Sheriff’s deputies say Brandon Dalton faces breaking and entering charges.
GIBSONVILLE, N.C. — A Gibsonville firefighter says his Ring camera alert may have saved his home — and possibly his life — after a stranger broke in while he was at work.
Brandon Brown says he lives on a quiet road surrounded by family — the kind of place where neighbors trust one another and doors don’t always stay locked. But that changed after what happened this week.
Brown says he had just started his shift at Station 28 when his Ring camera pinged. Someone was standing at his front door.
“At first, I didn’t think much of it,” Brown said. “He had on a tree removal shirt, so I figured maybe he was a contractor. But then he started raising his hands in the air, and that’s when my coworkers told me something wasn’t right.”
Brown rushed home — and the moment he got there, his heart sank. He noticed the kitchen door cracked open. When he approached, a man appeared in the doorway.
“I saw a shadowy figure standing there,” Brown recalled. “Instinct took over. I drew my weapon and told him to put his hands up.”
The suspect, later identified as Brandon Dalton, told Brown he meant no harm, saying the unlocked door was “a blessing.” Deputies say Dalton has a record of reckless driving, drug possession, and open container violations.
According to Brown, Dalton told him his car had broken down nearby. Instead of asking for help, Dalton went inside, used the bathroom, spilled dog food across the floor, and took the family’s car keys.
Deputies arrested Dalton at the scene.
Brown says he’s still shaken, especially knowing how easily this could have ended differently.
“If that door hadn’t been cracked, I would’ve walked right in,” he said. “I don’t know what would’ve happened.”
Now, every door in the Brown home stays locked day and night.
“I’m training my wife how to use a gun,” he said. “You just never think it’ll happen to you, until it does.”
Brown credits his Ring camera, and a little instinct with keeping a bad situation from turning tragic.
“That alert made all the difference,” he said. “It can protect you when you’re not home. It definitely did for me.”
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