'Get the f*** out of my house!' Florida man reportedly hides in closet to catch squatter living in his house for months, scares off intruder with warning shot

A Florida man reportedly returned from an extended trip to New Zealand to find a man squatting in his house. The armed homeowner said he hid in the closet to catch the squatter and fired his gun to scare off the intruder when he wouldn't leave.

An unnamed homeowner visited New Zealand for seven months and returned to his home in Ocala, Florida. The man allegedly noticed that his electric bill had gone up while he was overseas but didn't think much of it. Then when he returned home on June 9, the man said he saw that his door was ajar.

The home was reportedly trashed inside. He also realized that some items had been stolen, including guns, an electric scooter, tools, his Social Security card, and the deed to his house. He notified police that his home had been robbed.

The man said that he felt like someone had been living there while he was away. Concerned about a possible squatter, the homeowner slept inside a closet with his handgun in case someone returned.

"I open my eyes, and here’s this guy at the bedroom door, looking straight down at me," the homeowner told WOFL. "I freaked. I jumped up with my pistol and said get the f*** out of my house!"

The trespasser allegedly told the homeowner that he was the intruder.

The homeowner recalled the man telling him, "'You don’t belong here, you don’t own this house! This house has been vacant for three years.'"

The homeowner replied, "Get the f*** out of my house!"

The purported home intruder allegedly said, "You can’t do that, you’re going to jail! I’m going to call police!' I said, ‘Go, good, call police.’ And he did."

When the alleged home intruder refused to leave the house, the homeowner fired a warning shot into the bottom left corner of the front door, according to the affidavit.

The alleged home intruder then fled from the house.

The homeowner contacted the Marion County Sheriff's Office, officers of which later arrested 26-year-old Ze’Moye Brown.

Brown reportedly told investigators that he had been living at that house for "a few months," and he was the only one staying there. He allegedly said in the interview that the house had been vacant for three years and that the windows and doors were unlocked. Brown claimed that he didn't steal any of the items.

When deputies searched Brown, they found a rock-like substance in his pants pocket, which later tested positive for methamphetamine. He also is accused of possessing a small baggy of marijuana.

When police asked the homeowner if he wanted to press charges against Brown, he suggested only trespassing charges.

He told police, "I said, ‘I don’t want the guy to go to jail. He reminds me of my son, in a way. Tall, skinny, too smart for his own good, and dumb as a bag of rocks at the same time."

Brown was charged with misdemeanor trespassing, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, and felony possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. Brown is being held on $4,000 bond. He is scheduled to return to court on July 11.

Ocala homeowner slept in closet awaiting squatter who trashed his homewww.youtube.com

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