Tuesday, July 16, 2013

FL:Udate, More Detail Multiple Home Invader Story in Melbourne


MELBOURNE — Mike Augenti heard his girlfriend scream and ran toward the front door. There he confronted several men.He drew his handgun.

Within moments, the invaders — one grazed by a bullet — had fled, a dog was
wounded and Augenti, his girlfriend and their infant daughter were left
scared and shocked.Someone at the corner-lot home at 2700 Pepper Avenue called police. It was  11:41 p.m. Wednesday.

 Gunshots rang out through the neighborhood northwest of Sarno and Wickham roads. The caller reported as many as four men, some armed with firearms, had broken into the home.

Carissa Augenti said her brother confronted the robbers at the front door.“My brother was just about to leave, and he heard (his girlfriend) scream,” she said.

“The homeowner reacted by pulling his own handgun and firing at the
suspects,” Melbourne Police Sgt. Sheridan Shelley said. A pit bull was
hit, Carissa said, and was with a veterinarian Thursday morning.The suspects fled.

“Officers searched the area of the home looking for the suspects but didn’t find
them,” Shelley said. “Other officers went to area hospitals when they learned there might be an injury.”Officers were waiting at Holmes Regional Medical Center when two men dropped off a man police identified as Bobby Culler, 25. Culler had been shot in  the arm; police suspect it was during the home invasion robbery.

 Culler had an active warrant for his arrest, for allegedly failing to appear in court, and police say more charges are pending when he is released from the hospital. Records show Culler has pending cases accusing him of drug possession and resisting police.

Police caught up with the two men who dropped Culler off. Shelley said one of
them, the driver, was released. Investigators are working to determine
whether the driver was involved in the original crime.

The passenger, identified by police as Leonard Valentine, was arrested.
Valentine, 18, is charged with armed burglary and a violation of
probation. He is from Melbourne.

Police did not say whether the suspects returned fire; however, at least one
firearm was found in the yard. Six planks of a wood fence ringing
Augenti’s backyard had been broken at the top and police evidence
markers stuck nearby.Augenti is not facing charges.


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