Woodchopping dad thwarts alleged burglar with help from son

Shane McDaniel, owner of Norm’s Market, fired a warning shot before tussling with an unwanted guest.

LAKE STEVENS — Shane McDaniel has gotten a lot of attention recently. He usually welcomes it.

This time, the attention was uninvited. Friday evening, he discovered a 29-year-old man in the detached garage outside of his mother’s duplex in Lake Stevens. He had spent two days staging a pile of items, including mopeds and wire, according to a sheriff’s deputy report filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.

“My mom called and said, ‘Hey, that guy you got working for you, his truck is still here.’ I go, ‘I don’t have anybody up there working,’” McDaniel said.

McDaniel is the owner of Norm’s Market, a keg and bottle shop, but he’s better known for chopping 80 truckloads of firewood and giving it to people in need. More recently, he was featured on Steve Harvey’s show in a segment called “Date the Woodchopping Dad!”

After his mother called, McDaniel, his son and a friend drove to the property and found the suspect still milling around the garage. Inside, the man apparently took it upon himself to rearrange the place. Several potential weapons had been set up, including a machete, an ax and a knife, McDaniel said.

“It looked like something out of the ‘Blair Witch Project.’ It was creepy,” he said.

The burglar kept fidgeting and reaching into his pocket as though he had a weapon, according to court papers. In response, McDaniel pulled out a handgun and fired off a warning shot.

Then the two fought. The suspect allegedly kicked McDaniel in the leg. McDaniel said he wrestled the man to the ground and, with the help of his son, pinned the suspect there until law enforcement arrived.

Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies responded at 8:45 p.m. They found a fake gun in the man’s coat. There were also stolen credit cards and IDs, as well as drug paraphernalia, strewn about the place.

The suspect said a friend told him the side door to the garage was unlocked.

“I do this to other homes all the time,” he reportedly said.

He was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree burglary.

The man has had previous run-ins with the law. In addition to other burglaries, he allegedly kicked the Soap Lake police chief in the face. On another occasion, he apparently tried to run over two police officers.

It’s not the first time the McDaniel family has been in the spotlight for thwarting criminals. In 2016, teenage boys wearing clown masks and wielding baseball bats attempted to rob his store. He and his son not only ran them off, but gave chase, just long enough to get the license plate information and give it to law enforcement. The boys were arrested.

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