Man dies after crashing through window after alleged burglary

Published 7:19 pm Tuesday, November 7, 2006

A man has died of injuries he received this past weekend after police said he forced his way inside a home and then crashed through a window when neighbors arrived to rescue a teenager girl trapped inside with him.

Kyle Turner, 35, suffered extensive cuts as he fled the home on Saturday. After his capture, he was taken to Ocean Springs Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

“He was cut up pretty bad, bleeding everywhere,” said Gautier Police Lt. Jason Pugh.

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Police said they were alerted about 4 p.m. Saturday of an attempted burglary of a Springridge Drive house. The caller said neighbors were searching for the man, who they had chased out of the house.

Witnesses said a number of people from the area tackled Turner as he was attempting to enter another home.

Spencer Roberts, 14, said he and two friends were at his house Saturday afternoon when someone began frantically knocking and ringing the doorbell. Roberts said he opened the door and Turner, who the teenagers did not know, pulled the teen and his 13-year-old male schoolmate from the house and walked inside pulling a 14-year-old girl into the house with him.

Roberts and police said the man then locked the door behind him. Roberts said he ran next door to call police while some residents on the street watched the events unfolding and came to help the youngsters.

One neighbor, who Roberts knew only as Freddie, was able to enter the house when the girl broke free, opened the door and fled.

“Freddie went in there and he tried to hit him and he tried to stop him,” Roberts said. “So he (Turner) dove through the back window, all cut up and bleeding, and he took off down there, and a bunch of other people took off for him.”

Turner was arrested as he tried to force his way in to another neighbor’s house, authorities said.

“He said somebody was trying to kill him,” said Police Capt. Kenny McMellon.

Turner was a Mobile, Ala., resident, but neighbors said he had been staying with a girlfriend who lived two doors down from the Roberts’ home.

A police investigation continues, authorities said.