Boswell praises his family’s “grit” in fighting off home invader

DES MOINES – Congressman Leonard Boswell today praised his family members for their “grit” and “determination” in dealing with an armed intruder who broke into the Boswell farm home near Lamoni Saturday night demanding money and threatening to shoot them if they didn't comply.

Boswell, a Des Moines Democrat who is nursing a broken rib following the home-intrusion incident, said he, his wife, his daughter and his grandson are thankful and fortunate to have survived the late-night attack with no one getting killed or seriously injured.

The would-be robber fled after Boswell's 22-year-old grandson loaded a .12-gauge pump shotgun and aimed it at the intruder, but not before the man who wore a ski mask to hide his identity had threatened the congressman's daughter and wife by pointing a weapon at them.

The eight-term 3rd District representative said the incident started about 10:45 p.m. Saturday when an armed man came in through the front door, attacked Boswell's daughter, Cynthia Brown of Denver, Colo., and demanded money.

Boswell, 77, said he heard his daughter's screams, came into the entryway and attempted to disarm the intruder, causing all three to tumble down a stairway.

“I wanted a piece of him. He was threatening somebody I care for very much,” Boswell told reporters at a Statehouse news conference.

“I went after him. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted the gun. If he was going to shoot, I wanted it to be at me, not her,” he said. “I tried to knock it away from him but I couldn't.”

The armed intruder then went back upstairs and pointed the gun at Boswell's wife, Dody, 75, again demanding money.

By that time, Boswell's grandson, Mitchell Brown, who lives at the Boswell homestead, got a shotgun from another room. When he pointed the shotgun at the intruder, the man fled into the fields around the house outside Lamoni.

Decatur County Sheriff Herbert Muir told reporters today that the incident remains under investigation. He declined to be specific but told reporters “we might” have a suspect in mind, adding “we have a direction we're going.”

Muir said investigators used a dog to track the alleged assailants path from the farmstead to a nearby county road in the rural area. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are assisting in the incident.

Barry Ferguson, an FBI supervisory senior resident agent Barry E. Ferguson, said the recent attack on a Democratic congresswoman in Arizona has recently “heightened concern” over potential attacks aimed at federal elected officials but he called such incidents “extremely rare.” Investigators have not established any political connection to Saturday night's attempted robbery.

Boswell said he has been fielded a lot of telephone calls from his colleagues in Congress and has been assisting law officers in their investigation since the attack occurred.