LUCERNE — A Nice man was arrested early Sunday morning for attempted robbery and attempted burglary after being shot by his 77-year-old female victim.
On Sunday at approximately 1:50 a.m., Lake County Sheriff”s Office (LCSO) deputies and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers responded to a residence on 14th Avenue in Lucerne on a report of an attempted home invasion with shots fired.
As deputies responded to the area, further reports from the victim and other callers indicated that a man had been confronted by a neighbor after finding him in the victim”s yard and that the victim fired several shots at the suspect.
Within minutes of arriving at the scene, deputies located a man limping away from the area of the victim”s house on 14th Avenue.
Deputies detained the man and identified him as Marc Harry Halvorsen, 27, of Nice.
Halvorsen was under the influence of alcohol and had sustained a gunshot wound to his left leg. Medics from the Northshore Fire Protection District were called in to tend to Halvorsen”s wound while deputies investigated the scene.
The victim, who was confined to a wheelchair, told deputies she was asleep in her livingroom when she was awakened by her barking dog. Her dog was running back and forth in the house and just as it alerted her to the sliding glass door in the livingroom, the victim heard a loud bang on the door, picked up her phone to call 9-1-1 and retrieved her 9mm handgun while she was dialing.
Despite her yelling at the intruder to get away from her house or she would shoot, the suspect continued to pound on her glass door. When the victim started to hear glass breaking, she fired a shot at the suspect. The intruder continued to pound on the glass door and each time he pounded, the victim fired a shot at him. It was later determined that the victim fired a total of five shots at the suspect before he ceased his attempts to get in the house.
A neighbor told deputies he was awakened to the sound of barking dogs. As he began exiting his house to investigate, he heard a gunshot. When he went outside, he saw Halvorsen in the victim”s yard. He confronted Halvorsen, telling him he didn”t belong there, but Halvorsen told him to go home and then commenced to kick and pound on the victims sliding glass door. The neighbor then heard another shot come from the house and he saw Halvorsen “flinch,” allegedly because of being hit.
Halvorsen was arrested and transported under guard to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for further treatment of his gunshot wound. While at the hospital, he told deputies that he had been drinking at his cousin”s house in Lucerne earlier in the evening. He alleged not remembering anything after leaving his cousin”s house, including beating and kicking on the victim”s door or even being shot.
After several hours at the hospital, Halvorsen was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility where he was booked for attempted robbery and attempted burglary. He remains in the custody of the Sheriff with a $50,000 bail. The victim was unharmed during the incident.
