Houston lawmaker shoots, wounds intruder
Police say man injured after throwing knife at Rep. Borris Miles.
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By Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, July 09, 2007

Houston state Rep. Borris Miles surprised two thieves trying to steal copper from his uncompleted new home Sunday evening, wounding one in a quick showdown after being threatened with a knife, police said today.

Ironically, Miles was one of 13 House members in March to vote against a change in state law giving Texans a broader right to defend themselves from intruders at their homes. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry and takes effect Sept. 1.

Authorities said Miles, a first-term Democrat, insurance agent and former law enforcement officer, was not injured in the episode that began about 7:30 p.m. Sunday while he was working at his new two-story house in south central Houston just east of the Medical Center complex.

"He was working on something, a leak, I believe, and he heard a noise," said Houston police spokeswoman Johanna Abad. "He went to investigate . . . and found two men in his kitchen, with tools, taking apart copper wiring or tubing."

Abad said one of the thieves, standing on a ladder, threw a small knife at Miles when confronted. Miles, who police said is licensed to carry a concealed handgun, pulled a 9mm pistol and shot the man once in the left leg, she said.

The second man then fled on foot, as police were summoned.

The injured man was transported to Ben Taub Hospital, where he was reported in good condition this morning. Investigators were verifying his identity late Sunday, and said he would be charged with aggravated robbery.

"It's a non-life threatening wound," Abad said.

A search continued today for the second suspect, who had not been positively identified. Police said a search of the neighborhood late Sunday failed to locate the man.

Calls to Miles' Houston offices today were not immediately returned.

But Abad, who went to the scene Sunday night, said Miles "had problems in the past with the theft of materials at this house . . . which looks completed from the outside, but is still under construction inside.

"They think there's no one there at night, but in this case there was," she said.

House records show Miles was among 13 representatives who voted against Senate Bill 378, which gives Texans authority to immediately use force to defend themselves or other people against intruders who break into their homes and cars and offices, without having to retreat first.

The bill was called the "castle doctrine" legislation because it allows people to protect themselves inside their homes without fear of being prosecuted or sued.

In 1973, during a rewrite of Texas' criminal laws, the Legislature required people to first try to flee an intruders' attack, "if a reasonable person would do so under similar circumstances," according to state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, the bill's Senate author.

Under the new law, deadly force is presumed to be reasonable if a person illegally enters or attempts to enter an occupied home, vehicle or place of business of employment, sponsors said last spring.

Miles, who graduated from the Houston High School for Law Enforcement and holds a criminal justice degree from Sam Houston State University, is a member of the state Auto Theft Prevention Board, his House Web site shows.