Spokeswoman for Marsy’s Law questions FMPDs use in home invasion case

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FMPD burglary suspect sketch

Violent and on the run. It took nearly a week for the Fort Myers Police Department to reveal the sketch of a man who attacked a woman in her home.

That man broke into a home near the Fort Myers Country Club last Thursday at 2 a.m., and since then, we’ve pushed to get you that information.

For the first time, Fort Myers Police are just now confirming there was a reported physical confrontation and this criminal is considered violent.

On Wednesday, we told you that when pressed for more details and asked why investigators waited five days to tell you about a violent crime, Fort Myers police said the victim in this case invoked a law known as Marsy’s Law.

And for that reason, police said there would be no further comment.

Jennifer Fennell is a spokeswoman for Marsy’s Law for Florida and she reached out after seeing our story.

She said ” (I) wanted to make sure you know what our interpretation, our intention, was for Marsy’s Law for Florida.”

Marsy’s Law protects a victim’s identity but not the facts of the case.

“In some cases people are doing it right and in some places it’s a little extreme like this case, ” Fennell said. “I know it took five days for people to receive this information. There’s absolutely nothing under Marsy’s Law for Florida that would delay the timely release of information.”

Fort Myers Police ignored our question again Thursday about why they waited days to give the public information about this crime.

“We respect the Fort Myers Police Department’s wanting to protect victims, but we do find this case to be a bit extreme and we want to make sure people know what the intention of Marsy’s Law was and what it’s not,” Fennell added.

Police also told WINK the suspect was not armed during the attack and they don’t believe he is armed now, but he is considered violent.

So take a good look at this sketch and call police if you know who this is.

FMPD burglary suspect sketch

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