Be Aware
 

It doesn’t hurt to have an alarm system and defensive weapon available in your home in The Villages.

“A husband and wife in The Villages were terrified when they were awakened in the wee hours and the husband found an intruder in their home.

The couple had been asleep in their home in the Village of Pine Ridge at about 4 a.m. Monday when they were awakened by the sound of the garage door opening, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department. The husband got of a bed to investigate the situation.

He entered the laundry room and found 37-year-old Barry Ray Wilbanks of Wildwood…”

https://www.**************.com/2024/...in-their-home/

Have to think about this

Be sure to let us know what you come up with.

That intruder is lucky he is alive today.

I agree. I have a SimpliSafe wireless alarm system that would have sounded a loud alarm when the intruder either opened a door or triggered a motion detector. It cost about $150 on Amazon, it is entirely wireless, and it can be installed in about 30 minutes. Additional sensors can be added at any time. I don't have any central monitoring, which would cost extra.

This is a tough situation. I hate to see anyone die unnecessarily but when a crook breaks into an occupied house/car they just let me know they value their life less than what they are after. If this happens to me I hope I have the wherewithal and time to assess the situation to gage whether they are violent before I start shooting. It could be a fairly innocent act, someone lost or out of their mind.

I suspect that just making them aware that you know they are there would send most of them running for the door - just remember to always give such people, and wild animals, an easy exit route.

Now that is some sage advice.
If the fact that they know that you know they are there doesn't scare them away, that would indicate another level of bad intentions.

Sounds to me like the guy was contemplating suicide. Either that or he was/is pretty ignorant and thought that no one was home. The Villages is probably one of the last places a savvy criminal would think of burglarizing, considering that probably half of it's residents have guns in their homes.

Since 2007 I have lost count on how many garage doors can be opened by another neighbor, or in this case an intruder. Our first home watch, cautionary view was use the lock on your garage doors.

Our second house, press button and I could open 4 different garages and my own. Our locks are on when we travel, and at night. Plus outdoor cameras, around the house and pool.

An alarm, a dog, or move out of Fruitland Park.

I'm wondering how this looser opened the garage door? Also, the homeowners are lucky this guy wasn't violent.

Read post #10

Put the hand cannons away. I don’t know many of these posters but the ones I do, wouldn’t make it through reception in a jail on a wrongful death charge!

Nothing says loving like a 34 oz autographed Ted Williams Louisville Slugger! :1rotfl:

Amen.. Great idea. Not sure why some people seem entitled/obligated to execute an intruder for stealing their $500 TV.

I get the heightened sense of violation...I have had my car and my apartment broke into. The thief has certainly have earned the right to be prosecuted...but to kill somebody for stealing a TV,? an iPhone?.

Alarms are a great way to go. Most burglars run when the dog barks or the alarm goes off. Unless you have drugs, jewelry, guns or a WHOLE lot of money in the house (see drugs above) most thieves are satisfied stealing your AMAZON packages.

I despise/hate thieves--but the punishment for Petit Theft is NOT the death penalty.

Today's journalism is so awful, reports like these raise far more questions than they inform. How did the burglar open the garage door? Was it locked? The sound of the garage door opening woke them? Does the wife keep her purse in the laundry room? If not then perhaps the burglar was searching for it throughout the house. Who knows? Also, links to their own articles list several arrests for various crimes from this individual over a number of years, do they report any follow ups? Not that I see.

Question
 

Sometimes, you just don’t know what an intruder is up to. Rape, robbery, murder, drug dazed trip? It isn’t about the death penalty. It may be about personal protection. Intruders have to know, it isn’t OK. Not every intruder falls under the more nefarious acts like Charlie Mansons tribe, but some do.

Garage door open is an easy fix using today’s technology. I had smart WiFi garage doors that alerted based on settings, open, closed or door has been open for x time and alerts phone, it could also be set to auto close if you did not want to bother, etc. The link for the news article did not work for me. I am not sure why someone would waste time entering an occupied home when there are so many empty ones.

Sometimes I wonder how some folks have lived as long as they have. Lucky, I guess. Even in the most liberal law states, you have the right to defend yourself and others in your home. I do not agree with those that think that someone breaking into their home while they are sleeping, will result in a mere TV theft. Unless you are telepathic, and can read someone's mind and intent, you do not know what the burglar's intent is when he violates your home security. Sure, maybe an alarm will scare the would-be thief away. But, why is it OUR responsibility to scare them away? As far as I am concerned, anyone that breaks into my home, can not expect a passive response. Kind of hard to tell the emergency responders "but I thought he only wanted my TV" after you stood back and allowed the criminal to enter your home, and harm your family. Wake up, these animals know that they are violating the law and can expect the ultimate penalty. I believe in security devices to protect you, but I also believe in personal protection. Someone that has to force their entry can not expect sympathy. Enough with the attempt to try to understand the reasoning behind a criminal's intent.

If you enter my house, I guess you expect that I'm supposed to know your intentions? Rob, harm or murder me? Do you ask, are you just here to steal my TV, if so go ahead...No sorry it doesn't work that way. I'm gonna just lay there while you invade my private home and hope for the best.. Wow I have heard it all...

The castle doctrine says we have the right to use deadly force to anyone breaking into our home if we feel threatened. Florida is one of the states that 100% supports this!

We have an electronic alarm system but it is the backup. Our primary alarm is a 60 pound Walker Hound who sleeps on the foot of our bed. At the slightest sound, she is up standing in the bedroom door barking.

You have to get too close to use your slugger and have to hit hard enough and in the right place. The picture of the intruder and his previous criminal convictions are against you. It only takes one good punch from a much stronger bigger person to knock you down and your head hit floor to be dead especially if they then start kicking and stomping on you. What if they have partner outside or in another room or they have a hand cannon? Have alarm system, Call police and be prepared to defend yourself from 10 ft away while waiting 5-10 min for police (which is enough time to be sexually assaulted to the lady who wanted to let them have whatever they wanted).

“Wilbanks was arrested in 2021 after allegedly punching his father. Wilbanks had been arrested in 2018 in another family dispute. He served time in prison after that arrest and was released Dec. 31, 2019.”

how about a motion sensor light instead?

How many AK-47s will you need?

One for me, one for my wife, one for my dog and 2 spare-----5

The Villages is not immune to societal decay and so all are on the same page and would be intruders understand, FL doesn't play...

776.013 Home protection; use or threatened use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.—
(1) A person who is in a dwelling or residence in which the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and use or threaten to use:
(a) Nondeadly force against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force; or
(b) Deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony.
(2) A person is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another when using or threatening to use defensive force that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to another if:
(a) The person against whom the defensive force was used or threatened was in the process of unlawfully and forcefully entering, or had unlawfully and forcibly entered, a dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle, or if that person had removed or was attempting to remove another against that person’s will from the dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle; and
(b) The person who uses or threatens to use defensive force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry or unlawful and forcible act was occurring or had occurred.
(3) The presumption set forth in subsection (2) does not apply if:
(a) The person against whom the defensive force is used or threatened has the right to be in or is a lawful resident of the dwelling, residence, or vehicle, such as an owner, lessee, or titleholder, and there is not an injunction for protection from domestic violence or a written pretrial supervision order of no contact against that person; or
(b) The person or persons sought to be removed is a child or grandchild, or is otherwise in the lawful custody or under the lawful guardianship of, the person against whom the defensive force is used or threatened; or
(c) The person who uses or threatens to use defensive force is engaged in a criminal activity or is using the dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle to further a criminal activity; or
(d) The person against whom the defensive force is used or threatened is a law enforcement officer, as defined in s. 943.10(14), who enters or attempts to enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using or threatening to use force knew or reasonably should have known that the person entering or attempting to enter was a law enforcement officer.
(4) A person who unlawfully and by force enters or attempts to enter a person’s dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle is presumed to be doing so with the intent to commit an unlawful act involving force or violence.
(5) As used in this section, the term:
(a) “Dwelling” means a building or conveyance of any kind, including any attached porch, whether the building or conveyance is temporary or permanent, mobile or immobile, which has a roof over it, including a tent, and is designed to be occupied by people lodging therein at night.
(b) “Residence” means a dwelling in which a person resides either temporarily or permanently or is visiting as an invited guest.
(c) “Vehicle” means a conveyance of any kind, whether or not motorized, which is designed to transport people or property.
History.—s. 1, ch. 2005-27; s. 4, ch. 2014-195; s. 1, ch. 2017-77.
Copyright © 1995-2024 The Florida Legislature

I once had a sheriff’s deputy come to my house for a security inspection. I mentioned that I had replaced the striker plates screws with 3.5” ones in the of both my front door and bedroom door, which I lock at night. If someone comes into my house, that will give me time to crawl out my window and call for help. He said “Don’t do that! Florida is a stand-your-ground state!” 😡

I don’t know about you gun owners, but I could never live it down if I killed someone who was just a thief who had never hurt anyone or a neighbor with dementia who wandered into the wrong house.

I find it amazing that so many people are terrified of things that are extremely rare, yet do little to improve their chances of survival for things that happen often. I’m 73 and have never been in a situation where my life was threatened and I needed a gun. I don’t even know anyone who has ever needed a gun. I expect that applies to almost all of you.

Want to increase the odds of having a long life? Put down the phone when you are driving. It’s simple to do and costs exactly nothing.

Not Terrified
 

I’m afraid of nothing. In fact, I become quite methodical when confronted by most anything. It’s in my DNA, face and confront the problem. Most of us were raised that no one else is going to step in when a snake a bat, an intruder are present. What are you going to do, call for help? It’s up to you to get it done. At least speaking for myself, I’m not gonna wait 10 or 15 minutes for the police to arrive.

It’s the criminal who should be afraid, and I’m here to make sure of that.

How do you know what they might do?
 

If they are drugged up they are capable of extreme violence, not just stealing. So what would you do, sit him down for an interview? Maybe offer him a cup of coffee to discuss his intentions?
Like they say, "when seconds count, the police are just minutes away".
smh...

Didn’t know we could lock our garage door openers. Will ask hubs about that. Thanks!

Very well stated!

Florida law is pretty definite on this, at least according to hussein and webber dot com: "If the defendant is in his or her home or vehicle, then, under Section 776.013, Florida Statutes, the law will presume that the defendant had a reasonable fear of imminent death or bodily harm if the alleged victim unlawfully entered or remained or attempted to remove another person against their will."

I read this to mean that in Florida, a violent act on the part of a home (or vehicle) invader does not have to actually be threatened or occur. The law assumes, if the invader makes it into the home or vehicle, that said invader INTENDS to perpetrate "imminent death or great bodily harm", and the homeowner can act accordingly.

Is it draconian? Maybe. But if you're faced with a home invader or invaders, the time for logic, reason, and waiting for the criminal to act is long past. Statistically, it is near 50-50 that if that happens, the invader is there because he is desperate for drug money. "Almost 40% of people locked up for property crimes...reported that they had committed their most serious offense for drug-related reasons. " (bjs dot com), and it is pretty much a given that someone resorting to stealing to feed an addiction is not going to act rationally. I might welcome a 60-40 edge if I was in (say) Vegas, but when my life or well-being, or that of my loved ones, is at risk, then I'm definitely NOT going to roll those dice. It needs to be 100%, or as close to that as possible, and I'm grateful that Florida law would back me up on that account.

Obviously there are two unique groups in this thread, one that thinks the bad guy is in deep trouble another that thinks the bad guy needs a hug.

To the huggers: No one wants to kill anybody, gun toters are not looking for an excuse to use them. Think about the mental toll it would have on any one of us to kill someone that didn't have malicious intent. Also consider the impact it would have on you to know that your hesitance to act cost your loved ones life or well being.

To the gun toters, my brethren, we have the responsibility to try to assess the situation and act appropriately. The possibility a lost neighbor with dementia wandered into our house is high, very high in a place with 150k old folks. The possibility it is a victim of domestic violence looking for shelter is high given the substance abuse we hear about every day. The possibility it is a desperate person caught in a hopeless situation due to the economic mess the world is in is high and getting worse by the day, we have communities on 2 or 3 sides that have lower income people in them.

At the end of the day I'm going to do my best to avoid unnecessary harm if possible. That said, if there's any question in my mind at all I'm going to err on the side of acting rather than take the chance. That might cost a life but it won't be mine or my family if I can help it.

Not going to commit suicide. He was rummaging through the wife’s purse in the laundry room. He was brazen to enter the home.

I have never needed to use my smoke detectors to save me from a burning home, but I think it is a great idea to have them. Having them does not mean I am living in fear that my house will burn down. It is the opposite, having them means I do not have to live in fear of it.

Why did you change out the plates? Are you loving in fear of a criminal murder you in your home, or did you install them so you feel safer? Did you ever need to use the plates to run away in fear? Why have them?

A gun means never having to run away in fear, hoping to escape, praying you do. Fearing what would happen if you do not escape.

There is a slider switch below the light button on the wall pad to lock/unlock the door.

The deputy who did my security assessment said to remove the rope on your garage door because people have used something inserted at the top of the door to grab the handle and disconnect the door from the opener. The door can then be lifted easily to open it.

My question is, if someone has the gull to break into another’s home, how do you know he’s not carrying a gun and would do harm to you and your family? Once the intruder realizes someone is home and awake, you’d think they’d immediately run out. But what if they don’t? At what point do you protect yourself?

I bet most people that own guns for self-defense don't practice nearly enough (or at all!) to be effective at much more than scaring someone. Maybe that's enough, but you'll do a lot of property damage shooting through your own walls trying to save your stuff. If you haven't practiced, GO PRACTICE and get instruction (skill and law)! It's not uncommon for criminals to be looking for drug money, which means they can possibly be drugged, take more hits than normal and your misses won't stop anything; they may even end up with your gun!

I am still curious how the guy got out of the house alive.

Breaking into an occuppied /unoccuppied home is NOT petit theft. And if they don’t value their life, why should we?