Miami-Dade family terrorized in bizarre home invasion, police say

Bloodied next-door neighbor attacks man in upscale neighborhood, report says

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A man was arrested this weekend after police said he broke into his next-door neighbors' home, crashing through a pair of French doors with a metal pole and terrorizing the family inside.

Police said Christopher Sanders walked through a glass door at his home, cutting himself, before he entered the Alonso home in the 5000 block of Southwest 82nd Street while acting erratically around 1 p.m. Saturday.

"He was covered head to toe in blood," Alexandra Alonso said. "I thought my husband was going to be dead. I thought he was going to be dead. And then the next thing, I thought my children would be dead."

No description found

 

Fernando Alonso said he repeatedly told Sanders not to come into his house, but Sanders ignored him and walked upstairs. 

"My husband tries to tell him, 'Stay down. Stay down. Don't come any further,'" Alexandra Alonso said.

Police said the two struggled and Sanders "took the victim's glasses off his face and bent them" and "was acting deliriously and attempted to bite him in the face." 

Sanders then punched a butler sculpture, knocking off its ceramic body and head.

"And the he turns around … and starts trying to hit my husband over the head (with the sculpture)," Alexandra Alonso said.

Investigators said Sanders then went outside before police finally arrived.

A friend of Sanders, who did not want to be identified, said the behavior police and the Alonsos described isn't like Sanders.

Friend said the 26-year-old is a kind, gentle person without a criminal warning. He had one misdemeanor charge, but it was dropped. Detectives are now looking into the possibility of drug use. 

Alexandra Alonso said she's living in fear.

"You want to feel safe in your own home," she said.


About the Author
Janine Stanwood headshot

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.

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