GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers running back Noah Herron thwarted a would-be burglar by hitting him with a bed post during a break-in at his home.
Brown County Sheriff Dennis Kocken said Tuesday that the break-in happened late last Friday and the injured the intruder remained hospitalized but is expected to recover.
"Noah Herron used necessary, reasonable and justifiable force in protecting his life and property," Kocken said in a statement. "Herron, the victim in this random home invasion, is cooperating with law enforcement."
Herron, 26, missed all of last season with a knee injury.
Chief Deputy John Gossage said Herron called police at 11:19 p.m. Friday after he heard glass breaking in the lower level of his suburban Green Bay home. He said an unknown number of people had entered the house.
One of the intruders entered Herron's bedroom, and Herron hit the person with a post he had unscrewed from his bed, Gossage said. Herron was not injured.
The injured burglar was taken to a hospital, and a second suspect was arrested outside the home, Gossage said.
Stolen property and a vehicle believed taken earlier Friday from another home were found near Herron's home, Gossage said. The two people in custody are suspects in numerous burglaries and home invasions throughout Brown County, he said.
Pittsburgh took Herron in the seventh round of the 2005 draft out of Northwestern. The Packers signed him off the Steelers' practice squad in 2005.
Packers general manager Ted Thompson released a statement Tuesday, saying the team knew about the break-in and had no comment.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
