Dog alerted couple to stranger downstairs
Baltimore police arrived at the 2500 block of Washington Boulevard at about 11:29 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, and found one man restraining another.
Mills said his wife, Kim, had returned from an evening with friends shortly before the confrontation. She used the back entrance, briefly went back to her car to retrieve something, then came inside, secured the door and headed upstairs.
The couple's dog, Scooter, kept barking from the top of the stairs. Kim went to check. "I came halfway down when I realized that he was just crouching there," she told FOX45.
Kim returned to the bedroom to warn her husband. Mills said he went downstairs but could not see the stranger's hands. "I wanted to see the gentleman's hands to see if he may have had a weapon of some sort and I couldn't get to his hands," he said. "So I reached over on my steps and I had a hammer and had struck him to get him to cooperate so I could see his hands."
Mills attributed his response in part to his police training. Dispatch audio indicated that the hammer struck the man in the head.
Neighbors intervened as struggle moved outside
According to Mills, the struggle moved toward the front entrance and then outside. Kim called 911 as he yelled for help. Several neighbors came over, including a man who entered the yard and removed the hammer.
Mills believes the intruder used the back door, despite a security bar that he said extended between the doorknob and the floor. He said the man began apologizing near the end of the confrontation outside: "He's like, 'I'm sorry, I am sorry.'"
Blood was left on the porch, front door and floor. Mills said they had cleaned the porch and floor, though blood remained on the door. Kim described herself as still shaken, and Mills acknowledged that the encounter could have ended very differently.
His parents lived in the neighborhood for decades, Mills said, and his family has deep ties there. He called the break-in unusual for the community and praised the neighbors who helped. "This neighborhood stood together last night and took care of each other," he said.
Maryland's rules on force inside a home
In a separate CBS News Baltimore report, Baltimore attorney Warren Alperstein explained that Maryland follows the "castle doctrine." Someone attacked in their own home has no duty to retreat and may use force, including deadly force, to repel the attack. That force must nevertheless be reasonable in relation to the threat.
CBS News Baltimore noted that Maryland's use-of-force standard is stricter than the "stand your ground" laws in states such as Florida.
Separate shooting followed the next morning
A separate shooting brought police to the nearby 2600 block of Washington Boulevard on the morning of Nov. 7. According to WBFF reporting cited by Hoodline, officers found a wounded person who was taken to a hospital in stable condition. A person of interest was taken into custody at the scene.
Hoodline also described a series of violent incidents in Morrell Park over roughly the past year. Among them was the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy on a Saturday afternoon in December 2025, reported by The Banner and cited by Hoodline.
Earlier WBFF reporting documented at least three homicides in Morrell Park during a single May. Those killings represented 75% of the Southwestern police district's homicides and 11% of Baltimore's total that month. The year covered by that report was not specified.
Citywide, Mayor Brandon Scott's office reported that burglaries through Oct. 31, 2026, were 14% lower than during the same period in 2025. Carjackings fell 36%, and total robberies declined 11% over the same comparison.
Police investigation remains open
Mills told FOX45 he wants the intruder to face consequences. "I would like to see jail time," he said. "I just want to see something done to let people know you can't go in somebody's house and expect to walk out scot-free," he added.
Police have not identified the injured man or announced specific charges. They said he was hospitalized with serious injuries and would be taken to Central Booking for processing after his discharge. The crime lab examined the scene, and the investigation remains ongoing.
