Mother Holds Intruder at Gunpoint for 13 Minutes While Waiting for Police

Zachary Stieber
By Zachary Stieber
June 5, 2019US News
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Mother Holds Intruder at Gunpoint for 13 Minutes While Waiting for Police
A person holds a gun in a file photo. (George Frey/Getty Images)

A Florida mother said that her home was broken into in the early hours of the morning and that she eventually held the intruder at gunpoint, waiting 13 minutes for police officers to arrive.

Surveillance footage shows some of the events on the morning of May 25 at the house in Hudson.

Devin Cooke, 25, who lives nearby, was identified as the alleged intruder.

The situation began just after midnight when homeowner Lauren Richards said she saw a stranger come to her door. She called 911 at 12:41 a.m.

After hanging up, Richards was looking at her garage when she noticed her pet pig starting to sniff the air, sensing someone nearby.

“His nose immediately goes to the ground, he picks up a scent,” Richards told WFLA. “Which means the man has either been in my garage or is in my garage.”

Richards said she went to her garage, which is attached to the house, and saw that the garage door had been shut, prompting her to scream, open the garage door, and call 911 again. That call was placed at 12:54 a.m.

“I have a gun pointed and I need the police to show up immediately,” said Richards on the 911 call. “I called 10 minutes ago and nobody has shown up.”

The first law enforcement officer did not show up until 1:07 a.m.

As Richards continued standing with her gun, waiting on the authorities, one of her neighbors, Hector Nieves, came over to her home with his gun.

“I’m just like I gotta help, you know,” he said. “She’s got little kids. We held him at gunpoint until the cops showed up.”

They were finally relieved from the tense situation when Pasco County Sheriff’s Office deputies showed up, some 26 minutes after the first call was placed. According to the county, the average response time for similar calls is 10 minutes, 31 seconds.

“Had she not had a gun and been ready to protect herself or call the neighbors, she might be standing here cause who knows what would happen,” Nieves’ wife Melodie Nieves stated.

A sheriff’s office spokesperson told Yahoo that the two 911 calls were merged after the second one.

“The two calls were merged by dispatch approximately 90 seconds later, at 12:56 a.m., and additional units, including Air, K9 and a Sgt., were dispatched,” the representative said.

“Given the priority of the second call, those units responded with lights and sirens, as opposed to the first unit, who was en route following normal traffic laws, given the fact that the suspect had left the area and the call had been subsequently downgraded.”

According to a police report, Cooke thought his grandparents had been killed. He was scheduled to undergo a mental health evaluation.

“On May 29, upon further investigation, a probable cause order was issued for Devin Cooke for the burglary charges. The medical facility where he was staying was alerted to this and a police hold was placed on him. This means that when he is able to be released from the facility, the facility will notify PSO and he will be released to our custody, under the burglary charge,” the representative stated.

“Our priority is ensuring the safety of all parties involved. On May 25, our priority was to secure the scene and ensure both the caller and the suspect were unharmed. Given the substantial amount of witnesses during the incident, and the fact that the suspect remained in medical custody during that period, the investigation could be completed at a later date than the incident date.”

Body camera footage from one of the deputies obtained by WFLA showed them discussing whether the alleged intruder could be charged with a crime since he had been ordered before the alleged burglary to undergo the evaluation.

“Quite frankly…the fact that he is dealing with a mental health issue and that we’re going to take him for an evaluation for that based on a court order—I don’t think that we could reasonably justify charging him with that crime as well,” one deputy said.

“His intent is not there,” said another.

Hector Nieves said the deputies didn’t take statements from him or the homeowner.

After the broadcaster started inquiring about the case, deputies returned to the home to talk to him and the homeowner and Cooke will be charged with a felony charge.

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