NATCHEZ — A group of neighborhood watchdogs on Dumas Drive took the law into their own hands Tuesday night when one of the street’s residents attempted to burglarize a neighbor’s house.

Natchez Lt. Craig Godbold said a woman called the police department to report a burglary in progress and then called to rally her neighbors.

The neighbors, Godbold said, surrounded the house to keep the burglar from leaving the house. When the burglar attempted to flee the house, the neighbors greeted him with an unfriendly obstacle.

“They beat him up,” Godbold said. “As they were beating him up, he apparently said. ‘Just beat me up, and don’t call the police.’ They did both.”

Tyrone McGriff, 22, 208 Dumas Drive, was charged with burglary, possession of marijuana and possession of a schedule III controlled substance.