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Mire family fights off half-naked intruder

Posted at 6:10 PM, Apr 08, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-08 19:30:23-04

A mire family is safe tonight after being caught in the middle of a man running away from police.

Emanuel Sorcia is accused of leading police on a high speed chase on the Mire Highway through Mire and toward Church Point, traveling more than 100 mph according to officials.

Duson Police say they were trying to pull him over, after spotting him driving recklessly.

KATC was able to obtain police dashcam video of the chase where you can see the driver weaving through traffic and passing an 18-wheeler.

The chase ended in a crash near LA-95 and LA-1098, where police were able to find the passenger. He was identified as Thomas Murphy, 29, of Eunice. He was wanted on a failure to appear warrant on charges of bank fraud in Acadia Parish, police say.

But Sorcia, the driver, took a detour before being apprehended by police.

“The thing is we didn’t know what to do, we didn’t know what the right thing was, it all happened so fast,” said Leslie Barthe. She was at her son’s house watching TV with family, when she said Sorcia barged into the home, half-naked and demanded to use their phone.

“He knocked on the door, he said ‘it’s me’ and then came in the house and he was in nothing but half boxers covering his junk and his junk was pretty much out,” said Kristen Toney, who lives in the home and also saw everything.

The family said the intruder even told them he was running away from police.

So they called 911 and took matters into their own hands by threatening the intruder with a gun.

“I was terrified and yes guns were pulled out, nothing was shot, no nothing, but he still wasn’t scared,” said Sarah Cormier, who was at the home with her baby. “My brother was saying leave because he wouldn’t leave the house. My uncle had to punch him in order to get him out of the door way and my brother, whenever he closed the door and locked it, [the man] kept on banging on the door and trying to get in.”

Duson Police Chief Kip Judice credits the family for handling the situation the way they did.

“A half-naked man, a mostly naked man, comes into a house in a rural area at that time of night, I think it’s not too hard to go in front of a grand jury and say ‘I feared for myself or for my family.’ But fortunately quick actions by those residents in the Mire area resulted in us capturing him really quickly,” said Chief Judice.

Sorcia was caught and arrested at Mire Elementary. He was booked into the Acadia Parish Jail for aggravated flight from an officer, hit and run driving and unauthorized entry into inhabited dwelling.

“When it was all said and done and things were all over with last night, that’s when you sit down and you think what if this happened and what if that happened? And I’m so grateful it didn’t happen in that way. I’m glad he ran, I’m glad he left, I’m glad it’s over with,” said Barthe.

Thomas Murphy
Courtesy Duson Police

 

Emmanuel Noah Sorcia
Courtesy Duson Police