Most people are unsure how they would react if they woke up and discovered an intruder in the house. Charlotte Runnells of Levant discovered Saturday night that her first instinct was to grab an umbrella and chase the intruder out the door.

In this case it worked, and the culprit was arrested by the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department.

As it turned out, the young man who entered Runnells’ home late Saturday night had escaped from the Maine Youth Center in Windham and was being sought by authorities.

The 17-year-old Corinth boy was arrested about three weeks ago and charged with aggravated criminal mischief in connection with a major vandalism spree at the Corinthian Cemetery in Corinth.

The incident Saturday night in Runnells’ home angered Deputy Chief Carl Andrews who claimed security at the center was slack.

It was 11:45 p.m. when Runnells, who is retired and lives alone, heard a noise at her front door. She is not nervous by nature and said she ignored the noise until she heard a distinct sound coming from the kitchen.

She jumped out of bed and stood in the hallway outside her bedroom and saw the intruder standing in the kitchen.

“I grabbed this umbrella and just yelled, `Get out of my house.’ Well I’ll tell you he ran down over the stairs with me right behind him,” said Runnells.”

She said she doesn’t know why she had the courage to confront him.

“I guess you never know what you’d do in a situation until you’re confronted with it. I think self-preservation takes over,” said Runnells.

Runnells locked the door behind him and called the sheriff’s department who responded within minutes. The youth was still standing outside Runnells’ door when deputies arrived.

The youth told the deputies that he entered the house to use the phone because his truck had run out of gas. He was taken back to the Maine Youth Center and charges of attempted burglary are pending, according to Andrews.

Although Runnells was uninjured and nothing was taken, Andrews said the situation was “too typical of a situation” for the MYC.

“How can we expect these juveniles to learn anything when we have a system that is so inept it can’t even keep them in one place,” he said.

Andrews said the youth was at the MYC for two days before he “simply walked away.” A practice that is far too common, according to Andrews.

Andrews said his department was never notified that the youth had walked away and was on the loose.

“I found out about it several days later from a citizen in Corinth,” Andrews said.

Runnells’ rights and those of the citizens of Corinth seem to come second, Andrews said.

“When do we become concerned about Mrs. Runnells’ rights? Punishment should mean something and it doesn’t seem to mean anything at the youth center,” he said.

The threat of being sentenced to the Maine Youth Center means nothing to teen-agers on the verge of becoming criminals, Andrews said.

He said the Sheriffs Association was searching for a better approach to deal with juvenile offenders.

“A program without sternness isn’t going to be effective. The rules regarding juveniles are getting out of hand. The rules make it very difficult. We can’t even have a juvenile transported in the same car as an adult,” he said.

The youth that entered Runnells’ home Saturday night had theft and burglary charges pending against him, Andrews said.

“They don’t learn anything from the law this way. We are doing them an injustice because they will turn 18 and then they will find themselves in jail. We have gone so far to protect the rights of juveniles that we are doing nothing to correct the problem of juvenile crime. Juveniles are very capable of performing adult crimes. They do so everyday,” said Andrews.