Thieves chased off by Hoke commissioner return and take his gun

Commissioner Allen Thomas uses the second floor of a three-level townhouse at the Carolina Creek Apartments in Greenville as a second home when he takes breaks from campaigning across the state in pursuit of the office of lieutenant governor, his campaign said.

On Saturday, when Thomas returned to the townhouse around noon, he saw several men in the downstairs common area but he assumed they were guests of the resident who lives on the first floor. The apartments in the unit share a downstairs common area.

When Thomas went upstairs, he found that his bedroom had been ransacked.

Thomas said he locked his bedroom door and called 911 and took out a shotgun that was hidden in the room.

The intruders came upstairs and knocked on the door, saying they had left several items in the bedroom, including knives and a stun gun.

Thomas cocked his shotgun, which he says was loaded with three rounds.

"I was telling (them) that was my limit," he said, adding that he warned them not to try and enter his bedroom. "If (they) came through (the door), I would shoot."

Thomas recorded the encounter and shared it on his Facebook page.

Thomas said the suspects told him that they had left a phone in the bedroom and they wanted it back.

"I didn't see a phone, so I couldn't tell if he was trying to gain back access," Thomas said. "I didn't know he had a weapon."

In the video posted to Facebook, you can hear the shotgun being loaded. You can also hear him talking to someone through the bedroom door.

Thomas said the standoff lasted for several minutes before the men decided to leave without trying to enter the room.

Thomas never fired his weapon.

On Thursday, Thomas reached out to WRAL News via text message to report that the intruders had returned.

"The intruders came back while I was out of town," he wrote. "They stole my TV and the shotgun that I used to protect myself with in the video."