DULUTH  (AP) -- A Minnesota judge began the new year by arming himself with a pistol and confronting a man who had broken into his house.

Police say 6th Judicial District Judge Shawn Floerke subdued a man who had broken a window at his house in Duluth about 3 a.m. on New Year's Day.

Floerke grabbed a .45 caliber pistol from his safe in the home.

Duluth Police spokesman Jim Hansen says a man involved in a fight near the judge's home on New Year's Eve later broke into the house. Floerke detained the 26-year-old Duluth man, who police say was highly intoxicated.

The suspect told police he didn't know a judge lived in the house.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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