EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) – Neighbors are shocked a burglary that turned deadly could happen in their quaint and quiet South Hills neighborhood.
Police said two men broke into a home on Stoney Ridge Road around 3:00 on Thursday afternoon. The homeowner’s 27-year old son, who was home alone at the time, shot one of the suspects. He died in the home. The other suspect got away and was apprehended by a Springfield Police K9 about a half hour later almost a quarter-mile away.
The apprehended suspect, identified as 39 year-old Darrin George Dubough, is in jail facing robbery and burglary charges. Reports from years ago identify him as a loose-knit gang member originally from Coburg, who pled guilty to federal charges naming him as an accomplice in a slew of robberies, one of them including a bank.
Neighbors said they heard the gunshots and saw Dubough running down the street.
“I ran to the window and I looked out and I saw a man, a young man, racing down the center of the street,” said Lani Loken, a neighbor.
Loken had just laid down for a nap when she was awoken by the startling commotion outside. Her son arrived home shortly after.
“I drove up in my car and saw him running,” said Tucker Loken-Dall. “He was going so fast he almost slipped and had to put his hands out to balance. At the time, I didn’t know if it was the bad guy or someone who was like, a victim who was just running scared.”
Loken-Dall went back out in his car and circled the neighborhood multiple times trying to find the guy but was unsuccessful.
Loken said that police told her to stay inside. She immediately called her neighbors to alert them.
“We have a lot of children here, a lot of people retired, too,” she said.
The home that was broken into is tucked away at the end of a dead-end street, which makes neighbors wonder why it was burglarized.
“Of all places,” Loken told NewsSource 16. “They have a big family. They’re just so wonderful of a family, altogether, and I was so surprised.”
The family declined to be on camera Friday but spoke to NewsSource 16’s Ryan Cummings on Thursday. The homeowner, the mother of the shooter, pulled up and had no idea what was going on. Detectives quickly swept her away. She later told one of the media outlets that she and her husband did not know of a gun inside their home.
Leading into the weekend, the family’s front doors were duct taped shut. Sheriffs worked through the night and into Friday morning probing the neighborhood for additional evidence. They found a wallet in some nearby shrubs and plenty of skid marks leading into the wooded area that Dubouch was found.
Questions arose Friday as to whether the shooter will be charged or if this case will be justified as self-defense. Under Oregon law, a person is allowed to use physical force upon another if they are defending a third person or property, in making an arrest or in preventing an escape.
Police, however, have discussed the possibility of drugs inside the home.
Officials continue to investigate the case and await an autopsy that will identify the deceased man.
