A Florida man who allegedly fired 30 AR-15 rounds at a pool cleaner he thought was an intruder will not face charges.
People is reporting that on June 15, Bradley Hocevar was alerted to noises by his wife, Jana Hocevar and noticed an unknown male figure on their back deck.
The figure was in fact the family's pool cleaner, Karl Polek, who was behind schedule with his work and had arrived at the Hocevar's home at 9PM, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri claimed during a press conference on Monday.
"Polek did not knock on the door. He didn't call or make any attempt to notify the Hocevars that he would be entering their back lanai and going on to their pool deck at 9PM," Gualtieri explained, "When Polek entered, he did so through a side door."
When the Hocevars noticed the 33-year-old pool cleaner advancing towards their door with a flashlight, Hocevar allegedly opened fire with his AR-15 assault rifle, firing off two rounds. This caused Polek to run away from the pool lanai.
"Polek was turning away, and he was hit with glass and shrapnel from the rounds. So he wasn't per se shot. He was struck in the back with shrapnel from the rounds and glass," Gualtieri added.
Despite sending Polek running, Hocevar, 57, reportedly continued to fire, believing the supposed intruder was still on the property.
Continuing his statement, Gualtieri said, "Bradley Hocevar still couldn't see out the back windows, but both he and Jana stated that they heard a noise and believed the person was on the back deck.
"So 47 seconds after he fired the first two rounds, and 47 seconds after Polek actually ran away, Bradley Hocevar fired additional rounds, and 25 seconds after that he fired more rounds. In total, Bradley Hocevar fired 30 rounds from the rifle in about 90 seconds."
Polek was treated in hospital for minor injuries and released the same night. Gualtieri described the incident as an "unfortunate set of circumstances" but affirmed that Hocevar had acted within the law when firing his AR-15. The incident falls under Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' law, protecting a person's right to fire towards someone they believe poses a threat to them.
Gualtieri concluded, "This is one of those things if I was going to sum it up, it's a terrible set of circumstances but it's unfortunate, avoidable, but it's probably one of those things that I would call lawful but awful.
"It's lawful, but it's just an awful set of circumstances. But we're fortunate that no one was seriously hurt. There was no crime that was committed and Hocevar was acting within the law when he fired."
.jpg_nzIl5V?tr=h-184)
