Police: man holds home invader at gunpoint

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.- A man woke up in the middle of the night to find a stranger inside the house.

But he wasn’t getting away. Police say the man held the intruder at gunpoint until officers arrived.

The home is in the 300 block of Caicos Drive, not far from Fisherman’s Village.

The couple that owns the home didn’t want to relive their frightening experience on camera.

Officials say their son was visiting from another state with his wife. They say he woke up to use the bathroom at around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night, when he found a stranger standing in his parents’ living room.

He told the man to take a seat and woke up his wife, telling her to bring him his gun.

Instead of shooting the stranger, the man detained 27-year-old Frederick Hawk Jr. at gunpoint until police arrived.

“Unnerving, I thought it was someone having to go to the hospital,” said neighbor Heather Kline. She says things like this just don’t happen in the community.

“I feel very safe, it’s a very isolated incident. There is very little crime here in Punta Gorda, so unfortunately it is a little unnerving,” said Kline.

The Punta Gorda Police Department agrees, telling WINK News the neighborhood likely has the lowest crime rate in the entire State of Florida.

Officials remind residents to close their garages and lock their doors. In this case, police say the home invader was able to get inside through an unlocked back door.

Police say Hawk told them he lived at this house as they were arresting him. They believe he was high on methamphetamine.