Free Republic

A Florida homeowner who called 911 during a violent home invasion Wednesday morning was transferred to voicemail at the height of the incident when the dispatcher tried to pass the call from the fire department line to police, MyFoxTampaBay.com reported. Women could be heard screaming during the wait as the recording advised, "If this is an emergency, hang up and dial 911." He [the homeowner] told the operator there were four of them who beat his wife and stepmother. He shot one. One suspect was found shot in the back hiding under a car, the report said.

Corey William Becker, 21, has been charged in connection with a St. Cloud home invasion on Saturday where he beat and sexually assaulted another man. Stearns County prosecutors charged Becker with burglary, first-degree assault, kidnapping, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree assault. Around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, the victim told police that he woke up and noticed a man he didn’t know in his bedroom. Police have identified that man as Becker, and said he then went over the victim’s bed and started strangling him saying he needed to die. The victim said there was a struggle, and that he tried...

Police officers busted into a southwest Atlanta hotel room late Monday, ending an hours-long standoff involving two suspects in the recent deadly crimes in DeKalb County.Nine shootings have killed four people in recent days, and DeKalb police had worked 60 hours straight to arrest suspects, Chief Cedric Alexander said early Tuesday. But the investigation and search for possible suspects continues, he said.Three adults — including two homicide suspects and one of their girlfriends — and a 5-year-old boy spent hours in the room Monday during a standoff with officers from three agencies.Cutrez Johnson, 16, and Oslushla Smith, 19, were arrested...

Investigators said there is a good chance nearly a dozen shootings in DeKalb County this weekend are connected. During a home invasion Saturday night, a 9-month-old baby was killed. Investigators told Channel 2's Ryan Young the shootings may have all started with a murder earlier this month. “It’s complicated,” said DeKalb Police Chief Cedric Alexander. “It’s insane. It’s insane.” Officers are going door-to-door on Lani Farm Road looking for clues. “This is a neighborhood. This is a community. So if someone could come into a home, shoot four people then they are just gone, they just get away with it,”...

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- American Idol winner Scotty McCreery and some friends were the victims of a home invasion style robbery in the 2100 block of Raleigh's Wolf Tech Lane just before 2 a.m. Monday. The area is an apartment complex near the N.C. State campus and McCreery is a student at the university. Click here for Google map of the area. According to Raleigh police, three armed people came into the home and took wallets, cash, and electronic items before fleeing.

MADISON (WKOW) -- Police arrested six people believed to be involved in what they're calling one of the most brutal crimes in recent memory. . . . The suspects are accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting the woman who was six months pregnant. "I can tell you that in my 27-plus years of policing here in Madison, this is probably one of the most disturbing and heinous crimes that I've ever seen," says Interim Chief Randy Gaber.

"Finally some rational legislation is passed concerning ‘public servants’ unlawfully entering another person’s property...... Well, Indiana has taken action to “recognize the unique character of a citizen’s home and to ensure that a citizen feels secure in his or her own home against unlawful intrusion by another individual or a public servant.”

CEDAR HILL –– Throughout his five terms as the city's mayor, Rob Franke has been open about his stepson's battle with addiction. On Tuesday he spoke openly about his stepson's death. Joshua Slaven, 31, was fatally shot by a homeowner as he broke into a residence located on Stoney Creek Drive around midnight Christmas Eve. Franke says his stepson of more than 25 years has battled addiction since he was a teenager. Throughout his life, Slaven checked into numerous rehab facilities to treat his heroin addiction. (snip) "We saw that Josh was on something, and something different," said Franke. "He...

A Cedar Hill homeowner fatally shot a suspected would-be burglar overnight, authorities say. Joshua Slaven, 31, was pronounced dead at 11:59 p.m. on Christmas Eve, according to the Dallas County medical examiner. Authorities say the shooting occurred on Stoney Creek Drive about midnight when a man attempted to break in through a window.

McMillan encountered the invader in a hallway, and the two exchanged gunfire, deputies said. McMillan was hit in his torso. He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was in stable condition. Though deputies haven't ruled out the possibility of multiple suspects, only one was seen, described as a thin male with his face covered. The suspect made no demands, investigators say, and nothing was taken.

The victims, a man and woman, told deputies the suspect tried to force his way into the home at gunpoint, placing a woman who lived at the home in a choke hold. They added that the woman was able to alert her husband, who confronted the suspect with a gun. Lt. Sheila Cole with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office said the male victim, described as a 78-year-old man, was airlifted to the hospital, having suffered a gunshot to his stomach. Cole said the suspect returned fire before running from the scene and driving off in a black SUV.

Four suspects have been arrested after a bizarre, early-morning home invasion in Lincoln Heights on Saturday that ended with a resident tying up two of the armed men. The suspects, armed with a shotgun and three handguns, allegedly entered a house on the 2600 block of Alta Street in Lincoln Heights, said Officer Norma Eisenman of the Los Angeles Police Department. The resident, who was the only person home at the time, saw the suspects on a home surveillance system and called 911 about 2:40 a.m., she said. As police and SWAT units arrived, one suspect was seen fleeing the...

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the Cleveland man shot dead Tuesday morning while he and another suspect invaded an East Side home in an attempted robbery. Officials say Robert L. Brown, 20, died near the Rudyard Road home where he and another man beat and pistol-whipped resident Everton Mosby, 24. Mosby shot Brown and cohort Willie R. Riley, 27, about 2:30 a.m. The suspects approached Mosby in his driveway and forced him inside the home, police said. Mosby, who is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, was able to reach his weapon and open...

Before I go any further, let me start by saying this: the problem is not that all police are bad. The problem, is that increasing numbers of police officers are badly trained, illiterate when it comes to the Constitution, especially the Fourth Amendment, and, in some cases, willfully ignorant about the fact that they are supposed to be peacekeepers working for us, the taxpayer. Unfortunately, with every passing week, we are hearing more and more horror stories in which homeowners are injured or killed simply because they mistook a SWAT team raid by police for a home invasion by criminals....

The teenaged son of a Houston Police officer shoots and kills a suspect during a home invasion. Investigators say the 18-year old heard a commotion while he was home alone in the Mission Oaks subdivision off Clodine Rd (FM 1464).

Yesterday as I was doing some work and surfing Free Republic, I got a knock on the door. I never answer the door when home alone and didn't yesterday. I didn't think much of it initially as we get a lot of solicitors, Jehovah Witnesses, etc. The individual kept knocking rather aggressively and ringing the bell. I looked out a side window and saw a car. Because there can sometimes be lawsuits at my husband's company, my immediate thought was that perhaps he was receiving a summons for a court case that needed his testimony. While this has never happened...

The Fourth Amendment protects us from random invasions of our homes by police, right? We know we're secure in our "persons, houses, papers, and effects" unless the cops demonstrate probable cause to a judge and get a warrant. Except... Except when they don't. The fact of the matter is that police have a lot of leeway to bust your door down and take a look around if they fear that waiting for a warrant could lead to loss of evidence or danger to people. Or lead to something, anyway. That end run around the Fourth Amendment is called "exigent circumstances,"...

After leaving her operating room scrub nurse duties at Sarasota's Doctors Hospital on Wednesday, Louise Goldsberry went to her Hidden Lake Village apartment. Her boyfriend came over, and after dinner — about 8 p.m. — Goldsberry went to her kitchen sink to wash some dishes. That's when her boyfriend, Craig Dorris — a manager for a security alarm company — heard her scream and saw her drop to the floor. Goldsberry, 59, said she had looked up from the sink to see a man “wearing a hunting vest.” He was aiming a gun at her face, with a red light...

LAND O'LAKES -- The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a Land O’Lakes shooting that left two people injured. It happened at a cottage in the 4400 block of Land O’Lakes Boulevard just before 6 p.m. The sheriff's office said two men went into the cottage armed with a fake gun and tried to rob the people inside. Someone inside then pulled out a real gun and shot the suspects, deputies said. Both of the injured men ran outside and collapsed on the sidewalk by the road. A registered nurse, Jennifer Price, was driving by with her daughter and stopped...

A man suspected of having invaded that New Jersey home and severely attacked the woman, including throwing her down the basement stairs has been arrested and charged with first degree attempted murder, first degree robbery, 2nd degree burglary and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.