Intruder can't outrun pursuing wrestler

By BRETT CIHON

Staff writer

 

A 23-year-old Olalla man chased an intruder for about a mile before capturing him at gunpoint, then bound the suspect’s hands with a belt and marched him back to the house to await sheriff’s deputies.

Josiah Kipperberg found a man snooping through his family’s home Monday afternoon. According to a Kitsap County Sheriffs Office report, the man ran out of the house after realizing he wasn’t alone.

Kipperberg, an assistant wrestling coach at South Kitsap High School, grabbed a rifle — either an M4 or AR-15, according to the report, and ran after the suspect.

It’s not surprising that Kipperberg chased the suspect, South Kitsap head wrestling coach Chad Nass said Wednesday. Kipperberg, one of seven children, was the second state wrestling champion in his family, winning the 112-pound weight division in 2006.

“You don’t want to mess with the Kipperberg family,” Nass said.

Kipperberg followed the suspect for about a mile before the man finally complied with calls to stop. He then told the man to lie on the ground, and used a belt to tie his hands.

The suspect, a 31-year-old Gig Harbor man, pleaded with him, saying he had only entered the house to look for gas. Kipperberg led the man back to his house and called 9-1-1.

When deputies arrived, they found Kipperberg to be shaken but in control of the situation.

Deputies searched the suspect’s backpack and found a laptop and two digital cameras stolen from the house. The man was arrested and charged with residential burglary.

The man probably should have thought twice about entering the home of a wrestling champion, Nass said.

“Probably wasn’t smart to run,” Nass said. “If there’s one thing Josiah’s got, it’s endurance.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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