When five teens allegedly tried to break into the home of a Lawrence County man Wednesday morning, he grabbed a gun and locked his 18-year-old son inside the house.

"I looked out and I saw them going from tree to tree, approaching my property, wearing bandanas and hoods," said the 43-year-old Washington Township homeowner, who did not wish to be identified. "They were like sneaking up on the house. They knew we were inside and that really scared me. I wasn't sure what to think."

The homeowner said he had received hangup calls all morning, then at about 11 a.m., a neighbor who lives 75 to 100 yards away called him and said she saw a car dropping off several men in hoods with scarves and they were circling through his wooded property.

"Apparently they were calling from cell phones while they were in the woods," the homeowner said. "My son locked the doors and called the police and I went out after them. I had a gun. I said 'Come out of the woods' and they just scattered everywhere. I couldn't believe my eyes. They had bandanas and hoods and latex gloves. I chased one across the yard and brought him in my house."

The homeowner held Michael J. Ortiz, 18, of New Castle, at gunpoint.

"I held him in the kitchen until the police came, about 10 minutes," he said. "He was a little bit cocky. I tried to talk to him. I asked him, 'Why in the world would you do something like this? You need to go out and work and get what you want. I worked two or three jobs to get this house, then you come out and terrorize me.'

"He said he did some carpentry and I told him, 'Why don't you work in that field or go to school for that?' " the homeowner said.

Once police arrived and arrested Ortiz, they soon caught up with the other four teens and the 1994 green Buick they used to get to the Volant area home.

That's when the homeowner found out that a 16-year-old he had mentored allegedly was involved. And, he said, he suspected that same youth was involved in a burglary at his home about a month ago.

"I've coached a lot of different youth sports for the last 15 years. Everyone tells me I'm too nice, but I like to help out some of the teens," the homeowner said.

A 16-year-old picked up by police was one of the teens that the homeowner took to dinner and church with his family, and sometimes let stay for weekends to be a part of his family environment; the boy was 13 at the time, the homeowner said.

The 16-year-old recently returned to the area and the homeowner invited him to attend church and have dinner at his house.

"When I picked him up, he didn't look like the same guy. He had a gold tooth, real heavy gold jewelry around his neck, a bandana on his head and baggy clothes. He looked more like a gangster. My wife said, 'Don't bring him home for dinner.' But I did," he said.

A day or two later, the house was burglarized.

"All of my guns were stolen, 10 of them worth about several thousand dollars, jewelry, everything in my kids' rooms," he said, adding that he suspected the teen. "He knew how to get into my house. He had spent the day with my boys and everything they played with together was stolen, like their XBOX."

He said there had been hangup calls prior to that burglary and afterward, the teen called and said he wanted to come out again, but the homeowner said he didn't let the boy visit. "I was kind of disappointed because I more or less had treated him like a son, and then he brought everyone here," the homeowner said of Wednesday's events.

Ortiz and Darrell T. Horton, 18, also of New Castle, were arraigned Wednesday on burglary charges before District Justice James Reed in Neshannock Township, and taken to Lawrence County Jail after failing to post $5,000 bond, police said. The pair remained there Thursday afternoon.

Juvenile petitions were also filed against a 17-year-old and two 16-year-olds from New Castle who were allegedly involved in the attempted burglary, police said.

The homeowner said he wanted the youth to be punished, but also hoped they could be rehabilitated.

"What I would like to see is them turn their lives around and go straight," he said, adding that he wishes they could understand the effect the crimes have had on his family. During the first burglary, thieves took a special gold ring that belonged to his recently deceased father-in-law, he said.

"(One of) my son(s) has slept in my bedroom for the last four weeks," he said. "I have some younger boys and this really shook them up."

He added that he will continue to show kindness to underprivileged teens but won't bring them home anymore. "My wife was on the Internet last night looking for a 200-pound dog."