Man tries to steal car and belongings before waking Pueblo family

Just after 4 a.m. Thursday, a man broke into a Pueblo house while a family inside the home was asleep but ended up waking them up to try to complete the burglary.

Rachael Clark who was asleep next her husband said she thought it was her roommate coming in to ask for keys. “This guy just comes into our doorway and is staring at us,” she says and then suddenly realized it was stranger.

Capt. Kenny Rider with the Pueblo Police Department says the suspect, 34-year-old Randy Mata, entered the house in the 800 block of W. 14th Street and found car keys.

Mata is accused of taking the family’s belongings and trying to get away with their car. When he realized the keys didn’t match the car he was trying to steal, Rider says the suspect woke up the family and demanded the right set of keys.

Rachael’s husband Alex Clark soon woke up realizing he needed to act quickly. He said, “when he came into our bedroom and started demanding the keys. I calmly told him I’d get them and reached over and grabbed my firearm and then held him at gunpoint.”

Mr. Clark ordered Mata out of their bedroom and toward the back door of their house where he told him to lie down. Mata stayed there until Pueblo police officers got to their home.

Rider said, “it’s admirable what he did. He was able to protect his family and protect himself and get this guy in custody.”

Just two blocks on the 1000 block of W. 14th Street, another man said he was victim to a similar burglary in August. Manuel Moreno said someone entered his home, took a pair of keys and left with his white pick-up truck. He found it an impound yard weeks later. He said, “maybe it’s the same person.”

Mata was arrested on trespassing and burglary charges.