAPPY VALLEY, OR — A homeowner in Happy Valley captured and detained a burglar who was caught red-handed stealing items from the homeowner's property, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. Also arrested was the alleged burglar's so-called lookout, who was found sleeping in the getaway car one block away.

Oregon City resident Edward Carleton Cerf, 20, and Milwaukie resident Gabriella Maureen Solis, 19, were taken to Clackamas County Jail and charged with burglary. Cerf is also being held on a parole violation.

Dawn DesVoigne and her boyfriend Troy Eaton were pulling up to Dawn's home in the 8900-block of Southeast 139th Avenue in Happy Valley on Oct. 18 when they spotted someone coming from the backyard. The man, later identified as Cerf, was wearing a gray-colored jumpsuit emblazoned with the name "Shawn" and was carrying a backpack full of what looked like Dawn's property.

"We got out of the car and asked him, 'What are you doing?'" Dawn told Patch on Tuesday.

Appearing belligerent and somewhat cocky, Cerf responded by asking Dawn and Troy what they were doing, she said. "Then he tried telling us his girlfriend had the deed to the house and that he was allowed to be there."

At that, Dawn turned around and reached into Troy's car for his handgun, which she aimed straight at Cerf while commanding him to get on his knees with his hands up. Cerf immediately complied.

Passing the gun to Troy, Dawn called 911 around 2:15 p.m. as Cerf pleaded with the couple to let him go, even offering Dawn money to release him, she said.

Within five minutes deputies were speeding into her neighborhood and pulling into her driveway, Dawn said, adding, "It was quite the spectacle."

After a house fire roughly one year ago, Dawn moved from her home but left many of her belongings while she worked out a way to move everything. Electronics, personal items, paintings, clocks, and antiques were left inside after the fire, Dawn said.

About 10 days ago, Dawn and Troy went to the house to find it completely opened up, the interior ransacked and numerous items missing, including some deeply personal and irreplaceable valuables.

The couple replaced the locks on the home, filed a report, and moved on. But just two days after the first burglary they returned to find Dawn's home had once again been broken into. This time, however, the burglars brought booze and even boarded the front door shut from the inside.

"It looked like they were there for awhile," Dawn said. "When we got there, we actually thought they were still inside."

They weren't, but the experienced unnerved her, she said.

After the second burglary, Dawn and Troy invested in a security system with cameras and alarms. The couple was planning to install more cameras at the house when they caught Cerf coming from the backyard, she said.

After arresting Cerf, deputies located Solis about one block away; she was reportedly sleeping in the getaway car. Dawn said she didn't even know about Solis until deputies told her Cerf's accomplice was found nearby napping in a stolen car.

Dawn had never held a gun on anyone before and she said she hopes to never have to do it again — though she will, if she must.

"I hope this sends a message (to other would-be burglars)," Dawn said. "We're tired of getting victimized up here."

According to court documents obtained by Patch, Cerf was released from the Oregon Department of Corrections in April 2018 after serving a 16-month sentence stemming from a previous burglary conviction in January 2017.

Originally sentenced to 30 days in jail and required to enter into a drug treatment program, Cerf walked away from a local Betty Ford Clinic in February after participating for just one week, court records show.

Rearrested and back in court by March 9, 2017, Cerf was again ordered to participate in a drug treatment program. On March 14, after reporting to the Treatment Center, Cerf asked to step outside to have a cigarette and walked away from custody again.

On March 22, 2017, Cerf was captured in Gladstone after an officer there spotted him littering. While questioning Cerf the officer also discovered a bag of cannabis and an empty syringe that Cerf said may have previously held either cocaine or meth.

On March 29, 2017, a Clackamas County judge revoked Cerf's probation and treatment program option and sentenced him to 16 months in jail.

As for Solis, this appears to be her first criminal offense.

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This story has been updated to include details provided by Dawn DesVoigne.

Images via Clackamas County Sheriff's Office