Armed homeowner foils burglary

Sarasota County deputies arrested a drenched burglary suspect before 2 a.m. Thursday, July 11, after the 21-year-old fell into the Grand Canal on Siesta Key.

Michael Bonk, a 61-year-old resident of the 600 block of Tremont Street, awoke to hear a man stirring on his porch. Bonk armed himself with a handgun and chased the man off of his balcony and into the Grand Canal.

When deputies arrived at Bonk's residence, they found the man, soaking wet and covered in cuts from barnacles, on a neighbor's property. The man was "very disoriented and made no sense at all," according to officers.

Deputies determined the man had shattered two windows on Bonk's property and may have been under the influence of alcohol and/or illicit drugs.

Contact Alex Mahadevan at [email protected].