Three crooks were caught on video, smiling and laughing before they attempt a home invasion. However, seconds later, all you saw were their backsides as they quickly realized they had made a huge mistake.
Law enforcement officials released a video of a thwarted home invasion in Pensacola, Florida, which quickly garnered attention as it featured suspects running for their lives. According to reports, the homeowner was alone at 11:40 PM when three individuals approached the front door of the home. In the footage, you can clearly see the suspects laughing and smiling right before the door is opened.
“Two of the suspects barge in while a third can be seen standing guard outside with what appears to be a firearm. Deputies said the homeowner dropped a gun he was holding while trying to fend off the attack and that the pistol was picked up by one of the intruders,” New York Post reported. “But the victim managed to scramble to another part of the house where he kept additional firearms and began shooting at his assailants.”
That’s when gunfire erupted on the Ring camera footage, followed by all three invaders running as fast as they can out of the home and away from the homeowner, cops said. They climbed into a nearby getaway car being driven by a fourth suspect and fled.
The Escambia Sheriff’s Department further clarified what happened inside the home. During the home invasion, the victim’s gun fell to the ground, and one of the suspects picked it up, the sheriff’s office said. But, the victim ran to a back room, grabbed another gun, and started shooting at the intruders, officials said. In an earlier post, the sheriff’s office called the homeowner’s second weapon an “AK-47-style gun.”
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said the homeowner will not face any charges for shooting at the suspects because he has a right to protect himself and his home. “So those of you who might ask a question, is the homeowner going to be charged for shooting at these people? Absolutely not,” Sheriff Simmons told Fox News.
Sheriff Simmons backed the rights of homeowners to defend themselves. “The homeowner is protecting himself, and in Florida and Escambia County, you can protect yourself,” he said. “If someone breaks into my front door, barges in, and attacks me or my family, they are going to get shot,” Simmons added. “I afford that same consideration to the residents of my county.”
According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department, Da’Torrance Hackworth, 20, and Antonio Dewayne Dean Jr, 18, were arrested and charged with use/display of a firearm during a felony, possession of a firearm by a felon, larceny, grand theft of a firearm, and robbery/home invasion with a firearm.
At the time of the incident, Antonio Dewayne Dean Jr had active warrants for other alleged offenses, including domestic violence battery, carjacking, aggravated assaults with a firearm, and robbery with a firearm, Sheriff Chip Simmons told the Pensacola News Journal. The sheriff identified a third suspect as Joseph Roman Sanders, who reportedly drove the getaway car.
“We get a report of a third individual that had a wound to the head not long after (the home invasion),” Sheriff Simmons said. “The stories he’s giving us as to how he got shot in the head are inconsistent at best. In short, we don’t believe him. So what we’re looking at is to determine whether this is the third person that was involved.”
Self-defense laws differ depending on what state you’re in. Florida’s self-defense laws include what lawmakers refer to as a “Stand Your Ground” law that allows individuals to use deadly force if they reasonably believe that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to themself or another. Additionally, the law authorizes deadly force to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. Unlike some other states, Florida does not require individuals to retreat to a place of safety instead of using deadly force.