Man confronts crowbar-wielding burglars

DELAND, Fla. – A 68-year-old man fought back after finding burglars in his home who were armed with a crowbar.

The two suspects broke into the man's enclosed pool area in the 2200 block of Country Club Road in Deland on Aug. 15.

Neighbors said they think because the Deland Country Club is now abandoned, their houses have become a target for crime. They said the clubhouse has been broken into several times and now, and so has the house immediately next door.

When Thomas Ostermann came face-to-face with two burglars in his screened-in pool, he grabbed his gun to protect his property, said the deputy's report.

On his call to 911, an out-of-breath Ostermann can be heard saying he confronted the two men walking through his house with a crowbar.

"They both fled. One of them ended up in my pool and I tried to keep him. He broke loose (but) I got his shirt," Ostermann told the dispatcher. "The one that got away -- I don't know whether he dropped it or not -- had a crowbar."

Even though he fought with one of the burglars, Ostermann was not seriously injured.

Both burglars fled, but deputies said a shirtless man seen on security cameras at a nearby CVS matches one of the suspect's description. Police dogs tracked the suspects to the CVS not far from the victim's house.

At this point, deputies are not calling the man in that picture a suspect, but they do want to find him and talk to him.

"This guy's pretty secluded back here and I see he has bars on his windows. And they brought a crowbar, makes sense they brought a crowbar to get into the bars because who carries around a crowbar?" wondered neighbor Danny White, who said he thinks the burglars hit the house because it sits at the edge of the now-abandoned country club. "Kinda scary, but definitely keep and eye on things and spread the word around the neighborhood, let people know what's going on. Make sure this doesn't happen again. Hopefully the guys get caught."


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