A retired Army lieutenant colonel in Dunedin, Florida, fired 30 rounds from his AR-15 rifle at his pool cleaner whom he mistook for an intruder earlier this month, but will not face charges because of the state’s controversial Stand Your Ground Law, the Pinellas County sheriff said on Monday.
The incident occurred on June 15, when Bradley Hocevar, 57, and his wife Jana, 43, were watching a movie at their home and heard noise coming from their lanai. Jana Hocevar saw an unfamiliar man within feet of the sliding glass doors and called 911. The man was Karl Polek, 33, who works for Bay Area Pool Techs and had been cleaning the Hocevars’ pool for six months.
However, Polek had never shown up to clean the pool after dark and did not alert the couple of his presence. He had a flashlight that made Bradley Hocevar think he was breaking in. Bradley Hocevar yelled at the supposed intruder to go away, then grabbed his Colt M4 carbine rifle, which he said was “what most people would call an AR-15 rifle.”
He fired two rounds through the sliding glass door at Polek, who ran away after being hit by glass and shrapnel. He was not directly hit by any of the bullets. Bradley Hocevar continued to fire 28 more rounds in about 90 seconds, even though Polek had already fled the pool deck.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Bradley Hocevar’s actions were protected by the Stand Your Ground Law in Florida, which allows people to use deadly force to defend themselves or others from imminent death or great bodily harm without a duty to retreat.
“Bradley Hocevar was in his home, he was in fear that someone was breaking in. The evidence from the video and from his statements, the audio, his wife’s statement on the video and to detectives that there was no crime that was committed,” Gualtieri said at a news conference on Monday.
He called the incident “lawful but awful” and a “classic example” of the castle doctrine or Florida Stand Your Ground law. He also said it was an “unfortunate set of circumstances” and that Polek should have probably let the Hocevars know that he was coming at nine o’clock at night.
Polek told WLFA that he has hired an attorney following the incident. He declined to comment further.
The Stand Your Ground Law in Florida has been criticized by civil rights groups and activists as a license to kill and a source of racial disparities in the criminal justice system. The law gained national attention in 2012, when George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, and claimed self-defense. Zimmerman was acquitted of murder charges in 2013.
Relevant articles:
– Pinellas sheriff: No charges for Dunedin homeowner who shot at pool cleaner, Fox 13 News, June 26, 2023
– Florida Man Who Shot at Pool Cleaner Covered by Stand Your Ground Laws, Newsweek, June 27, 2023
– Homeowner grabs AR-15 and shoots at pool cleaner he thought was intruder, Florida cops say, Miami Herald, June 27, 2023
– Dunedin man fires at pool tech who he thought was an intruder, sheriff says, WTSP, June 26, 2023