November 26, 2006

Don Shaxon was drawn to the darkest, quietest part of his home by his barking cocker spaniel. The 30-year-old father of two thought he might have locked the cat in the basement, as he bounded down the stairs and rounded the bend into the laundry room early on Sunday. A dark figure wearing a hunter's fur hat emerged from the shadows; Mr. Shaxon assumed a defensive position and started swinging. "I got him on the ground," the Burlington man recounted yesterday. "We stopped fighting for a second and I was standing overtop of him and I said: 'Don't move. The police are on their way. I've got two kids in the house. If you move, I'll kill you.' " Mr. Shaxon did not kill him, but he delivered a serious beating on the 16-year-old boy, who later told police he was so inebriated that night he "mistakenly" stumbled into the wrong house. Now, it turns out, Mr. Shaxon may face criminal charges for his defensive manoeuvres. 10:42:35 AM