Spring man confronts armed robber in his own home

SPRING, Texas (FOX 26) - A man in Spring comes home hours after he's been alerted that his house has been broken into, only to find that the robber is still there.

The home that the robber broke into is currently for sale, resulting in a stream of people walking through to view the house and, of course, the belongings in it. But whatever valuables the robber was looking for -- items in the house were moved around -- it seems he needed to wait until the man who lived there came home.

In the home security cameras, the robber can be heard saying “I'm in, I'm in, I'm in, yes [unintelligible] hey, he's got cameras in here.”

The robber was armed, and based on the time stamps, he seemed to be waiting for someone to come home.

The man who lives at the house, Philip List, had received a phone alert saying someone had disconnected his home security cameras on Monday, December 5. Home security cameras captured the robber, crawling in the bedroom, to shut one of those cameras off. However, List was busy at work and did not check his phone until three hours after the alert came.

“There’s no way that I would have thought that someone, after three hours, would still be inside my house,” said List.

List came home, called the cops, then ventured inside, with mace in his hand. When he entered from the garage, List said the robber was square in front of him.

“I went at him. He shot. I realized he had a gun, then I maced him,” said List. “He missed but I got him.”

The robber fired at List twice, but missed, hitting the walls. One bullet went clear through, shattering the bathroom mirror, hitting a second wall.

“I think that's what saved my life because if I'd have just stood there or turned around…I think he was maybe waiting to force me to go somewhere -- an ATM or somewhere. Three hours -- I just don’t get it,” said List.

The robber ended up running out the back door after List maced him. List said the home is for sale so there has been a number of strangers walking through for showings. He says he doesn't recognize the robber but that he is glad he acted in the heat of the moment.

“I surprised the guy in the house. I wasn't expecting to see him, and I just had to do what I had to do to survive,” said List.

Again, the suspect did escape. If you know anything about this robbery or if you recognize this man, give the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office a call.