Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells gave an update Friday on an attempted home invasion that led to a homeowner opening fire, hitting and killing one of the suspects (FOX 13 Tampa Bay). YouTube Tips ⓘ
A South American immigrant convicted of home invasion and residential burglary in Oak Brook, Illinois in June 2023, and an absconder at large for a parole violation with the Illinois Department of Corrections was shot and killed by a homeowner while he was allegedly committing a home invasion in Bradenton, Florida. His accomplice was arrested a few blocks away during a k-9 track.
An absconder is a person who has been released from custody or probation/parole and has gone missing while avoiding legal process or authorized control. Absconders are also known as fugitives or fugitives from justice.
According to the Bradenton Herald and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, just after 9 p.m., Thursday, December 26, 2024 the images of two masked offenders were caught on the homeowner’s video surveillance entering the back of a house in the block of 6700 Hickory Hammock Circle in the River Club community east of Bradenton. The River Club community is not a gated community, and is located on the west side of Manatee County, which is across Tampa Bay and southeast of St. Petersburg and Tampa.
“This is the state of Florida. If you want to break into someone’s home, you should expect to be shot.”
— Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells
At a news conference on Friday, December 27, 2024, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said the victim homeowner’s surveillance camera detected motion on the side of the home. He then spotted two masked men, and told his wife to find a safe place and grabbed his gun.
The homeowner and his wife had been enjoying their night at home when the husband got an alert from the home security cameras. He told his wife to get to a “safe place” before grabbing his firearm and walking into a bedroom where he was “immediately” confronted by one of the masked invaders already inside his home, according to Sheriff Wells. The homeowner fired three shots in the bedroom from a semi-automatic 9 mm pistol, striking one the alleged intruders. The other masked intruder, who was still climbing through the window to enter the house, backed out of the window and fled.
Manatee County Sheriff’s Deputies reported that they tracked the fleeing suspect with K-9 units, and arrested him a few blocks away. The suspect, identified as Michel Soto-Mella, age 39, was transported to a local hospital for minor K-9 bite injuries, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. Michel Soto-Mella is believed to have migrated from Chile into California a few months ago.
Police authorities in Florida identified the male offender who was shot and killed as Jorge Nestevan Flores-Toledo, identified in Florida as a 27-year-old from Mexico. Police indicated that the suspect also uses an alias of Anibal Miller-Valencia. In Illinois, the Illinois-convicted offender was known as Anibal Miller-Valencia, an immigrant from South America.
After his death, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office became aware that Miller-Valencia had an active warrant out of DuPage County, Illinois and the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) for parole violation. He was considered armed and dangerous. Identified in Illinois as South American immigrant from Chile, Anibal Miller-Valencia, had been arrested in Oak Brook, Illinois, in 2023 — accused of being the getaway driver for an accomplice involved in a home invasion and residential burglary. Anibal Miller-Valencia was sentenced four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections as a criminal involved in home invasion and residential burglary, but he was paroled in just under six months. Anibal Miller-Valencia (5’03” 158 LBS) was released on parole in Illinois on November 22, 2024, and was shot dead just over one month later in the Florida home invasion.
January 2023: Alleged Getaway Driver Captured in Getaway Car in Fullersburg Woods
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Oak Brook Chief of Police Brian Strockis announced that bond was set Monday morning, January 16, 2023 for a South American immigrant accused being the accomplice connected to a break-in home invasion at an Oak Brook home in January 2023. Anibal Miller-Valencia, age 21, appeared at a bond hearing Monday, January 16, 2023 where Judge Joseph Bugos set bond at $1.5 million with 10% to apply. Miller-Valencia has been charged with one count of Home Invasion (Class X Felony) and one count of Residential Burglary (Class 1 Felony). If convicted, he faced a penalty of between six to thirty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Instead, as mentioned above, the South American immigrant served almost 6 months in jail for residential burglary and home invasion before being released on parole on November 22, 2024.
On January 13, 2023, at approximately 6:38 p.m., officers with the Oak Brook Police Department responded to a call of a home invasion on Luthin Road. Upon their arrival, officers spoke to a female juvenile who was home alone at the time of the incident. Following an investigation into the matter, it is alleged Miller-Valencia and two unknown accomplices drove to a nearby forest preserve parking lot and parked their car. Allegedly, the two unknown accomplices left the vehicle while Miller-Valencia waited behind. At approximately 6:31 p.m., Miller-Valencia’s unknown accomplices then went to the home on Luthin Road, broke a rear glass door and entered the home. Allegedly, while the accomplices were in the home, the juvenile hid behind a door and that after a short time, the two individuals fled into a nearby wooded area. While investigating the incident, officers found Miller-Valencia in the forest preserve parking lot seated in the driver’s seat of the car with the car running. He was arrested and taken into custody.
“I can’t imagine the terror this young victim must have felt when she heard glass breaking and unknown voices in her house while she was home alone. Everyone has a right to feel safe in their own home, but for this young victim, that sense of safety has now been shattered. The type of violent behavior alleged in this case also has a crippling effect on the entire community. Thanks to the quick response of the Oak Brook Police Department, one of the individuals suspected in this case is now in custody and if found guilty is facing a significant amount of time behind bars. I thank the Oak Brook Police Department for their outstanding work on this case as well as the multitude of other agencies that assisted. I also thank Assistant State’s Attorneys Helen Kapas, Alyssa Rabulinski and Thomas Elsner for their efforts in assisting with the investigation and preparing a strong case against Mr. Miller-Valencia.”
— DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin
“Oak Brook Police Officers work diligently on a daily basis to keep our community safe. A person’s home should be their safe haven and this incident violated that space. I’m incredibly proud of our response to this incident and coordinated efforts of twenty-one other police agencies that responded to assist. I’d like to thank all the agencies that responded with officers, drones, K-9’s and a helicopter, the response was quick and impressive. I’d also like to thank our detectives who worked tirelessly throughout the weekend with State’s Attorney Bob Berlin and his office to secure charges.”
— Oak Brook Chief of Police Brian Strockis
Miller-Valencia’s next court appearance was scheduled for February 6, 2023, for arraignment in front of Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh.
Members of the public are reminded that this complaint contains only charges and is not proof of the defendant’s guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
— DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office
Initially, there was no confirmation whether Anibal Miller-Valencia was a documented or undocumented migrant from South America. Anibal Miller-Valencia is believed to have arrived in the United States in Miami, Florida from Chile earlier in January 2023. According to the Migration Policy Institute, South American immigrants in the United States represented close to 8 percent of the 44.9 million foreign born in the United States in 2019, up from 1 percent in 1960. South American immigrants account for a fraction of all immigrants from Latin America, with populations from Mexico and Central America significantly larger. South American immigrants in the United States from Chile in 2019 were calculated at 94,000 in 2019. The top three immigrant counts from South American countries are Colombia (808,000), Brazil (502,000), and Venezuela (465,000).
Home invaders ransacked a home in Oak Brook over the weekend, taking valuables while a teenage girl was still at home. YouTube Tips ⓘ
^^ MOBILE? USE VOICE MIC ^^
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