Winter Park burglar sentenced to 30 years in prison after breaking into home where family was sleeping

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Florida. – A burglar caught breaking into a Winter Park home last year has now been sentenced to three decades in prison, prosecutors announced Thursday.

James Danforth, 41, entered the house in the Howell Branch Woods neighborhood through a sliding glass door in the early morning hours last year while the family living there was still asleep.

Ring camera video shows Danforth entering the house through the back door, looking around and taking various items.

“I kept scrolling and then I saw a man open the sliding glass door and come in,” homeowner Adam Perdue told News 6 after the break-in. “My stomach turned.”

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According to Perdue, Danforth entered and exited the home more than 20 times, stealing thousands of dollars worth of the family’s belongings.

Those items included a wallet, an Armalite airsoft rifle, a Nintendo Switch console, an Oculus virtual reality headset and a Blu-Ray DVD player. In total, the items were valued at $2,210, officials said.

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However, Perdue said the worst part of the incident was discovering that his son’s iPhone and charger had been stolen from his nightstand.

“To realize that he had taken the phone on the charger from my son’s nightstand, which means he was standing right next to him,” Perdue said.

Perdue claimed that Danforth left his home after about 45 minutes, and according to the sheriff’s office report, Danforth attempted to enter a neighbor’s home but was chased away by the homeowner.

Investigators later found a witness who helped them identify Danforth, which eventually led to the burglar’s arrest.

“Today he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, ending a long history of arrests dating back to 2003,” prosecutors wrote.

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