SUMMERFIELD, Fla. — Imagine waking up to the sound of your refrigerator alarm going off. When you go to check on it, you find a complete stranger standing there eating your food.
According to Marion County deputies, that was a reality for one central Florida woman. Authorities say that stranger is now behind bars, facing several burglary and theft charges.
Christopher Pennington, 47, is charged with burglary with battery, four counts of armed burglary, two counts of unarmed burglary, three counts of grand theft and two counts of petit theft.
Deputies say early on Wednesday, Oct. 21, they responded to three separate reports of burglaries in the Orange Blossom Hills area of Summerfield.
According to investigators, the first report came from a 73-year-old man who said he was woken up when Pennington was "rummaging through his closet." Deputies say when the man confronted Pennington, Pennington pushed him down and continued to search for items to steal. Pennington left the man's home with several stolen electronics and a handgun and drove away in the man's truck, according to law enforcement.
In order to report the crime, deputies say the 73-year-old had to ride a bicycle to a gas station about a mile away from his home while carrying his oxygen tank with him.
According to deputies, Pennington drove the man's truck to a wooded area and burglarized two other homes.
In the second home, a woman told deputies she was woken up when her refrigerator alarm went off. She expected to find her son, but instead, Pennington was there, eating food right out of the fridge, according to investigators. Deputies say Pennington then left the home and stole her son's truck, which was later wrecked.
Another woman reported the third burglary, saying her apartment had been broken into and several items were now missing.
Deputies say they later found Pennington after getting a call that he was yelling in the caller's backyard. Investigators say Pennington was identified as the person who burglarized the homes by their owners.
Pennington was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail, where he is held without bond.
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