Man Caught in the Act of Burglarizing Bishop Home With Woman and Children Inside

Authorities say a 23-year-old Greensboro man attempted to break into a Bishop home Monday occupied by a woman and her three children, but was taken into custody before he could get inside.

According to a news release from the , the woman called 911 at 10:29 a.m. to report a man was trying to break in through the front door of her house in the the 4000 block of South Macon Highway. Within six minutes, a deputy arrived to find the suspect walking onto the front porch.  The suspect was reportedly carrying a set of post hole diggers he found in a tool shed on the property.

Initially the suspected cooperated but was subdued with a Taser when he refused to get into the patrol car, the release noted.

Sheriff Scott Berry told the Athens Banner-Herald the woman inside the home -- a preacher's wife-- had armed herself with a pistol and was prepared to take action to protect her family.

“She stayed on the line until deputies got there and armed herself with a handgun," Berry told the newspaper.  "Quite frankly, the deputies probably saved his life. If we had been a minute later, we’d probably have been picking him off the front porch.”

Harold Lord Sullivan was charged with burglary, criminal attempt to commit burglary, possession of tools for the commission of a crime, loitering and prowling, and misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer.  He is being held in the Oconee County Jail pending his first appearance before a judge.

The Athens Banner-Herald reports Sullivan was released from the Putnam County Jail on April 25 where five days before he had been charged with shoplifting a honey bun.

On its Facebook Page, the Sheriff's Office posted a photo of one of the siblings posing with his toy gun, newly decorated with a sticker, a gift from the deputies. "Good job, Junior Deputy" is written in the caption.

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