Woman woke to man standing at foot of bed, FL cops say. She started yelling

Yelling is a sensible reaction to seeing a strange man at the foot of your bed, but it didn’t get the intended results for one Florida woman, according to deputies in the Panhandle.

Instead of running, the intruder began strolling around the property, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said in an Aug. 27 news release.

The incident happened around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26, in the unincorporated Liberty area, and ended with a 40-year-old man under arrest, the sheriff’s office said.

“The homeowner told deputies she woke up to find a man in her bedroom, mumbling and appearing disoriented,” the sheriff’s office said.

“When she yelled at him, the man walked out the back door. She then watched as he wandered around her property before disappearing from view.”

A search of the home revealed he had been inside long enough to eat and leave snack packaging scattered in his wake, including in the yard, officials said. Articles of clothing were also found left behind in the house, according to the sheriff’s office.

“While checking her vehicle to ensure nothing was missing, she found the suspect asleep in the back seat of her car, parked under her carport,” the sheriff’s office said.

“After refusing multiple commands to exit, Spencer was removed from the car by deputies and placed under arrest.”

An investigation revealed he lives in DeFuniak Springs, about a 10-mile drive southeast from the Liberty area, officials said.

The suspect was arrested and charged “with burglary of an occupied dwelling, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, criminal mischief, and resisting an officer without violence,” officials said.

Walton County is about a 90-mile drive east from Pensacola.

This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 4:29 AM with the headline "Woman woke to man standing at foot of bed, FL cops say. She started yelling."