Neighbors held down a suspected burglar

Lake County deputies say neighbors held down a suspected burglar after he was caught trying to break into a car and home. It happened Monday near Mt. Dora.

“I grabbed him. He tried to bite me,” explained Roberto Feliciano.

He says he and another neighbor were trying to stop the man from taking off.  Deputies say 34-year-old Daniel Hill had just tried to pull off a burglary down the road on Holly Drive.

“This guy was trying to break into the vehicle, the wife walks out of the house, notices the guy, startles him. He walks to the back of the house and then attempts to walk into the house where he’s confronted by the husband,” said Lake County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Fred Jones.

Investigators say the husband began chasing Hill, who tried to escape through neighbors’ yards.
Evelyn Feliciano says she was outside when the stranger’s face popped up above her fence.

“He saw my dog and he saw me and my husband comes in at the same time,” she recalled.

The Felicianos say their dog kept Hill out of their yard – but he tried to find another exit out of the neighborhood. That didn’t work.

“We’re all trying to hold him down. At one point, I’m trying to hold him down,” Evelyn said. “My husband said – get away, so he doesn’t kick you. I felt like their lives were in danger because he was really strong.”

They waited for Lake County deputies. Another neighbor snapped pictures of the arrest. Deputies say Hill was checked out because he had some minor injuries from the take down and was then booked into jail on burglary charges.

“This is Lake county, and we do look out for each other,” Jones said. “We have neighbors that make sure the other neighbors are safe. With the help of the neighbors – we were able to get this guy off the streets.”  

Hill is being held at the Lake County Jail on a $20,000 bond.