https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/27/2178016/--Lawful-but-awful-homeowner-not-charged-for-firing-30-shots-at-his-pool-cleaner?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email

One reason why gun laws are so darn difficult to get correct..


A headline in the Tampa Bay Times reports: “Dunedin man fired 30 AR-15 rounds at pool cleaner he thought was intruder, sheriff says.” The story starts:

“A Dunedin man will not face charges after he fired 30 rounds from his AR-15 rifle at his pool cleaner whom he mistook for an It seems that last June 15th, around 9 pm, Bradley Hocevar (57) was watching a movie at home with his wife Jana (43). She heard a noise coming from their lanai. Investigating, she saw an unfamiliar man a few feet from her sliding glass doors and called 911. So far, so good.

The man was not a stranger. He was their regular pool cleaner Karl Polek (33), who worked for Bay Area Pool Techs. He was there to clean the Hocevars’ pool. However, Polek had never worked after dark during the previous six months he had cleaned the Hocevar’s pool.

Bradley yelled at Polek to go away. Unfortunately, Polek was going to his truck to get a flashlight and did not hear him. Security camera footage showed Polek returning to the pool area, using the flashlight to complete paperwork. As he went to place the paperwork by the door, Bradley saw the flashlight moving toward the house. He opened fire and sent two rounds through the sliding glass door.

Polek ran away, but the Hocevars could not see because the blinds were closed, and they had taken cover behind their couch.

Both the 911 dispatcher and Jana repeatedly pleaded with Bradley to stop shooting. But 47 seconds after the first two rounds, he fired a few more. Finally, 25 seconds later, Bradley unloaded his AR-15′s magazine — meaning he fired 30 rounds in about 90 seconds. Polek sustained minor injuries from shrapnel and flying glass but was not hit directly by the bullets.

Bradley will not face any charges because, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law protects Bradley Hocevar’s right to fire on someone he believed was a threat to him and his wife. “There was no crime committed,” Gualtieri said. “This is one of those situations we call lawful but awful.”intruder earlier this month, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced on Monday.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/27/2178016/--Lawful-but-awful-homeowner-not-charged-for-firing-30-shots-at-his-pool-cleaner?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email

One reason why gun laws are so darn difficult to get correct..


A headline in the Tampa Bay Times reports: “Dunedin man fired 30 AR-15 rounds at pool cleaner he thought was intruder, sheriff says.” The story starts:

“A Dunedin man will not face charges after he fired 30 rounds from his AR-15 rifle at his pool cleaner whom he mistook for an It seems that last June 15th, around 9 pm, Bradley Hocevar (57) was watching a movie at home with his wife Jana (43). She heard a noise coming from their lanai. Investigating, she saw an unfamiliar man a few feet from her sliding glass doors and called 911. So far, so good.

The man was not a stranger. He was their regular pool cleaner Karl Polek (33), who worked for Bay Area Pool Techs. He was there to clean the Hocevars’ pool. However, Polek had never worked after dark during the previous six months he had cleaned the Hocevar’s pool.

Bradley yelled at Polek to go away. Unfortunately, Polek was going to his truck to get a flashlight and did not hear him. Security camera footage showed Polek returning to the pool area, using the flashlight to complete paperwork. As he went to place the paperwork by the door, Bradley saw the flashlight moving toward the house. He opened fire and sent two rounds through the sliding glass door.

Polek ran away, but the Hocevars could not see because the blinds were closed, and they had taken cover behind their couch.

Both the 911 dispatcher and Jana repeatedly pleaded with Bradley to stop shooting. But 47 seconds after the first two rounds, he fired a few more. Finally, 25 seconds later, Bradley unloaded his AR-15′s magazine — meaning he fired 30 rounds in about 90 seconds. Polek sustained minor injuries from shrapnel and flying glass but was not hit directly by the bullets.

Bradley will not face any charges because, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law protects Bradley Hocevar’s right to fire on someone he believed was a threat to him and his wife. “There was no crime committed,” Gualtieri said. “This is one of those situations we call lawful but awful.”intruder earlier this month, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced on Monday.”

I used to do phone work. What sucked was when someone could not get a hold of somebody else they would report their phone line out of service. I was already on over time and I was sent out to check a line out of service. We called it a no dial tone.

So I am searching in the dark for an address in a small town. All I have is an address and back in those days many folks did not post their addresses, but I found the house. I knock on the door, nobody answers. I find the outside box to see if I have dial tone outside. I do, and I am about to tag the door when this frightened woman comes out of the house, and asks me what the hell I think I am doing prowling around her house in the dark.

I tell her I am from the phone company and her phone line was reported out of order. Then she told me the reason she had stopped answering her phone was that her ex husband had been harassing her. I always thought I was lucky not to get shot.

Yes, you were.. It seems many people have stories in this vain..

Even I do sort of.. When I was in high school I delv papers a number of times.. then we had to collect the couple of $$ they owed.. so many times out in the dark knocking on doors, but early just after dark in the winter that was 5 or 6 oclock... I had trouble with one house, light on and tv noise, so I bang and knock on the door... two collage age girls came but with a club of some sort and fearfully asked who I was, or they would call the police. I did manage to get the $1.90 cents from them, but they made arrangements so they did not have to come to the door when that scary guys came in the dark. I always wondered how long they stayed in the city. Hope they got degrees and lived a happy life..

Finding the right house was always a problem, which meant bothering a lot of people who did not know their next door neighbors. I stopped at a rural home, knocked on the front door, nobody answered. I went around the back to a screened in porch. I knocked on the back door and a guy came out and I told him who I was and who I was looking for. I was at the wrong house.

Then he said, " why aren't you dead ? I have two big dogs who should have torn you to pieces. I wonder where they got to ? Oh wait I see them. They are up on the hill chasing deer. " I thought that since I was at the wrong house, this was a good time to leave.

Another time I was in a home checking phone jacks. A woman and her small children and a k**ler dog were at home. The woman puts the dog in a small room and tells her 4 year old daughter to hold the door which did not have a latch. I am trying to work while this dog is barking and doing everything it can to get out and k**l me. I keep hearing the little girl telling her mother that she can no loner hold the door. This little girl's failing strength is the only thing between me and death. I wrapped up my work quickly and escaped to tell the tale.

Then there was the time My buddy and I stopped at a home, he went inside while I stayed outside. There was a dog in a fenced in enclosure. I am pretty good reading dogs. The dog came over and I would have petted him, but he wagged his tail and growled at the same time. A dog like that has a few screws loose. My buddy came out of the house and saw me near the dog and assumed I had been petting him. Before I could say something he reaches in and gets bit.

Wow, I only got bit one time.. a dog so small it had to leap up to bite my ankle.. but when I showed the lady of the house, she scoffed and said, it is just a little dog, do not be such a sissy... now that hurt..

But two times as a UPS driver got my attention.. one german shepard came charging to the door when I knocked, a little girl about 8 or 10 shushed him down and he sat just looking me over, then I needed the package signed for so the gall ran out to the kitchen to mom.. the dog did not miss a second, lunger for the door, I was holdig it open while I talked and slamming it shut I got his head in the open portion and he snarled, growled and I clearly heard him say what he was going to do to me... Then pretty fast , mom and the girl rushed in, again shushed the dog, signed the paper said the were sorry and everything was fine.. but that dog truly would have done me in if it had just a few moments longer..

The other was also UPS and also a german shepard.. I had two small packages for next door houses, dropped one off and walked through the yards to the next one.. a German shepard rushed after me and when it joined me, I ran its jaws accross my leg, I could feel the teeth slide over me but it did not bite me.. Looked at me as if it wanted to have me for lunch.. but walked up to the next house to drop the package and then back to the truck I was using.. what a turn of attatude.. seemed to think I was a buddy. or maybe he just did not think I would taste bood..

and those are about the only dog stories I can think of at the moment.. but dog tales are always interesting..

I used to do phone work. What sucked was when someone could not get a hold of somebody else they would report their phone line out of service. I was already on over time and I was sent out to check a line out of service. We called it a no dial tone.

So I am searching in the dark for an address in a small town. All I have is an address and back in those days many folks did not post their addresses, but I found the house. I knock on the door, nobody answers. I find the outside box to see if I have dial tone outside. I do, and I am about to tag the door when this frightened woman comes out of the house, and asks me what the hell I think I am doing prowling around her house in the dark.

I tell her I am from the phone company and her phone line was reported out of order. Then she told me the reason she had stopped answering her phone was that her ex husband had been harassing her. I always thought I was lucky not to get shot.