Perhaps, but unless this lady was wearing a panic button isn't too much that an alarm system could do.

///

The information was posted on LaBelle's facebook page and the
Lake Deaton neighborhood forum. If you call the sumter police they will give you the info.....might be a better idea than all this speculating and talking about the victim having a personal issue with the perpetrators or how safe the Villages is or how a neighbor did it because of the dog being noisy etc. I am not going to post about the awful way the dog was killed but maybe this will help people to be aware that all is not paradise here.
PS The perpetrators in the breakin in Pinellas have not been caught.

bevlaur: I agree . people seem to have high and unreasonable expectations about this place . Safety and security are a state of mind and if you are the one victimized you can throw the statistics out the window

That's true. Statistics do not mean all that much to the victim trying to cope through whatever crime has been committed against them.

I have been there for various crimes like an attempted car-jacking in Nevada in 1984, sexual assault (no touching) around the Summer of 1988 and stalking of me and my girlfriend for about nine months-- at a law school library in a huge university-- in 1989-1990, and a gas lighting attack in Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs in late March of 2000 over about ten days.

I have read many stories on The Villages online newspaper that make reference to gate cameras, and I believe high resolution cameras have been up and running at all the gates since 2014. They are aimed at the rear of the car so the license plate can be seen and at the front so golf carts can be seen. I'm sure the police have been going over video of all the vehicles that entered that morning.

Here's an example of video taken in the front so golf carts can be recognized; Villages Golf Cart Rampage - YouTube


The company responsible for the cameras and video;

Royce Integrated – The Villages – Villages, FL

Examples of stories from The Villages online newspaper;

"July 20, 2015 - Community Watch in The Villages pulled video from gate cameras that showed Leonard’s truck entering the Pine Ridge gate at 11:54 a.m. Thursday with nothing in the bed of the truck and leaving at 12:26 p.m. with what appeared to be appliances in the bed of the truck covered with plastic."

To summarize the rest of the story; a Wildwood Police Officer following Leonard's pickup truck with new appliances in the rear, stopped the truck and after checking with Fruitland Park Police, they made the arrest using the video.

Another example from The Villages online newspaper;

"September 12, 2014 - The new surveillance cameras installed at gates in The Villages are being monitored in real time at Community Watch headquarters. The new cameras are connected by fiber optics to Community Watch. The information is monitored on 24 screens by Community Watch personnel. A brief update on the cameras was provided at Friday morning’s meeting"

this is true, it is in our
village and was in newspaper last week.

I think calling and asking the police is a very good idea because I have received information from two property owners in Harlow that there was no break in. One I know well, the other identified himself as retired law enforcement.

And when you do call and ask the Sumter County Sheriff, please tell us, if you can without causing embarrassment to any involved.

What is true?
What newspaper?
What Village?

Could you copy and paste it please?

Good advice, Gracie :)

It will be very interesting to see what is finally printed about this incident - either in the online news or in The Daily Sun.

You would certainly think that management of both news sources would be reading all of the speculations on this thread and would want to put it to a peaceful closure.

If there was a serious crime like home invasion and locking a person away in their house, the online paper would jump on it - as would Lauren Richie of the Orlando Sentinel.

If it were a dog locked in a hot garage and nothing more, the Daily Sun would like to let residents know there there is nothing to worry about.

Come on, news sources, give us the closure!

What this guy did to the dog…..we as the villages or the cops….should do the same to him…get arrested is a joke…..they should do the same to "him" enough is enough… i never think like this…but wowwwwww this guy does not deserve anything less.. !!!!!

Wow. :ohdear:

While I believe the scum who beat the dog to death (IF it really happened) should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, advocating that they also be beat to death by vigilantism...is just plain sick.

The dog is still an animal, the perp is a human being and as much as some people might wish it weren't so...they are NOT the same. :(

No. You are right. The more I know about some people, the better I like dogs.

The truth will out sooner or later.

I don't think I've ever heard of a "home invasion" being handled this discreetly.
It seems the Police are taking a guarded approach and releasing very few details to the newspapers.

Retired Agent
 

Is this retired agent living in The Villages? If so, I probably had lunch with him recently.

If not, I would be interested to know if it was someone who I once worked with. I spent six years at the White House during my 20 year career.

In any event, perhaps we could exchange some information via Private Message to see if we have a friend in common.

Let the cops do their job. Its obvious that either an investigation is on going or perhaps the circumstances surrounding this event cause the need for discretion. Isn't it enough that these folks have been victimized without all this chatter

In today's Sun newspaper in the local section they have the crime reported. I don't have it in front of me so I'll paraphrase. They described a man white or hispanic who spoke Spanish about 5'4" to 5'6" with a clipboard was at the front door. The woman answered the door and then she fell into the kitchen when a second man appeared. She could not describe the second man. They took the dog to the garage and killed it and nothing was taken. That's about all that was covered other than the date and time.

That's just very strange. :loco:

I'm still guessing that when all is said and done, someone had an issue with the dog and it wouldn't surprise me if it were a neighbor who snapped from the dog's constant barking.

Given what we 'supposedly' know as of now...that's the only thing that makes any sense. :shrug:

Here it is, quoted exactly;

Labelle Woman Said Burglar Killed Dog

The Villages

A Village of Labelle resident told Sumter County investigators that two people came into her house Thursday and one killed her dog, a sheriff's deputy captain said Monday.

The 64-year-old woman said the incident occurred between 11 a.m and 1 p.m. after a man came to the door with a clipboard. Sumter County sheriff's Capt. Chris Haworth said.

He was white or Hispanic, spoke Spanish and English, and was between 5-foot-4 and 5-foot-6, Haworth said.

She fell into the kitchen, and a second intruder entered, although she couldn't give a description.

She told detectives both intruders left without taking property.

Leah Schwarting, Daily Sun."

Thanks GG for post. Facts almost always promote clarity despite ourselves... More to come, we suppose.

This is all so interesting as I read these posts. I live near the woman and it did indeed happen! The doorbell rang. The woman went to the door. Two men, with clipboards. In a villa, the garage door is right next to the front door. They shoved her in the garage. Small, sweet dog was killed with a hammer. 1:30 in the afternoon. They got spooked and only took a gun that was in a drawer and left. Husband was golfing. No, the news will not tell the entire true story. Village watch trucks have been here a lot lately. But that will not help this tramatized woman or bring back her sweet little puppy dog.
Yes, if they are caught they need the same punishment!

Yes, spoke English and Spanish. One white, one Hispanic.

This is very reminesent of an incident from 3-4 years ago when a lady said 2 men invaded her house in The Villages. Nothing was taken. It was reported on TOTV several different ways and included her being locked in her bedroom OR being locked in the garage and being forced to swallow either a large quantity of booze or to swallow pills - so she would pass out. I believe here was a dog involved somehow in the incident.

As far as I remember, there was no real closure to that one either with no one caught or fully believed.

Unfortunate incident if true most likely an isolated event. However the Villages is one of the safest places Ive ever lived in. Come to Chicago where its a war zone every weekend. Glad to be here instead.

Here it is;

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...-duval-124417/

Why didn't she open her garage door and run out for help? All of the houses have garage door openers mounted on a garage wall.

There is more to this story !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just creepy that these losers are out there....and now with another gun! Very scary!

cameras are moot in this case since you can access Labelle without ever passing by a camera

OK, tell us what you've heard. :popcorn:

Just one more reason I love you Gracie!!! When are we going to lunch????

I have lived in some dangerous areas in the past-- not for long though-- and the Villages does seem to be the safest place I have ever lived. I always love it when I return to the Villages from Palm Harbor, DC, or even Ocala or Orlando.

Still the 2nd Amendment is quite alive and thriving in the Villages which is good. Frequent training and knowledge of the law are also extremely important. So is calmness and common sense. Most important though is looking out for one another.

I also carry, but in no way think the government (whatever that means) is coming for my guns. :loco:

That seems to be a very weird idea out there that is circulating. Cannot think of any policy from a reliable source that would make this a reality.


My 224 613 Project has I hope strengthened the role of survivors/victims in the legal system by empowering them through access to practical knowledge about the rights and services available to them. I started working on this in earnest in January 1991 at great risk and cost to my law librarianship career. Did not start using the numbers 224 and 613 until mid-1993.

There is always ways to improve though. Check your local libraries to see how easy to use any materials they have for survivors/victims are. Keep it simple stupid should be a mantra rather than I need a reference librarian's help to make any sense out of this.

Also look at the Sumter, Marion and Lake County Library Sheriff's web-sites. What do they have for survivors/victims of crimes, prevention of crime, etc. as well as materials to help the mentally ill and those prone to domestic violence? Compare/contrast these with the web-sites of sheriff's offices where you have lived in the past. It could give you some good ideas. Not saying that anyone will actually listen to us but we can try.

You will see that I have been harping on this topic since I got on TOTV in July 2007 and I was fighting with a bunch of lawyers on Findlaw before that from roughly 2002 through 2006 or so. I had an extremely clever and persistent troll on Findlaw almost all that time who hurt me a great deal with respect to getting any where.

My 224 613 Project is international in scope but I do have to pay attention to the place where I have lived since June 2005 as well.

Bizarre thread, very, very strange.
16 pages of posts, lots and lots on conflicting information with very little known for sure.
We know the incident happened at the home of a 64 year old woman in Harlow Villas in the Village of LaBelle. The home owners dog was found dead at the scene. The rest seems mostly speculative.
The thread does seem to expose prejudices/biases common to many Villagers: the concealed carry freaks, the koolaid drinkers, the dog lovers, the dog haters, and most commonly the anxiety addicts (those who simply cannot be happy unless they have something to worry about or be afraid of).
It seems there is more to this story than meets the eye.

P.S. After reading thru almost 160 posts on this subject, I gotta say something to justify the waste of time.

You missed the people who made jokes. Most or all have been removed. Next tme I'll screen shot so when the posters deny it, I'll PM their post to them.

Consider this on home invasion:
Just imagine that you pick up the paper and you see where a home invasion took place and the police were called and the coroner was also called to pick up two robbers who are clearly dead with bullet holes in their chests.
The next day in the paper, another situation is defined where a robber who is deceased needs to he picked up by the Coroner.
The next day in another paper, two robbers are found dead in a home of an elderly couple and the police are investigating.

Well folks, how long do you think this would continue? Problem solved!!!
We lived in Idaho and Utah, at that time, home invasions and robberies were almost unheard of, except in the obituaries.