SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KOVR) -- A California woman is safe after waking up and finding a stranger sleeping on her couch.
Police said the woman grabbed a machete, called the authorities and dared the suspect to move on Monday.
"That's when I unsheathed the machete and I said, 'No, you need to get back. You need to sit down right here and wait for the cops to get here,'" Teryl Parnell, an IT specialist for Sacramento County, said. "I'm not afraid and I know exactly how to use it."
Parnell recently woke up from a deep sleep and found an alleged burglar sleeping on her couch with his feet propped up.
Parnell said like a typical mother she ran over and slapped his feet off her couch. She said that while the burglar was still dazed, she quickly found where he allegedly broke in.
"So, this is the last room that I checked and then I realized then 'Oh my God, this guy kicked a big old hole in my window'"
Also, she found that her Chinese food had been eaten -- and that her valuables were on the floor ready to go.
Trying to keep him from getting away, she offered him some coffee, but brought back a machete instead.
"You need to sit right here and you need to sit and wait for the cops because you're going to jail," she said she told him.
When Parnell said it looked like the man was considering making a run for it, she told him to forget about it.
"I was like, 'No son, no son, you're staying righter there and don't try to get up because I've been nice to you at this point.'"
Deputies showed up and put the cuffs on 25-year-old Christopher Weaver.
Parnell even took a photo with her cell phone.
"You're in my house, you're invading my space. This is what God has blessed me with, I'm going to stand in here and fight," Parnell said.
The suspect was released on bail but was reportedly picked up by police again for driving a stolen car.
