Indiana boy uses pellet gun to scare off Christmas carjacker

Officials in Kokomo, Indiana are praising a brave 9-year-old who brandished his pellet gun to ward off a would-be car thief. No one’s eye was shot out, and the man was later arrested after trying to steal another nearby vehicle.

Police responded to a report of an attempted car theft at a convenience store early Christmas morning in Kokomo, WRTV reported. The would-be thief set his sights on a 2009 Dodge Ram pick-up truck around am Monday, but did not count on the vehicle being occupied by an ‘armed’ youngster.

Dispatch told officers that the man stole a green Chevrolet SUV nearby after being confronted by a 9-year-old boy armed with a pellet gun inside the Dodge truck. The boy’s identity has not been reported, and there is no confirmation whether or not the gun was a Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle.

Police followed the thwarted carjacker and arrested him after the SUV was involved in a minor traffic accident. He was identified as Ollie Dunn, 32, of nearby Lafayette.

Dunn was charged with attempted auto theft, unlawful entry of a vehicle, vehicle theft, and lacking a driver’s license.

Dunn's criminal history goes back to August 2014, when there was no pellet-packing boy to prevent him from flooding the Tippecanoe County Jail's book-in area. He pulled off a sprinkler head from the fire suppression system after being arrested for smashing the windows of at least seven cars and taking what he could find inside, according to the Journal & Courier. As police pursued him, Dunn ducked into a trailer home, where a family had been having breakfast.