Florida Man Who Shot at Pool Cleaner Covered by Stand Your Ground Laws

Police have said no crime was committed when a Florida resident fired multiple AR-15 rifle shots at his pool cleaner, who he mistook for an intruder.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held a press conference on Monday about the shooting, which took place at a Dunedin, Florida, home on June 15 at about 9 p.m.

Gualtieri detailed the events that saw Bradley Hocevar, 57, shoot at pool cleaner Karl Polek, 33, after his wife, Jana Hocevar, 43, heard noises coming from their lanai.

He said Hocevar was protected by Florida's Stand Your Ground law, and that while the situation was unpleasant, it was lawful.

"A person who is in a dwelling or residence in which the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and use or threaten to use: non-deadly force against another [...] [and] deadly force if they reasonably believe that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm," according to the Florida statute on Stand Your Ground.

While the couple was watching a film, Jana Hocevar saw an unfamiliar man within feet of the sliding glass doors and called 911. The 911 call was used as evidence by the police in determining that no crime was committed by Bradley Hocevar.

Discussing the incident, Gualtieri said that Polek, of the Bay Area pool Techs company, had never come after dark to clean the pool as their normal schedule dictates he is at the property on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

Gualtieri also stated that in the past six months, Polek had never come to the property at 9 p.m. While at the property on June 15, Polek also failed to alert the couple to his presence.

CCTV footage shows Polek come into the shot carrying pool cleaning equipment and placing it down before returning to his truck to get a flashlight.

While he went to his truck, Hocevar yelled and asked the person to identify themselves, but it is unlikely Polek heard this while he was at his truck, police said.

Polek was also seen filling out some paperwork when he returned and placing it on a table before Bradley Hocevar fires through the glass in the direction of Polek.

After the shots began to ring out, Polek ran, only sustaining minor injuries from shrapnel and flying glass. He wasn't directly hit by any of the bullets.

"This is a classic example of what's called the castle doctrine or Florida Stand Your Ground law," Gualtieri said, after showing the 911 call and the CCTV footage.

"Bradley Hocevar was in his home, he was in fear that someone was breaking in. The evidence from the video and from his statements, the audio, his wife's statement on the video and to detectives [show] that there was no crime that was committed.

"He was in his home, he was defending what he thought was an intruder coming into his house where he and his wife were.

"It's an unfortunate set of circumstances, when we talked to the poor guy [the pool cleaner], in hindsight he should have probably let him know that he was coming at nine o'clock at night and he made no effort to contact them at all.

Gualtieri also stated that Bradley Hocevar is a retired lieutenant colonel from the army, so obviously he was trained in firearms and fighting.

Deputy Jamie Miller of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office told Newsweek when asked for comment to refer to their press conference led by Sheriff Gualtieri.

Update 6/27/23, 8:19 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a response from Jamie Miller.