Police, who did not release the 63-year-old woman's name, said she temporarily captured Faith Barrick of Carthage and a teenage boy, the Joplin Globe reported. The pair escaped when she went to her telephone to call police but two suspects were arrested three hours later based on the description she gave.

The grandmother was eating lunch with one of her grandchildren when she saw a woman in her yard, Lt. Aaron Richardson of the Jasper County Sheriff's Office said. She got her gun and waited while the teenager broke through her door.

Barrick contacted police before her arrest, claiming she had stopped at the woman's house because of car trouble and the woman pulled a gun on her, Richardson said. He said Barrick apparently feared the grandmother had obtained her license plate number.

Barrick and the 16-year-old boy are suspected of carrying out other burglaries in the area, Richardson said. He said the spunky senior may have solved several crimes.

"We're thinking of hiring her," he added.