UPDATED: Tuesday, March 9, 2010 --- 9:10 p.m.
REPORTER: Chris Woodard

An 18-year-old Madison man comes home to find an intruder in his house and has no idea if his sleeping parents are OK.

When instincts take over he doesn't wait for police.

It's one of those situations that doesn't leave you with a whole lot of time to think

When it happened to a high school student earlier this week he says he "did what he had to do."

Jack Yovovich knew instantly something was wrong.

The 18 year old high school senior came home early Sunday morning to find his fence gate unlatched and back door propped open.

He says, "I was like wow, there is definitely somebody in my house."

His first concern was his parents.

He says, "I knew they were home that was why I was concerned. The bat was just sitting here. It looked like the heaviest thing I could find at the time, easiest to swing."

Without giving it a second thought Yovovich grabbed the aluminum baseball bat and went in to confront the intruder.

He says, "He's out in the living room standing and I see the laptop in his hand. He gets kind of wide eyed and he goes I have a gun man, I'm going to shoot you and he reaches into his back waistband. I kind of just figured he was bluffing. I don't know why. He looked a lot more scared than somebody with a gun would be I guess.

The man scurried past Yovovich as he yelled to his parents to call the police.

He says, "And that's when he tries to run out this door so that's when I hit him the first time in the neck, the back of the neck."

After a quick go round inside the burglar came down the stairs and fled outside. Once they got into the back yard it was time for round two.

He says, "It was about right here and I swing at him again."

The struggle went on for a few minutes, the burglar trying to get away and the bat carrying teenager swinging away. A busted headphone is evidence of a shot to the head.

Yovovich says, "I'm just yelling at the guy what are you doing? Why are you coming into our house? Why do you think you can do that? He's like, I have a kid, I have a kid, I just got laid off and I told him get a job."

Yovovich's mother Michele Lavigne says, "They're hollering about socio-economics and I'm thinking this is insane."

The burglar fled without the computer and Yovovich had quite a tale to tell police. But along with his mom the police had some advice for him.

Lavigne says, "Before you go flying in the house with a bat, why don't you try calling 911?"

Yovovich was a bit scraped up in the scuffle but other than that was OK.

The burglar eventually took off with about 60-dollars in cash and an iPod touch and so far hasn't been caught.

_______________________________________________________

Posted Tuesday, March 9, 2010 --- 9:10 a.m.

Incident report from the Madison Police Department:

Incident Type:
Residential Burglary

Incident Date:
03/07/2010 - 2:51 AM

Address:
500 block Ludington Ave.

Suspect(s):
Male, black, 18-25 years old, 6'3" to 6'4", 180 to 190 pounds, wearing a black do-rag, black hoodie, black pants, and black gloves. He was carrying a black backpack.

Victim:
Male, age 18, Madison

Details:
A 18-year-old Madison man struck a burglar with a baseball bat after finding the criminal inside his home early Sunday morning.

The victim had come back to his residence sometime before 3:00 a.m., and discovered the thief in his living room holding a laptop computer.

The burglar refused to drop it, and pretended to have a gun the victim swung the bat striking the intruder in the neck. The intruder got out a door, and headed to a bicycle he had left outside. The victim followed and the two got into a scuffle. The victim was punched in the ear. He responded by hitting the burglar first in the knees with the bat, and then in the head as the thug tried to ride off on the bike. The second blow knocked the thief’s headphones off of his head, and sent him stumbling into the street. He dropped the laptop. The victim picked it up, but lost control of the bat. The bike-riding thug was able to deliver a glancing blow to the victim's stomach before riding off.

Missing from the residence, and not recovered, was an iPod Touch. Some money was also stolen.

The victim was not hurt, and does not believe he seriously injured the burglar.

_______________________________________________________