Scam leads to violent home invasion in Central Florida

Man lured away from Ocala home while his family was targeted

OCALA, Fla. – A man who was trying to be a Good Samaritan and help a woman with a broken down car became the victim of a home invasion after his girlfriend and her son were held at gunpoint.

According to police reports, two masked men stormed into her home with guns drawn just minutes after her husband was lured away. Ocala police say he was trying to help a woman claiming to have car trouble, not knowing it was a plot to rob their house.

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The woman with the alleged car trouble got into a friend's car and took off. By the time the man got back to the house, he saw two masked men running across the lawn.

Ocala police released the 911 call for help on Tuesday.

"We just got robbed, we just got robbed, we just got robbed," the woman said to 911 operators. "They had guns at my head and my son's head."

"And he told me b****, don't move or I'll shoot you," the woman said on the 911 call.

"They came through my front door," the Good Samaritan said. "They had a gun at my head and one at my son's head."

Deacon Larry Greene and members of a nearby local church say they're worried.

"I was very surprised that it happened so close and the way it happened," said Greene.

Valerie Greene agrees.

"The idea of someone breaking into someone's home like that, or forcing themselves in is really scary for us," she said.

Because of the scare, members say they'll start locking the doors to the church.

"We tell our members to love one another, to help one another, but then when something like this happens, it makes people skeptical," said Deacon Greene.

The men were able to get more than $3,500 in cash before they left and they are still on the loose.

Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to contact the Ocala Police Department at 352-369-7000.


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