He Phoned Home

Travis Suomi, 18, decided the home of a 78 year old man in Port St. Lucie, Florida, would be easy to rob. He knocked on the door at 1:30 a.m. and asked owner, Mr. C.L. Norvell, if he could use his phone, saying his car had broken down.

Norvell refused to let him in, but handed out his cordless phone to use. Suomi made a call, and then asked if he could use the bathroom.

Norvell again refused, and Suomi tried to force his way into the door, only to find that Norvell had pulled a .38 out of his bathrobe pocket and said, "It's best you get out of here!" Which Suomi did - on the run.

When police arrived, responding to the 911 call, they learned the phone had caller ID on it, and discovered that Suomi had called his own home. They picked him up there, and charged him with home invasion, which is a first degree felony.

Too bad for him that C.L. Norvell is a retired police chief!

Copyright © 2002 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 12, No. 6, 7/02