Intruder nearly shot until homeowner recognizes him

Police have arrested a 50-year-old man who reportedly said voices in his head caused him to do bad things -- bad things like break into Holli Stevenson's house.

Homeowner Holli Stevenson told WCPO: "This is the basement window that he kicked in. He broke into the shed, he broke into my son's car, he broke into my car. ... This is where he broke in the back door. ... We saw a man standing on the stairs outside of our bedroom door."

With her husband blocking the hallway, Stevenson grabbed a loaded gun and prepared to shoot. That's when the man spoke, and Stevenson recognized the voice.

"The gentleman on the stairs began to speak, and I recognized him," Stevenson said.

"Holli says 50-year-old Richard Patterson's voice saved his life," WCPO reported.

The Cincinnati family got Patterson to leave voluntarily, but they say they later realized he'd stolen a different gun from Stevenson's car. They called the police, and Patterson reportedly still had the gun when he was arrested.

His arrest took place at Talbert House, which is a nonprofit that focuses on treating and reintegrating people into society. It's unclear if that's where Patterson was staying or just where he was arrested.

It was a terrifying ordeal, but Stevenson was relatively lucky because robberies can unfortunately be very expensive. According to the FBI's 2010 statistics, the average loss per burglary offense is around $2,100 for the victims.

Stevenson says she and her family are installing a security system. How exactly she knew Patterson's voice isn't clear.

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