PALM COAST, Fla. — A 29-year-old Florida man was arrested this week after deputies say a father swung a baseball bat at him and chased him off his property for peering through his daughter's window.
However, the whole ordeal actually started 24 hours prior.
Back on Sept. 12, Flagler County deputies say that a man and his wife were sitting in their backyard when they saw a man "creeping through the trees adjacent to their property." They yelled at the man, who then took off.
The next night, the father of the house again sat on his back porch, this time waiting to see if the man would return.
He did.
"That night, the father told FSCO that he saw the same man walk through his backyard and towards his 14-year-old daughter’s bedroom window," the sheriff's office explained.
That's when the father swung the bat at the man, who has since been identified by deputies as Damon Smith of Palm Coast. The father then called law enforcement.
Through their investigation, deputies say they were able to develop Smith as their suspect. When they questioned him, the sheriff's office says he admitted to being on the family's property and that he "gets a thrill from walking around people's homes."
“This pervert said he gets excitement from peeping into other people’s windows but this time he came across a father protecting his daughter,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. “Thankfully deputies tracked this pervert down and got him checked into the Green Roof Inn.”
The sheriff's office says Smith is facing the following charges and being held on an $86,000 bond:
- Loitering or prowling, voyeurism — first offense
- Aggravated stalking of a person under 16
