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Man Uses Machete to Fight Off Drug-Fueled Ex-Con Home Invader

Machete / AP
July 6, 2016

A man was able to fend off a home invader who entered his bedroom as he and his wife were sleeping on Tuesday morning.

The man and his wife were awoken when the intruder smashed a window in the front of their Clearwater, Florida, home. The drug-fueled former convict was in the couple's bedroom before they could react. He then tackled the wife to the ground as the husband grabbed a rifle and machete.

"We just heard yelling," a neighbor identified as Kayla told WTSP. "I heard a guy screaming first and then a girl screaming like bloody murder. To me for it to be a burglary - I wouldn't hear screaming like that. I thought it was a domestic violence kind of situation going on and then all of a sudden the cops showed up."

Police say that the homeowner attempted to load a .22 rifle as the ex-con attacked his wife but was unable. Instead, the man grabbed his machete and began hitting the attacker in his legs. "In defense of his wife," Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualitier told Bay News 9. "He took the machete and began striking this guy and at that point the intensity of the fight got worse.

"It did not stop him from resisting, it did not stop him from fighting, even though he had these big, open, gaping gashes."

When police arrived they used a stun gun on the attacker six times before subduing and handcuffing him. They then took him to the hospital, but he passed away on the drive.

The suspect's father said his son had a "bad drug problem," and he had a criminal history going back nearly 20 years. He was released from prison in March after serving two years for burglary.

Police said their was no indication that the home invader knew the homeowners or any information on why he targeted them.

Published under: Florida