Bird's words thwart potential burglary

MICHIGAN CITY | A talking parrot alerted a woman to two intruders, who then ran off from a Michigan City-area home.

"He's definitely the watch dog on this occasion," said Daniel Sturken, owner of the 21-year-old blue and gold Macaw.

"He's pretty vocal," Sturken said Monday.

Sturken was at his job Thursday afternoon at Van Air Manufacturing near Michigan City when his wife from another area of the house began hearing Joey speak.

Joey was saying, "Hi. Hi," over and over, leading Sturken's wife, Bobbi Jo, to believe that her husband had just returned.

Bobbi Jo Sturken told LaPorte County police the parrot always tells her husband hello whenever he comes home.

When she walked into the living room to investigate, she expected to see the bird and her husband.

Instead, she saw two men standing outside her window.

The vocal parrot was inside a cage less than a foot away from the open window.

According to LaPorte County police, Bobbi Jo Sturken, with her 4-month-old son in the home, went to another room and retrieved a gun.

She also let loose her two Rottweilers, but the men already had climbed into a vehicle and were speeding away before the dogs could reach them.

Daniel Sturken said his wife's vehicle was at a repair shop, which probably led the men to think the house near U.S. 421 south of Interstate 94 was unoccupied and ripe to be broken into.

"Plain and simple, they were up to no good," he said.