When an armed robber broke into a North Carolina home, an 11-year-old boy grabbed his machete and single-handedly fought off the intruder. However, it was the child’s brilliant piece of advice for the career criminal that has left readers in awe.
On a Friday morning, the parents of 11-year-old Braydon Smith decided that he was responsible enough to stay home alone for a few hours for the first time. What they never expected was that their little boy would prove himself to be more than competent at fending for himself.
While lounging around his home in Mebane, North Carolina, the boy was confronted by 19-year-old Jataveon Dashawn Hall, a career criminal who’s been arrested multiple times. Alongside his two accomplices, the intruder picked up a nearby pellet gun and aimed it at Braydon, ordering him into the closet. He then snatched the boy’s cell phone so that he couldn’t call for help, WTVD-TV reports.
“He pointed a pellet gun at me that was located in our house. I knew that it wasn’t loaded so I just sat down and got in my closet like he told me to,” Braydon said. “He went into the living room to grab my phone to make sure I didn’t call the 911 or anything.”
With his parents gone and no way to call for help, Braydon knew that he was on his own. However, the young man wasn’t about to let the thief walk into his house and make off with his family’s hard-earned possessions. With that, the boy stepped out of the closet and grabbed his machete, which he had purchased with his own money and used to chop down trees. He then made an example of the criminal.
“When I saw him try to put [my phone] in his pocket. I grabbed my machete off of my wall and went to hit him,” Braydon told the station. “I hit him in the back of the head like right here.”
Braydon’s courage and quick thinking paid off, leaving Hall clutching his head in pain as he fled the scene with his accomplices empty-handed. However, the boy wasn’t done with the intruder yet. In a statement to the local television station, Braydon offered a straightforward piece of advice to the intruder, telling him that he needs to “get a job.”
“You shouldn’t have done what you’ve done. You’re better off to get a job than breaking into other people’s houses,” Braydon told Hall.
Braydon’s parents were understandably proud of their son. His dad, Christopher Smith, explained that the boy’s reaction comes from a lesson he taught him a few years ago when several intruders ransacked their home.
“If they come in the door, you let ’em have it,” Christopher Smith said.
While the intruders collected several of the family’s expensive electronics, Braydon had time to get to his weapon of choice. His attack was apparently so unexpected that all three of the thieves dropped the items and ran, WRAL.com reports.
“They tried to take my PlayStation and my phone, but I hit them in the back of the head with a machete,” the boy told a 911 dispatcher.
Kaitlyn Johnson was on the phone with her son when he saw the intruders pull up to the house and get out of the car. She could hear the confrontation and tried to figure out a way to stay on the phone with Braydon while notifying 911 of the break-in.
“It was terrifying. It was the longest 13 to 17 minutes of my life,” she said. “It doesn’t surprise me the way that he reacted. At 30 years old, I can tell you that I don’t know that I would be able to react the way that he did and keep my wits about me.”
Hall eventually arrived at UNC Hospitals in Hillsborough several hours later, complaining about a large head wound. He was then transferred to Chapel Hill due to the severity of the gash. However, he fled in nothing more than a hospital gown when he realized that nurses had called the police to report the incident.
Hall received a $175,000 bond and was charged with breaking and entering, second-degree kidnapping, assault on a child younger than 12, and interfering with emergency communications. Police are still searching for his two accomplices.
Braydon says that he wasn’t scared during the intrusion and told reporters that if Hall’s accomplices want to come back for a second round, he’ll be ready. Speaking from experience, the boy wisely gave one last piece of advice to parents, telling them to “always have your kids prepared for anything.”
