Neighbors React As Real-Life SWAT Team Drama Unfolds In Their Midst

Bob Richert said it was “kind of freaky” to hear the onslaught of sirens and see the marked and unmarked patrol cars descending on his quiet Greater Brandon neighborhood July 19.

Then came the SWAT team — and the day’s events became even more surreal.

“I’ve never seen so many sheriff’s deputies in all my life,” said Richert, a former homeowners association president of Country Villa Estates. “It’s an amazing neighborhood, very safe and very quiet. We’re pretty close knit and everybody looks out for each other.”

That closeness was tested around noon July 19, when Richert called a resident who lived next door to 1812 Amberwood Drive and told her to “lock her doors and windows and stay inside.”

According to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Larry McKinnon, the man who forced a standoff at 1812 Amberwood Drive was Dennis R. Carr, 55. He subsequently was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Harold Lafever of Plant City, whose body was found the night before inside his home at 4112 Turkey Creek Road.

McKinnon said Carr reportedly lived on his alleged victim's property.

“We don’t know what he was doing between the actual time of the victim’s death and the time we got to him today,” McKinnon said. “He was an associate of the victim and we had known different places he could possibly be and this [Amberwood Drive] home was on the list.”

The neighborhood is where Richert has made his home for the past six years.

“Somehow [Carr] got in here," Richert said. "It’s like when a stray dog gets in. You catch ‘em, you get ‘em out. And life moves on."

Inside the community, with the armed standoff under way, three women stood on the street and talked about the community they have called home for 20, eight and six years, respectively. (They asked not to be identified by name.)

“It’s a nice, quiet neighborhood,” said one.

“I walk around here all hours of the night,” said another.

Added the third: “It’s the first time anything like this ever happened.”

Conversation was cut short by a SWAT team member who, as he was driving by, issued the following warning: “Hey, you all need to go inside. He has a gun.”

In an interview following the standoff, McKinnon said, to his knowledge, Carr had not been armed.

When told what the SWAT team member warned, McKinnon said that is standard procedure.

“When anybody is barricaded inside a home, you have to take into consideration they could possibly be armed,” McKinnon said. "He was wanted for murder, it's a violent crime. It's better to prepare for the worst and be ready."

As for Richert, he has photos and videos that capture the real-life drama playing outside his home, where his granddaughter, Selena Welch, stood watch as well.

“We were cooking something in the kitchen and all of a sudden my grandmother said, ‘The lady’s got a gun!’ ” Welch said.

The lady was a deputy and Welch, who lives across the street from Country Villa Estates, in a Brandon neighborhood, said she was stunned to see the sight for herself.

“I’m a Jehovah’s Witness,” she said. “And we learn that the world will get better and the world will get worse but all your life you feel you’re safe, because it’s Brandon.”

Richert stands by his community and its draw as a safe, senior community.

“It’s something that happens and you don’t worry about it,” he said about the day’s events. “We have good sheriff’s deputies, who care about you, who take care of us, and they were here on the scene very quickly. They [warned] everybody they possibly could.”

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