Retired violent crimes detective points shotgun at gang filming themselves trying to break into his Arizona home – after his special needs son, 20, who was bullied online gave them his address because he thought they were friends
Retired violent crimes detective points gun at gang who filmed themselves trying to break into his Arizona home – after his special needs son, 20, who was being bullied online, gave them his address because he thought they were friends
- John Duhigg has nine cameras around his property in Mesa, and he was alerted about a disturbance outside around 3 a.m. on September 2.
- He saw one person try to cover his camera while another started banging on the steel garage and front doors before walking out with a shotgun.
- Duhigg believes this is the same gang who bullied his 20-year-old son, who has autism, online and harassed him ‘terribly’
A retired violent crimes detective pointed a shotgun at a gang of masked men who were filming themselves trying to break into his Arizona home.
John Duhigg has nine cameras around his property in Mesa, and he was alerted about a disturbance outside around 3 a.m. on September 2.
He saw one person in the group try to cover his camera while another started banging on his garage and steel doors before walking out with a shotgun and they ran away shouting racial slurs.
Duhigg believes this is the same gang who bullied his 20-year-old son with special needs online and targeted him ‘terribly’.
His son, who has autism, gave them his address because he thought they were friends and earlier that day they told him ‘we’re coming to your house’.
A retired violent crimes detective pointed a shotgun at a gang of masked men who filmed themselves trying to break into his Arizona home
John Duhigg has nine cameras around his property in Mesa, and he was alerted about a disturbance outside around 3 a.m. on September 2.
Duhigg looked back at the surveillance footage and saw that the group had been around his property three times that night.
The first time was just before 1am when they arrived in a car opposite his house. Footage shows four of them running away while one remained in the car. He said they threw a milkshake at his truck.
The masked gang then returned at 3am, when Duhigg came out with his shotgun and they immediately ran away.
Duhigg is unsure if they saw the gun because they returned about ten minutes later, vandalized the exterior of his home and left before police arrived.
“They risked their lives with this,” he said Family AZ. “So I’m like, ‘This is getting really old.’
“No one comes back for home invasions. That is stupid. You just warned everyone. But there is no explanation for stupidity.”
He thinks one of them had a gun because of the noise he heard.
Duhigg insists this was the same group that cyberbullied his autistic son.
“They got really bad because he has autism and he’s Latino, so they bullied him terribly,” he said.
Duhigg believes the same gang is cyberbullying his 20-year-old son with special needs. He gave them his address because he thought they were friends and they told him ‘we’re coming to your house’. Pictured: his autistic son with his 18-year-old sister who has cerebral palsy
Duhigg looked back at the surveillance footage and saw that the group had been around his property three times that night
The first time was just before 1am when they arrived in a car opposite his house. Footage shows four of them running away while one remained in the car. He said they threw a milkshake at his truck
The masked gang then returned at 3am, when Duhigg came out with his shotgun and they immediately ran away
“And earlier that day they had told him, ‘We’re coming to your house.’
He shares the property with his autistic son and 18-year-old daughter, who also has special needs.
‘I have two special needs. My daughter has cerebral palsy,” Duhigg said.
“She’s 18, non-verbal. She can call for help if necessary. And my son has autism. He has very high-functioning autism, so he may interact with you for a while before realizing he’s a little different.
“I have to make sure they’re extra safe because they can’t really help themselves.”
Mesa police are investigating the incident and Duhigg plans to press charges and wants the gang to turn themselves in.
He is often asked why he has so many surveillance cameras on his property.
He said: ‘I get comments on it all the time, but I’m a retired violent crime detective and I’m not going to be a victim of anything.’