A Texas man ended up in jail the night he was frightened out of bed by pounding at his door and answered with a raised shotgun, shocked to find police on the other end of his weapon.
Dean Dietsch thought he was being robbed the December 2023 night he awoke to cops knocking at his door. "I come out with a shotgun raised," he told ABC13, "trying to defend my home."
Harris County Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched to the wrong address in response to complaints of a disturbance. Bodycam footage shows the escalation that followed.
Deputies surrounding the home shouted at Dietsch to drop his gun. Dietsch put his single-shot shotgun inside and came out of his garage with his hands raised, following the deputy's directions to lay down on the ground, where he was handcuffed and taken to jail.
"I'm in shock, of course," he told reporters, "I'm mad because what did I do?"
He now believes the call that instigated the visit was meant for a neighbor who had been throwing a large party.
"My mind was obviously, 'They had the wrong address,' because I'm just sleeping, waiting to go to iHOP in the morning," he said. "I didn't get to go to iHOP. I got to go to jail for a couple of days."
Dietsch spent two nights in jail for felony aggravated assault against a public servant, a charge that took seven months for courts to dismiss.
In addition to time, the ordeal has cost Dietsch over $30,000 in attorney fees and a non-refundable bond obtained through a bond company, he said.
