LIBERTY HILL, Texas – A homeowner’s camera in Liberty Hill recorded a suspect attempting to break in with a machete.

In the video, taken on August 21 at around 5 p.m., a man with a machete and a dog can be seen approaching the house near Bear Creek. He appears to be passing out.

Then homeowner Darryl Stevens and a contractor were looking at the backyard and noticed the man.

“At that moment, of course, I freaked out. I have two small children here in the house and I just went into complete fight-or-flight mode,” Stevens said.

The man stands up, climbs the stairs and pulls on the door.

“I ran through the house. I locked all the doors as fast as I could and ran up the stairs. Luckily I had a firearm with me. I grabbed my 9mm, unlocked it and ran downstairs as fast as I could,” Stevens said.

The suspect climbed over the fence and reached the upper deck, where Stevens confronted him.

“I told him he had to go or he would lose his life, you know? Luckily, he dropped the machete after I did that,” he said.

The video then shows the intruder climbing back down and walking away with a gun pointed at him.

Stevens’ wife, meanwhile, called 911 and officers arrested Jerry Escamilla, 43, of Bertram. He is charged with trespassing and identity theft and is being held on $10,000 bail.

MORE CRIME REPORTING

“I just had to protect my family and that’s what I did. Luckily, I didn’t have to fire my gun,” Stevens said. “It’s just not something you expect to see in Liberty Hill out in the country or way out in the country, way back in this new, nice neighborhood… we moved here, we moved further out of the city to feel safe.”

In Texas, a homeowner has the right to use deadly force in self-defense under the “Stand Your Ground” law.

“If someone is trying to unlawfully enter and uses force, you have the right to use deadly force to protect your home, your car and your place of work in those situations,” said Lt. Russell Travis of the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. “You don’t have to back down. You have the right to defend yourself.”

Stevens says he and his family are devastated and are increasing security around their home.

“We feel violated as a family, we feel like our sense of security in our safe place, our home, has been taken away. I almost get a little emotional when I say that. It’s not fair,” he said. “We’re definitely increasing security. We’re getting a couple more guns, one upstairs and one downstairs. We’re going to install more fencing and more security. Floodlights. I’m going to turn this place into Fort Knox at this point.”“