HANOVER – Four New Hampshire men were arrested Tuesday night after being chased out of the house they were burglarizing by its gun-toting owner.

Police arrested Barry J. Vaillancourt-Locke, 23, of 33 Alpine St. in Gorham; Matthew Steven Frank Gauthier, 21, of 10 Corbin Ave. in Gorham; and twin brothers Bradley and Craig LeBlanc, 21, of 757 Sixth Ave. in Berlin.

All four are charged with burglary, theft of a firearm and criminal mischief. Vaillancourt-Locke has an additional charge of aggravated drug trafficking.

Deputy George Cayer of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office said the men destroyed an outer door to the home and broke the glass on an inner door to gain entry.

“Apparently these four desperadoes thought this home was vacant,” Chief Deputy Dane Tripp said.

The home’s sole occupant, 73-year-old Stanley E. Brown, said he woke up around 11 p.m. to find two men stealing from his collection of rifles and shotguns in his living room. He said the men ran off with the guns after he told them to drop them.

Cpl. Chancey Libby of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office said the men took 11 guns and dropped one on their way out the door. Libby said Brown pursued the men with a .22-caliber nine-shot revolver and fired four shots.

Brown said he fired the gun to scare the men off, but was also worried that they might be armed.

“They had my guns, but I didn’t know whether they had guns of their own, or whether they’d found ammunition and loaded my guns,” Brown said. “I wasn’t really trying to hit anybody. Glad I didn’t.”

Tripp said Brown does not face any charges.

After Brown called 911, the Sheriff’s Office, Maine State Police and Bethel Police Department were asked to search for the suspects’ vehicle, a green 1993 Ford Ranger with a purple bumper.

Libby said reserve officer Travis Fillmore of the Bethel Police Department spotted the truck heading west on Route 2 and turned around to pursue. He said the truck sped up and turned off its lights, but eventually pulled over near the Maine Department of Transportation building in Bethel.

“We came up so quickly I think even they were flabbergasted,” Tripp said.

According to Cayer’s report, Fillmore spotted the firearms in the truck bed and waited for backup before the men were arrested at gunpoint. Police found a quantity of marijuana packaged for sale in the truck, along with a 9 mm Luger.

The men were taken to the Bethel Fire Department and interviewed separately. Cayer said that Vaillancourt-Locke, the driver of the truck, refused to talk to police. He said the LeBlanc brothers admitted to the burglary and said Gauthier was also with them. Gauthier said he had been waiting in the truck.

The men made their initial appearance in South Paris District Court before Judge Paul Cote, who set each of their bails at $5,000 cash or $50,000 surety Wednesday. As of Wednesday evening, only Gauthier had made bail and been released from the Oxford County Jail in Paris.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Beauchesne asked for $10,000 cash or $100,000 surety bail based on the severity of the crime and Brown’s age.

“It’s fortunate no one was hurt,” Beauchesne said.

Defense attorney Maurice Porter asked for a lower cash bail, saying some of the men did not have adequate finances to make bail and that Vaillancourt-Locke is the sole financial support for his two children.

Brown said he stepped on broken glass while pursuing the men, but suffered only minor injuries. He praised the police officers for their quick response to the incident.

“They did a wonderful job,” he said.