Good on ya Granny

(WAYNESBURG, Ky.) -- Don't cross this 82-year-old former Miss America.

Venus Ramey was crowned Miss America in 1944. Last week, she caught a man she thought was stealing from her farm in south-central Kentucky. So she shot the tires out of his vehicle so he'd be stuck there until police came.

She was on her Lincoln County farm, in central Kentucky, last week when she saw her dog run to a nearby building where she stores old equipment. Ramey says thieves had been breaking into the building to steal the machines, so she decided to investigate.

When she confronted a man she found on the property, he said he would leave. Ramey says she told the man, "Oh, no you won't."

Ramey had to balance on her walker as she pulled out a snub-nosed 38-caliber handgun.

"I didn't even think twice. I just went and did it," she said. "If they'd even dared come close to me, they'd be 6 feet under by now."

Ramey then flagged down a passing motorist, who called 911.

When deputies from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department arrived, they arrested Curtis Parrish of Ohio and charged him with trespassing, Deputy Dan Gilliam said. Three other people were detained and questioned but were not arrested, Gilliam said.

Ramey lived in Cincinnati for several years -- even making an unsuccessful bid for City Council in 1979 -- and was instrumental in helping rejuvenate Over-the-Rhine historic buildings.

"I remember her as being an interesting character," said former councilman Guy Guckenberger. "She was something else."

She returned to Kentucky in 1990 to live on her farm.

"I'm trying to live a quiet, peaceful life and stay out of trouble, and all it is, is one thing after another," she said.