FELLSMERE — Authorities have arrested a man accused of burglarizing an occupied apartment in the Sonrise Villa’s complex in Fellsmere Thursday night.
Latravious Derrick Barber, 27, of 891 Dempsey Avenue, Sebastian, now faces charges that include felony burglary of an occupied dwelling, battery domestic violence and violation of probation felony offense.
The following was reported by the Fellsmere Police Department:
According to the victim, someone entered her residence through an open window by removing a screen with a sharp object. The victim discovered a large knife on the bed under the window and a dirt footprint on the bedspread. The victim suspected former boyfriend Latravius Derrick Barber was responsible and reported the crime.
At the time of the crime, Barber had an active warrant for his arrest for battery/domestic violence that was recently obtained by the Sebastian Police Department. That warrant was obtained because of a previous incident of domestic violence between the victim and Barber.
In addition, Barber had a warrant for violating the conditions of his felony probation stemming from a 2013 Fellsmere Police Department arrest for false imprisonment and hindering 911 communications.
Efforts to locate Barber Thursday evening were unsuccessful but resumed early Friday morning. Fellsmere police received information that Barber could be at a residence in the 800 block of Dempsey Avenue in Sebastian and made arrangements to locate him there.
With the assistance of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office and the Sebastian Police Department, Barber was located at that residence at approximately 10:45 a.m., arrested for the active warrants, and transported to the Fellsmere Police Department for questioning.
The interview with Barber and subsequent interviews with other witnesses revealed that he entered the residence with the intent to speak with the victim about their relationship. He allegedly traveled to Fellsmere via the GoLine Bus with the knife concealed in his pants and had it with him during the course of the burglary “to protect himself” from some of the victim’s family members.
Once inside, Barber remained there long enough to hear conversation between the victim and other family members. It appears that to avoid detection and escape, he crawled back out the window and accidentally left the knife behind in the process.
Police arrested him for armed burglary of an occupied dwelling and turned him over to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office for transport to the county jail.
