Ferndale man says he fired shots during attempted break-in - Fox 2 News Headlines

By Amy Lange
FOX 2 News Reporter

FERNDALE, Mich. -- "I (saw) the silhouette in the window, so I fired twice," said Dupree Smith.

The 34-year-old had slept in, calling off work after celebrating the Tigers' victory.  He said it was around 9:30 Friday morning when he heard noises coming from the back of his Ferndale home in his father's room.  He knew his dad had already left for work, so Smith grabbed his gun.

"I said, 'Dad, dad' and nobody answered back, but I still heard the movement back there," Smith explained.  "When I opened up the door, the window shattered, so I fired twice."

Smith then ran to the front door of his home on Edgewood and saw a truck in his driveway with a guy inside.

"White guy, kind of stocky type, short haircut.  I know he had on a blue, tight shirt.  That's how I knew he was kind of stocky," Smith said.  "So then I fired twice at the truck because it shocked me.  It scared me.  He backed out... and then I called 911."

Police say the suspect's truck is a 1997 silver Ford Ranger with an Oxbow logo on it.  The same truck was reported stolen out of Livonia on Thursday and used in a crime in Troy that same day.  However, on this day they stopped at the home of Dupree Smith and his dad wrongly assuming no one was home.

"They probably would've cleaned me out for everything I work hard for," said Smith.  "Hopefully they catch them and maybe they (will) think twice now about going in somebody's house."