Pistol-Packin' Judge Confronts Deputies In Mix Up
DEERFIELD BEACH (CBS4) - A pistol-packing Broward judge let several Broward Sheriff's deputies know that she was not too happy when they mistakenly showed up at her sister's house in Deerfield Beach on Easter Sunday looking for burglars.
According to a sheriff's department incident report, just after 8 p.m. they received a call from Nikeya Curry who said a neighbor's home in the 200 block of SW 4th Street had been broken into and she could see lights being turned on and off.
When deputies arrived they met with Curry and checked out the house in question. According to the report, they spotted one person in the kitchen – and he appeared to be doing dishes.
As more deputies arrived and began to surround the house, the report said Curry never bothered to tell them that they were surrounding the wrong house.
Deputies finally approached the house, announced that they were with the sheriff's office, and demanded that everyone inside come out. As three people exited the home, the report says Judge Ilona Holmes kept repeating "I'm Judge Holmes, I'm Judge Holmes, I'm Judge Holmes". She also stated that she was armed. After being told several times to put down the gun, Holmes complied. A fourth person was found inside the home when it was searched by deputies.
When asked to take a sit on the ground while the authorities could sort out what happened, Holmes reportedly refused. According to the reported she stated "There's no way I was going to sit on the ground, you'd have to shoot me to get me to sit on the ground tonight."
According to the report, Holmes said she came out with her gun because she had seen the deputies' cars out front and knew that burglars may have been inside the house next door because she had received a call from Curry who told them to be careful. She said she came out armed because she didn't know if the deputies were who they said they were or whether they were the burglars.
Holmes and her sister's family were eventually allowed to return to the home. When deputies later knocked on the door to get some more information from Holmes for the report, Holmes reportedly refused to come out stating "She was soaking her feet" and "Now was not a good time."
As for the house which Curry thought was being burglarized - deputies checked it out and found nothing out of the ordinary except a window on a back door had a hole in it and had been taped over. The report said the tape had dirt on it, indicating it had been there a while, and there was no broken glass on the ground.
