Story Archive

Sarasota Siege

Louise Goldsberry, 59, of Sarasota, Fla., looked up from her kitchen sink and saw a gun and a red light aimed right at her. She screamed, hit the floor, and scrambled to her bedroom for her gun. Then a man at the door claimed to be a cop, but refused to prove it. “We’re the f------ police; open the f------ door,” he yelled. Would police act that way, or talk that way? Goldsberry had doubts. She’d seen no police insignia. Then the door opened, and an armed man shouted: “Drop the f------ gun or I’ll f------ shoot you.” Craig Dorris, Goldsberry’s boyfriend, who was also in the apartment, said “it was a Rambo movie.” He got permission to go outside, where he saw more than 25 people, some of whom he identified by their clothing as local police and federal marshals. Dorris was handcuffed, and eventually — after an armed standoff — Goldsberry surrendered too. They were kept in handcuffs while the officers searched Goldsberry’s apartment for a suspect. Matt Wiggins of the U.S. Marshals Service had been hunting through her apartment complex for a fugitive after getting a tip, and he thought Goldsberry’s behavior showed he’d found the right place. Wiggins said he’d shown restraint in not arresting or shooting Goldsberry. “I have to go home at night,” he said. “She sure shouldn’t be going to the press.” (AC/Sarasota Herald-Tribune) ...She should be thanking you on bended knee for sparing her pitiful life, right?