Real-life Goldilocks: Florida man ‘broke into a stranger's home' to make dinner and have a bath because he was avoiding his angry wife
A Florida man has been arrested for allegedly breaking into a stranger's house and staying for days to avoid his 'angry' wife.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office was called on June 9 about reports of lights unexpectedly being on inside a rental property in Davenport.
When deputies arrived, around 10pm, the officers found Jocelyn Charles inside, with the 44-year-old allegedly admitting to breaking into the property days ago.
'Deputies went to the residence and found Joe inside, cooking, and he had just finished filling the tub for a bath,' the sheriff's office wrote in a bizarre June 15 Facebook post announcing the arrest, replete with Goldilocks jokes and bear puns, as well as the hashtag #IfJoeIsConvictedHeWillSpendTimeBehindTheGuiltyLocksAndTheThreeBars, and an image of a man being arrested who appears unrelated to the actual suspect.
'We assume the bath temperature was not too hot, nor too cold, but juuuuust right,' the post added.
Police said that upon entering the residence, they saw the stove was in use, lights were on, and a cellphone was also plugged into a wall outlet, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Independent.
'Jocelyn advised he had been inside of this residence for approximately four days utilizing water and electricity without the authorization of the home owner,' the affidavit reads.
The sheriff's office, in the Facebook post, provided additional information about the unusual circumstances of the alleged break-in.
'Joe told deputies that he had gotten in a fight with his wife, and he didn't want to go home, so he chose to burgle someone else's home instead,' the sheriff's department added. 'It's one of those things where you just have to grin and bear it.'
The 44-year-old has been charged with unarmed burglary and petit theft.
He has no prior theft arrests, according to the affidavit.
Charles remains in custody and has a $10,000 bond on the burglary charge and a $250 bond on the petit theft charge, police told The Independent.
A 2022 ACLU report identified the Polk County Sheriff's Office as having a record of civil rights violations and racial profiling, leaders making anti-immigration statements, and inhumane conditions in jail.
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"'Unacceptable and Inhumane': Latinas for Trump Founder Blasts Immigration Arrests." USA TODAY, 9 June 2025, Accessed 19 June 2025. Syra Ortiz Blanes. "'Inhumane:' Latinas for Trump Founder Condemns White House Immigration Crackdown." Miami Herald, 7 June 2025, Accessed 19 June 2025. X (Formerly Twitter), 9 June 2025, Accessed 19 June 2025. "Detention Management." Accessed 19 June 2025. "Unaccompanied Alien Children Released to Sponsors by State." 10 Jan. 2025, Accessed 19 June 2025.
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(Courtesy of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) State and local law enforcement officers who are deputized to perform certain functions of federal immigration agents are generally allowed to interview people to determine their immigration status, issue immigration detainers to hold people until ICE takes custody, issue an official charging document that begins the removal process, and transfer noncitizens into ICE custody, among other duties, the nonprofit American Immigration Council explains. For further reading, Snopes recently investigated claims that ICE is removing undocumented foster children from their foster homes for deportation. X (Formerly Twitter), 19 June 2025, Accessed 20 June 2025. 19 June 2025, Accessed 20 June 2025. Fox Business. "Florida Officials Want to Turn a Piece of the Everglades into the State's Largest Immigration Facility." Fox Business, 17 June 2025, Accessed 20 June 2025. X (Formerly Twitter), 20 June 2025, Accessed 20 June 2025. X (Formerly Twitter), 19 June 2025, Accessed 20 June 2025. "The 287(G) Program: An Overview." American Immigration Council, 8 July 2021, Accessed 20 June 2025. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Delegation of Immigration Authority Section 287(G) Immigration and Nationality Act." Accessed 20 June 2025.
