SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – A 39-year-old man faces several charges related to a Tuesday morning home invasion in Sumter County, according to law enforcement officials.
Sumter County deputies received a call for a home invasion around 7:24 a.m. that happened on Ballesteros Drive in The Villages.
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According to a news release, the victim told deputies that a man forced his was into their home and after a brief struggle, the suspect was able to steal the victim’s purse, cell phone and Cadillac from the garage.
Deputies said the suspect drove away in the victim’s stolen vehicle.
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According to the release, detectives were able to determine the stolen Cadillac was in Ocala and coordinated with the Ocala Police Department to help locate the vehicle.
Ocala police spotted the stolen vehicle around 11 a.m. and after a short pursuit and crash, the victim ran away and attempted to carjack another victim, law enforcement officials said.
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Sumter County deputies said in their release that Ocala police officers were able to take the suspect, identified as Michael Prouty, into custody without further incident.
Residents in the neighborhood told News 6 that they awoke to law enforcement knocking on their doors, asking whether they witnessed anything.
“It threw me for a loop. Of all places, I never thought anything like that would happen,” Ginny Haremza said. “You do wonder, you know, what do you do? Do you keep your doors locked? And you open up, and, you know, talk to somebody knocking at the door. I would never thought he would have just busted through the door.”
Neighbor Murray Greene said he is going to be more cautious after this incident.
“I probably won’t sit out as much as I usually do — and maybe not as late at night,” Greene said. “One of my neighbors called and said, ‘We just had a break-in on the street,’ and so one-by-one, we all ran out of our house and onto the driveways. And there they were, I don’t know how many, 50 policemen in the street at that point.”
Officials said Prouty was released from prison in February after serving five years on robbery charges and has a criminal record that dates back to 2000 which includes 13 felony convictions – several of which are robbery charges.
Prouty faces several charges in both counties, according to the release.
In Ocala, he faces charges of fleeing and eluding, attempted car jacking, crash involving Injuries, and resisting arrest. In Sumter County he faces charges of home invasion, battery on a person over 65, and grand theft of a vehicle.
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