The homeowner who captured the burglar who broke into his Bainbridge Island home Monday is being praised as a “rock star” by his Village Circle neighbors.

Police arrested 25-year-old Cory Glenlynn Smith after he allegedly burglarized a Winslow-area residence and made off with a laptop and electronics equipment. He was booked into Kitsap County Jail and is being held on $120,000 bail for felony burglary, vehicle prowling and escape from community custody, as well as misdemeanor assault and theft.

Smith’s night of crime was stopped just before 4 a.m. Monday after the homeowner who was robbed chased him through the neighborhood, tackled him and held him down until police arrived.

Bainbridge Police said Smith made his way into the Village Circle home through locked French doors.

The residents who were sleeping, though, were soon awakened by the thief.

“My wife nudges me at 3:30 a.m. and says someone is in the house,” said Dave Longoria, the homeowner who was robbed. “I could see and hear movement outside our door.”

When Longoria got up to investigate, he found an intruder filling his backpack with the family’s possessions.

The burglar bolted and Longoria, a former college linebacker who played for the University of Idaho in the 1990s, gave chase.

As Longoria pursued the burglar and began yelling at the fleeing thief, others in the neighborhood heard the commotion and called 911.

“He heads down the street and tries to cut through my neighbor’s yard,” Longoria recalled.

But when the burglar ran across the yard, he came to an 8-foot drop-off between the two properties.

“I caught him on the edge and we just dropped,” Longoria said.

Longoria got on top of the burglar and held him down until officers arrived.

Longoria said his old football skills didn’t play much of a part in the capture.

“My coach probably wouldn’t be happy with me for my form tackle,” he laughed.

Paul Triesch, Longoria’s neighbor, was awoken by the pursuit. He heard Longoria yelling outside and went to help.

“Dave was on the other side of the house and he had a guy on the ground,” Triesch said. “Dave was out there in this underwear on top of the guy!”

As Longoria held the suspected burglar down, Smith was violently attempting to break free. The burglar had a flashlight and was shining it in Longoria’s eyes.

“He was shining a flashlight in Dave’s face so I took that from him,” Triesch said. “He was talking and we just told him to be quiet and wait for the police.”

“I was really shocked that Dave was so respectful of him; he was just holding him down,” Triesch added.

The burglar then tried to talk his way out of the jam.

“He said he had the wrong address and he was looking for a guy who owes him money for dope,” Longoria said.

Bainbridge Police officers soon arrived and arrested Smith.

Triesch said he was impressed by his neighbor’s quick work in nabbing the culprit.

“He is just an absolute rock star for doing this,” Triesch said.

“He picked the wrong dude to rob,” he added.

Though the burglar made his way into Longoria’s home through locked doors, Longoria warned fellow islanders to lock their homes and not fall into a false sense of security just because they live on Bainbridge Island.

“Lock your doors, even in the safest neighborhood of Bainbridge Island,” Longoria said. “I moved here out of Ballard, and I was always getting stuff stolen there. And low-and-behold, here on Bainbridge someone breaks into my house, so lock your doors.”