Woman orders dogs to attack accused home intruder barging through door, Florida cops say

A suspected carjacker saw his situation go from bad to worse when he tried hiding in a Florida woman’s apartment — and discovered she had very protective dogs, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.

In the minutes that followed, the man found himself being chased by two pit bulls while trying to squeeze through of a small second-story window, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

It happened Monday, Aug. 14, in the Daytona Beach area, and the 42-year-old suspect made it out of the apartment, only to be captured at a nearby warehouse, officials said.

The episodic pursuit began three hours earlier, when the suspect pulled a gun on a man pumping gas and demanded his car and money, officials said.

The stolen Toyota Corolla was then abandoned at the Whispering Winds Apartments, where the suspect became the unwelcome guest of a woman and her two dogs, officials said.

“A 57-year-old woman ... partially opened her door after hearing someone banging on it while screaming ‘Momma.’ (The suspect) forced his way through the door, knocking her backwards, and slammed it shut,” the sheriff’s office said.

“When she realized (the man) was a stranger, the victim commanded her two dogs (identified as pit bulls) to attack him, and they did. As Daytona Beach police officers arrived at the door of the second-floor apartment, (he) ran into the kitchen and broke a small glass window before jumping out of it.”

A SWAT team is credited with arresting the suspect “after an extended time of no compliance” at a warehouse, officials said.

He was then taken to Halifax Health Medical Center for “treatment of cuts that were believed to be sustained during the break-in and/or jump from the nearby apartment,” officials said.

The suspect has been charged with “armed carjacking with a firearm, armed robbery with a firearm, grand theft, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, resisting an officer without violence, burglary of an occupied dwelling with battery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, criminal mischief, and trespassing,” officials said.

“The firearm believed to have been used in the carjacking was recovered from a different nearby apartment complex ... where a 7-year-old boy discovered it around 4 p.m. Monday,” the sheriff’s office said.

“The boy’s mother reported her son had accidentally fired the handgun, striking an unoccupied apartment. Fortunately, no one was injured.”

Daytona Beach is about 60 miles northeast of Orlando.

This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 9:46 AM with the headline "Woman orders dogs to attack accused home intruder barging through door, Florida cops say."