THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 21, 1996 TAG: 9602210404
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
It wasn't especially heroic, or brave. It was just the neighborly thing to do.
That's how 31-year-old Mark Penland described what happened Monday afternoon when he rushed to the aid of his 85-year-old neighbor whose home on Benton Avenue was being burglarized.
Penland stopped the burglary and chased away the burglar. Then his 8-year-old son, Cody, helped describe the burglar so accurately that police were able to arrest a suspect later the same day.
For his trouble, Penland received a gash to his left forearm that required surgery Monday night and could cost him partial use of his arm.
Sometimes being the good guy carries a steep price.
``I just did what I thought was the right thing to do,'' Penland said Tuesday from his home where he was recuperating. ``I did not want to be a hero. I just wanted to get him away from her.''
But Vergie Prilliman, a retired Portsmouth school teacher, saw things differently.
``That man saved my life,'' Prilliman said. ``I know he did.''
Prilliman, who was widowed on Feb. 1 when her husband of 62 years died of a massive heart attack, said she heard the doorbell shortly after 4:30 p.m. Monday, but did not answer it even though she saw a man on her porch.
When Prilliman heard the tinkle of glass, she went into a hallway and saw that a window had been shattered. Although she didn't know it at the time, the burglar had crawled through the broken window.
When Prilliman returned to her screened-in back porch, the burglar grabbed her.
``He slapped his hand over my mouth and I wrestled with him,'' Prilliman said. ``I asked him what he wanted and he said, `I want money.' ''
Meanwhile, next door, Penland was enjoying a day off from work, relaxing in his home reading mystery magazines. Then his son came running from the front porch.
``He was hollering that Mrs. Prilliman's house had just been broken into,'' Penland recalled. ``He said he saw someone go through her window.''
Penland ran to the back of the house where he saw the man struggling with his neighbor. He broke the storm-door window with a rock, and tried to get into the porch.
``The man came running to the window, dragging Mrs. Prilliman with him, saying, `You better get out of here. You better get out of here,' '' recalled Penland. ``I told him: `I'm not going anywhere without you.' ''
Penland reached through the broken window and grabbed the man's coat. When the man pulled away, Penland's arm caught on the broken glass at the bottom of the storm-door window. The glass tore a gash along the length of Penland's forearm.
``My muscles started falling out of my arm,'' said Penland. ``I grabbed them and pushed back in. When he saw what happened, he bolted.''
Penland ended up on Prilliman's back porch where he waited for paramedics, who took him to Maryview Regional Medical Center.
After Cody described the suspect, police apprehended 32-year-old Lee Dixon on a nearby street. Dixon of the 400 block of Grayson St. was charged with burglary, attempted robbery and abduction. Police said he was looking for money to settle a drug debt.
Penland said a nerve in his forearm was damaged. He was told it may be a year before he knows whether use of the arm will be permanently limited.
``As long as I got him away from her, that was my main objective,'' Penland said. ``I didn't do anything special. Just what any good neighbor should do.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by MARK MITCHELL/The Virginian-Pilot
Mark Penland, 31, rushed to the aid of his 85-year-old neighbor,
Vergie Prilliman, a retired Portsmouth school teacher.
KEYWORDS: BURGLARY ARREST by CNB