A teenager was arrested Monday afternoon and charged with attempted second-degree murder, attempted aggravated rape, aggravated burglary and theft of property.

About 3:30 p.m. Monday, Rhea County Central Dispatch received a 911 call from a woman in the White Oak community that a young man had entered her home with a gun and had indicated he planned to rape her, according to Detective Chris Hall with the Rhea County Sheriff's Department.

Deputy Charlie Qualls and Sgt. Matt Rose responded to the call initially.

The 38-year-old woman told them a Hispanic young man entered her home brandishing a derringer. He pointed the gun at her and took her back through the home to make sure she was alone. Although he spoke no English, the young man indicated he planned on raping her, Hall said.

The woman was able to maneuver the young man back to the front door. She suddenly pushed him out, he fell to the ground and she locked the door against him. She peaked through the window and saw the teen pointed the derringer at her and ducked. She heard a shot, ran back to a bedroom and called 911 on her cell phone, Hall said.

Sheriff Mike Neal, Chief Deputy John Argo, detectives Hall and Mike Owenby and Narcotics Investigator Mike Bice all joined the search, Neal using his own tracking bloodhound. For 30 minutes the officers trailed the suspect through the heavily wooded area until Bice was able to run him down near Rhea County Emergency Medical Service on Rhea County Highway.

Bice said he found a loaded .38-caliber, two-shot derringer in the suspect's pocket. He also had some stolen property in his position, according to Hall.

The suspect turned out to be a 16-year-old illegal alien from Mexico who was living with a group of migrant workers in the area, Hall said.

Police were initially concerned that there were two armed suspects, after Hall found a .223-caliber rifle bullet embedded in the mobile home. But when Bice inspected the derringer, he found that it was loaded with .223 bullets.

"It's amazing he didn't blow his hand off," Bice said.

The suspect was arraigned Tuesday in Rhea County Juvenile Court. He is being held at the Rhea County Juvenile Detention Center until a hearing Aug. 19.

John Carpenter can be reached at jcarpenter@xtn.net.