The Lake City police department reported Hagler and 14 friends were at a home jewelry party when 24-year-old, Derick Jeremy Lee barged in, threw a black bag on the table, and demanded their personal belongings.
Hagler said the armed robber yelled, “Give me your money and your phones!”
Only moments prior Hagler, party host, had instructed the women to place their purses on their laps.
Thinking this was a part of a scripted party game, Hagler’s friend boldly taunted the armed robber.
”He had the gun and Sharon pushed the gun away and said, ‘Get that water pistol out of my face,’” Hagler said.
The alleged robber and party-goer argued until he assured her that the gun was real, at which point Hagler said she could see fear overtake her friend.
Hagler then felt her own wave of boldness.
“That is when I just felt this boldness come up in me, and I just stood up and said, “In the name of Jesus, get out of my house,’ and he said, ‘I am going to shoot someone if you don’t do what I say,’ and I just repeated it again,” Hagler recounted.
The other ladies followed her lead and started chanting “JESUS! JESUS! JESUS!”
According to the police report Lee stood paralyzed for a few seconds before escaping the verbal backlash empty handed.
“He did a quick scan of the room. This look of terror came on his face, and he just turned around and ran out the door, and that was the end of it,” Hagler said.
”How everybody reacted and all you knew God’s hand and He was in there, it could have went so differently,” said Donna Bowen, party attendee. She admits to being fearful; her 14-yr-old daughter Julianna Register was with her.
Allegedly Lee made a second robbery attempt at a nearby ATM.
Patricia Pafford, 62, claimed she scared the suspect off by yelling at him.
He was arrested at his father’s home two blocks from the home invasion.
Lee was charged with home invasion robbery and booked on a $200,000 bond.