As an intruder rummaged through his living room and his two children slept upstairs, Tim Maynard stood near a doorway, naked and armed with a baseball bat.

The burglar came toward him and Maynard swung, breaking the man's jaw and sending him stumbling out a sliding door.

"At the beginning I was frightened. I didn't believe what was happening," said Maynard, 28. "Once I knew what he was doing, I knew I had to do everything to protect my family."

Police responding to a call placed by Maynard's wife arrived about 5:45 a.m. Wednesday to the couple's home at 233 Griswold St., and Officer Jeremy Barnett arrested the alleged burglar in a neighbor's backyard.

The suspect was taken to Allegiance Health for treatment of a broken jaw, Jackson Deputy Chief John Holda said.

Police will seek charges when he is released from the hospital, Holda said.

While Becky and Tim Maynard slept, a man had entered the Maynards' home through a sliding glass door, Tim Maynard said.

Becky Maynard, 29, heard noises, felt "frozen with fear" and awoke her husband, she said.

She took a phone off a night stand and went to a bathroom connected to the bedroom to call 911.

Knowing she was away from the intruder, Tim Maynard, not bothering to get dressed, fetched the bat stored beneath their bed for "just such an occasion" and listened to the noises in the living room.

The man was pulling at cords stemming from the TV and other electronics, pushing around the family's possessions and making a lot of noise, Tim Maynard said.

Intending to stand guard until the man left the home or went after Maynard or his wife or children, Maynard said he was forced to act when the intruder headed into the bedroom, which opens to the living room.

He hit the man, who fell, and struck him again. The man then went outside and over the backyard fence, Tim Maynard said.

"I shouted after him, 'Get out of my house. Leave,'" Maynard said. He then checked to make sure his daughter, almost 3, and his son, 1, were safe.

The two never woke, he said.

Tim Maynard said the man took off from the house with video and digital cameras, Becky Maynard's Blackberry and a cold beverage, all of which police recovered.

Some other items were spilled about the living room floor, Tim Maynard said. Blood and chewing gum were near the back door.

He said he felt fortunate nothing went wrong, that his wife and children were unharmed.

"I wasn't like in a rage. I just wanted him out of my house and away from my family," he said.

"Life is really fragile. Our safety is really fragile, and that is a sobering thought."