Armed Condo Ass'n Rep is Criminally Charged After Entering Unit to Check for Water Leak
Condominium association issues can prove dangerous, and the troubled economy and real estate market have further stressed sometimes-troubled relationships between owners. Meanwhile, inexperienced owners serving as managers can create further turmoil.
At least one of these factors apparently may have come into play yesterday when a 64-year-old representative of a South Florida homeowners association was arrested after allegedly entering a unit without permission and holding a gun to the head of its authorized occupant, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Virgil Wilkinson told Boynton Beach police he armed himself before entering what he thought was an unoccupied unit at Four Sea Suns Condominiums to check for a possible water leak, then discovered a man he thought was an intruder in the bathroom with the door locked. Wilkinson then called police and held the 44-year-old occupant, who, it turned out, had lived in the unit since 2009 with the owner’s permission, until the authorities arrived, according to the newspaper and a police report.
He was charged with false imprisonment, armed burglary to an occupied dwelling and aggravated assault.
Related coverage:
Chicago Tribune (2006): “Man gets 85-year sentence in ‘04 murder”
USA Today (2004): “Neighborhood rules on the line”
