Update: Local Man Found Guilty of Home Invasion Robbery

Image: Herbert Earl Stilley III (Sarasota Police Department)

SARASOTA, FLA - DNA evidence led to the conviction Friday of a Sarasota man who terrified a local woman in a late-night home invasion robbery last year, according to the Sarasota police.

Herbert Earl Stilley III, 27, was found guilty on charges of sexual battery and robbery stemming from the February 2015 break-in at the Sarasota home of a deaf couple, the police said. Police detectives tracked down and arrested Stilley last May in the city after they received DNA evidence linking him to the crime.

A sentencing date for Stilley has not been set, the police said.

The home invasion occurred at about 2 a.m. on Feb. 10, 2015, according to police, who said the unidentified victim and her husband are deaf.

The victim told police officers that she was sitting at home when Stilley entered the house with a small firearm, pointed it at her face and demanded her phone.

Her husband was outside at the time, and the couple’s children were asleep in a nearby bedroom, the police said.

Stilley then asked, “Where is the money?” The victim couldn't hear him, but she and her husband can read lips, the police said.

In fear for the children’s safety, the victim took Stilley back to her bedroom and gave him her purse. Stilley then sexually battered the victim, who didn't resist because he had a gun, the police said.

Stilley then ran out of the bedroom and was chased out of the home by the victim’s husband, the police said.