BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A 42-year-old Bradford County man was sentenced to 10 years with the Department of Corrections after pleading to burglarizing a Starke home during a state of emergency, an offense he committed one month after his release from prison.
William E. Sanders, III pleaded to unarmed burglary of an occupied dwelling, criminal mischief, and threatening a victim or witness.
According to an arrest report, the victim, who resides on North Water Street in Starke, originally wanted Sanders trespassed. However, after the victim’s home surveillance video revealed the 42-year-old breaking a privacy gate to gain entrance to the property, attempting to break into the home through various entrances, and staying on the property for an hour, Bradford deputies arrested Sanders for attempted burglary during a state of emergency, criminal mischief, and possession of burglary tools.
According to the report, the video showed Sanders using items he found on the property to try to gain access to the home. At one point, he attempted to unlock a door through a doggie door.
Sanders committed the offenses two days after Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in several counties, including Bradford, because of Hurricane Helene.
According to a motion for pretrial detention filed by prosecutors, Sanders committed the offenses 35 days after he was released from the Department of Corrections on other charges.
“The Defendant has also previously been sentenced as a habitual felony offender…on May 26, 2015, at which point in time he was sentenced to 10 years in the Department of Corrections for felony battery, great bodily harm,” the State Attorney’s Office wrote in the motion.
In a letter to the court, Sanders’s parent said the son struggled with drug addiction and mental health problems and asked the judge for leniency.
“I don’t see how more prison time will help him anyway,” wrote the parent. “He is more clean-(headed) today than I have seen him in years. He has been in jail over six months and drugs are all out of his system.”
