State police Trooper Jonathan Bayer of Butler didn't let the fact that he was off duty keep him from helping Pittsburgh police halt a burglary in progress and possibly solve more than a dozen other crimes. He proved that his police skills don't take a break even when he is off the clock.

Bayer, a public information officer for Troop D, which is based in Butler, was parked outside his friend's house on Pittsburgh's South Side Tuesday when he observed two men who weren't authorized to be in the friend's house leaving the residence, one of them carrying a digital camera. Bayer held the two alleged burglars at gunpoint while he waited for the arrival of on-duty police.

Police subsequently charged one of the men with 13 other break-ins and two attempted burglaries. The man told police he had a heroin habit and began burglarizing houses about a month ago after losing his job.

"It's kind of comical," Bayer said. "You're picking a house to break into and you pick one with a state trooper waiting for his friend to come home."

It's true; the situation was comical.

However, Bayer in fact put his well-being on the line in thwarting the burglary. At the time he confronted the burglars, there could not have been total certainty that only two individuals were part of the crime.

It's a credit to the state police when its troopers show that they are dedicated to their work 24/7.