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Charges Name New Victim In Home Invasion

Three suspected illegal immigrants accused of kidnapping a Winter Garden family face even more charges. Police say the men terrorized the family for three days, forcing them to withdraw $20,000 from a bank account. The mother of the family escaped and was shot in the back in the process.

Eyewitness News learned the new charges name a new victim in the case. It's the woman who lives next door to the family. Police are saying the neighbor who called 911 had good reason to fear for her safety. They say one of the suspects shot towards her as well.


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The terrified woman in the 911 call caught a glimpse of the gunman who shot her next door neighbor, inside the upscale Lake Roberts landing subdivision in Winter Garden.

Police won't specifically identify the shooter, but say it was one of the three men already accused of taking a family hostage for more than 48 hours and robbing them before the mother made a run for it Tuesday afternoon.

“They had her feet bound and she was all beat up in the face,” the neighbor told the 911 operator.

When that neighbor who called 911 went outside to see what was going on, police say she was in the line of fire too and even though she wasn't hit, authorities say it was close enough to charge those suspects with a second count of attempted murder.

Detectives say one shot went over the neighbor's head, which she described in the 911 call.

“One of the guys came out the back and aimed and so of course I didn't stick around to check him out. I ran and I grabbed the phone and I called you guys and I ran upstairs to try to hide because now I'm involved and they're going to come after me,” the neighbor told the 911 operator.

But in court, the judge explained the new charge won't change much for the three men locked up. They're all still held on no bond, including a special immigration hold because they're suspected of being in the country illegally.

The manhunt isn't over yet. Winter Garden police said they're still searching for a fourth female suspect who managed to get away.

A new study says illegal immigrants, like the three men involved in the kidnapping plot, are believed to impact crime rates in Florida. But there's a debate over just how much. The new study by the Center for Immigration found that about five percent of state's prison population is illegal immigrants. But another study by the Pew Hispanic Center says it's more like eight percent.

Researchers also found no evidence that cities with large immigrant populations have higher crime rates.

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