Sheriff's Officers Go to Wrong Home, Mistake Fla. Judge for Burglar, Hold Her Briefly at Gunpoint
Police ordered a judge out of a Florida home at gunpoint Easter Sunday after they thought she was a burglar, only to find they had gone to the wrong address.
Broward Circuit Court Judge Ilona Holmes was ordered to come out with her hands up when Sheriff's deputies turned up at her sister's Deerfield Beach home following a report of a burglary, WTVJ-TV reports. The burglary report was for the home next door, but a bad address meant they turned up at the wrong place.
Sent to the wrong address on a reported burglary in progress, officers from the Broward County sheriff's department held Judge Holmes at gunpoint, along with her sister and other family members, after mistaking the relatives for burglars as they cleared up after their holiday meal.
Judge Holmes also was legally armed and drew her firearm while still inside her sister's home, thinking that a responding officer rapping on the kitchen window with a gun was the burglar her sister's neighbors had just phoned to warn them about, according to Fox News and NBC Miami.
Although the judge's sister says she and Holmes identified themselves while still inside, the family was ordered outside as officers pointed their weapons at them. The judge was then surrounded by armed officers shouting at her to put down her weapon, which she had warned them she was carrying, as they held her at gunpoint, Fox News reports.
When a senior officer recognized the judge, however, he told the others to lower their guns. Holmes is one of a very small number of black judges in the county, NBC Miami noted.
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