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Neighborhood Burglary
09/03/08 - 05:17 PM

WMBB News Department

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The Bay County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man on counts of Burglary Monday night. The incident took place just down the street from the burglar’s own home.

Jimmy Miller was arrested at his residence on Blue Gill Drive, only a tenth of a mile away from the victim Bradley Hawthorne’s house, also on Blue Gill Drive.

Hawthorne told police he heard his wife’s car door slam while standing on his porch, and then saw someone running towards the back of his property. He says he went inside his residence to get a gun and says when he came back out the intruder was coming toward him making threats. Hawthorne then fired one shot in the direction of the subject. Police arrested Miller after he was identified as the intruder.

Bay County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Jeremy Mathis says this was well within Hawthorne’s rights of protecting himself and his possessions, especially according to a relatively new law.

“Floridians have always had the right to protect themselves from bodily harm,” Mathis said, “And in this case that’s what the victim felt like he was doing is he was protecting himself from bodily harm. Even before the passage of this law, you can protect yourself. You do not have to allow yourself to be hurt or harmed, you don’t have to take the first punch so to speak.”

Things you can do to help lower the chances of a burglary by your neighbor include getting to know those who live around you.

Mathis also said, “I think a neighborhood that communicates between the neighbors is something that can definitely help these problems. I think that if you know the people who live around you, if you have talked to those people and you pass information and share information it can help quell these problems.”

Another thing you can do to help deter car theft is as simple as clicking a button. Mathis says that while officers make a many arrests for burglaries with vehicles, most of the time they could have been avoided if the people had locked their cars.

It’s just another reason to remember to lock your car doors, even if you’re in your own driveway.