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Rebecca Lopez reports

DALLAS - A Dallas store owner has expressed qualms with verified response after he encountered a burglar literally still hanging out in his store while responding to his business' burglary alarm.

While the police department says verified response cuts down on the number of false alarms cops respond to, Chris Nguyen didn't seem to care about that when he stumbled upon a burglar in his store with no sign of the police.

When Nguyen raced inside his store after receiving a call that the store's alarm went off, he said he was surprised to find the burglar still hanging from the ceiling after falling through a grease trap.

"When I opened the door I see the guy stuck there [and] two legs moving," he said.

He and an employee, Tai Nguyen, forced the burglar to the ground and told the man not to move.

"If you move I will shoot you," he said he told the burglar as he went to the floor.

However, what really concerned Nguyen was news that a second man armed with a rifle was on the roof.

"[It was] very scary, very scary," Tai Nguyen said.

Critics of verified response say Nguyen's encounter is the perfect example of business owners putting themselves at risk trying to verify a burglary before police will respond.

"It's creating more danger, and of course it's a service businesses are paying for and expecting and not getting," said Michael Stein, a verified response opponent.

But the Dallas Police Department said while opponents worry about burglars getting away or business owners taking justice into their own hands, they believe the system gives the department more time to focus on confirmed crimes.

"We are not asking our citizens to go out and stop burglars and arrest people for us," said Lt. Vernon Hale, Dallas Police Department. "All we are asking for us in verified response is that the owner, the manager, the alarm company or security company go to location and verify that something is not right."

Dallas police said that 97 percent of business alarms that went off in Dallas during 2006 were false, and not responding to false alarms saved manpower for more critical and urgent calls.

E-mail rlopez@wfaa.com