JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 20-year-old man has been arrested and charged with burglarizing a home in Queen's Harbour, one of Jacksonville's most exclusive neighborhoods.
Police arrested Kyle Franklin on Wednesday inside a house on Marsh Harbour Drive in the subdivision, and they believe he that he might be connected to other burglaries there.
The woman who lives in the home where Franklin was caught said her perspective has changed.
"We think we are living in this gated community (and) we are very secure, but one should not take anything for granted in life," Amna Khawaja said.
She said it was scary to learn that a man had gotten inside her home. She said he got in through the back sliding door of the house and it was lucky that no one was home.
She said that was a frightening possibility.
"I had tremendous fear for myself, for my kids," Khawaja said. "They are tiny. They're very little, so it's very scary to even go in there thinking that he could have been there. He could have walked into the house and … something might have happened to us."
Officers originally thought a family member might have been inside the house, so they approached it with their guns drawn. They said Franklin, who is from Pennsylvania, climbed into the attic, and they eventually caught him with his head hanging out of a hole in the ceiling.
Police have been called about several other break-ins in the area, and they believe that Franklin (pictured) could be connected to those.
A News4Jax viewer who lives inside Queen's Harbour sent in video taken by cameras surrounding the viewer's home.
In the video, a man matching the description police gave of Franklin can be seen walking up to an SUV and looking inside. He is wearing a bandanna over his face and black gloves and is carrying a small hatchet.
Police said Franklin had those same three items on him when he was arrested.
Khawaja said neighbors saw Franklin trying to get into homes in her area and called 911. She's grateful for those neighbors and a lesson learned.
"You have to make your home secure more. You have to make sure that you're not leaving anything out in the open for others to come and take advantage of," she said.
Franklin is charged with burglary, possession of burglary tools and two counts of car burglary.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said residents in a gated community need to take the same safety precautions as anyone else, if not more.
"Because in a gated community some people may feel as though, 'Well, I have security here. Nothing is going to happen. We are not going to have any problems.' That's not necessarily true, and that's the reason why some people decide to commit burglaries and robberies inside gated communities," Smith said. "Because some people may have a false sense of security there."
Smith also said residents need to lock their vehicles every night, have surveillance cameras on and turn on burglar alarms.