BOCA RATON, Fla. — A Boca Raton wants to clear his name after a "ding dong ditch" prank that escalated with a firearm led to his arrest in October.
WATCH BELOW: 'I defended my home, I defended my property and ended up wrongfully accused,' Santiago Cairo tells WPTV's Joel Lopez
"I defended my home, and I defended my property and what ended up happening is I was wrongfully accused," said Santiago Cairo, who has since bonded out of jail and charges have been dropped a month after his arrest.
He is now sharing his story for the first time exclusively with WPTV describing what he said happened the night of the prank gone wrong.
"My name was pushed out and tarnished, and my business is affected, my income is affected, I am just trying to get back to my original life. I just want peace," said Cairo.
Cairo said he was returning home from walking his dogs when he saw a stranger in a hoodie at his front door who then ran away. Thinking it was a burglar, he called 911, went inside to get his gun, and went to check on his neighbors.
While talking to one neighbor, the teen approached them. That's when a neighbor can be heard on security camera footage identifying the teen as one of the people who had been going around people's yards.
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Cairo confronted the teenager and questioned why he was walking around their properties at night until deputies arrived.
According to 911 calls, Cairo told the operator he had his gun pointed to the ground, but the teen can be heard claiming Cairo pointed the gun at him.
The teen told investigators that Cairo shouted, “You messed with the wrong guy.”
An investigation revealed that the teen never attempted to break into Cairo’s home, and arrested Cairo for aggravated assault with a firearm.
In October WPTV spoke with a neighbor Mary Elizabeth Hall, who expressing her disappointment in the investigation.
“I witnessed that mother drive away with her children in the back, while my neighbor Santiago was sitting handcuffed in the back of a car,” she said.
Boca Raton
'Ding dong ditch' prank gone-wrong leads to Boca Raton man's arrest
Hall is convinced that investigators haven’t thoroughly looked into the case, as she said the neighborhood has seen a rise in car break-ins.
“I question if it was a prank or if they were trying to steal something," she remarked. "My neighbor did the right thing, and the outcome was not the right thing.
Cairo stands behind his initial suspicion that the teen was trying to break into people's houses.
"Every homeowner should be in their right if they see somebody forcibly trying to enter their home to defend their home," Cairo said. "Nowadays we don't know what people's intentions are."
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said the family chose to move on and let the incident be a learning experience for their son.
"You don't know whose door you're knocking on, it's a dangerous game to play," said Cairo's attorney, Luis Cartay who said there was a lack of evidence in the arrest and claims poor investigation work.
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'Thankful': State drops charges against man arrested in 'ding dong ditch' prank
He said statements in the arrest affidavit didn't line up with what actually happened.
"He never pointed this gun at this individual, how is he a risk to himself or others?" Cartay said.
Cairo and his attorney are still fighting to get his confiscated weapons back from deputies. A hearing for the risk protection order is set for next month.
"I'm not gonna hurt you, but there's other people that are hurting other children out there and people are getting killed, because of situations like this and it's not right," Cairo said in regard to teens playing pranks, and approaching strangers houses. "So not just kids, but I think lawmakers need to also stand up and give more direction to homeowners to how we can protect our home in special situations like this."
If you would like to help Cairo recover funds lost in the damages from the arrest and assist him with his handicapped dog that requires medical needs, click here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
