No charges for Bradley Hocevar in Karl Polek pool shooting’ A Florida homeowner who allegedly unloaded dozens of bullets on a pool cleaner he thought was an intruder will not face criminal charges.
No charges for Bradley Hocevar in Karl Polek pool shooting
No charges for Bradley Hocevar in Karl Polek pool shooting – Security footage
Bradley Hocevar, 57, was acting within the bounds of the Sunshine State’s “Stand Your Ground” law when he opened fire on Karl Polek, 33, who was apparently at the home to clean Hocevar’s backyard pool, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gaultieri said at a press conference on Monday.
“[It’s] probably one of those things that I would call lawful but awful,” Gaultieri said of the June 15 shooting incident. “It’s lawful, but just an awful set of circumstances.”
Security footage and audio of a 911 call by Jana Hocevar, 43, reveals that the couple had no idea who was in their backyard at around 9:00 p.m. that night — only that it was a man and he appeared to be approaching the house with a flashlight. Exterior home camera footage shows Polek entering the backyard and appearing to prepare to clean the pool: He sets out his equipment, makes a few trips to his truck, and appears to be inspecting either the pool or the ground using his cellphone flashlight.
At one point, Polek is seen appearing to wave toward the inside of the house.
Bradley Hocevar apparently told Polek to leave, but Gaultieri said that due to the configuration of the house and where the homeowner was standing when he issued his message, it’s possible Polek didn’t hear the warning.
Bradley Hocevar fired two initial shots at Polek before eventually unloading more than 30 rounds from his AR-15 rifle.
“The bulk of those shots were after Polek had left the pool deck,” Gaultieri said at the press conference.
