Surprise family wants answers after alleged armed robber was handed a trespassing charge

SURPRISE, Ariz. - A home robbery in Surprise has a family on high alert.

On top of that, months later, the family says the man armed with a machete who came to their home was only charged with trespassing.

The homeowners say this was much more than trespassing. Their cameras recorded the suspect outside their home for more than an hour.

They say when they called for help, that Surprise Police didn't do enough.

"Our family now lives in a constant state of fear," Karessa Armstrong said on Jan. 1, months after the incident.

The incident happened just before 1 a.m. on Sept. 19 when the Armstrong family got an unwelcomed guest, later identified as George Kotselas.

Ring cameras caught Kotselas on the family's property armed with a machete. He allegedly tried to open the front door and when he was unsuccessful, he stole $1,000 worth of property outside the home, went through their trash and then left.

Minutes later, he came back with a message.

"He pulled out a notepad, wrote something on the notepad and held it up to our camera, but the camera didn't catch what it actually read. It was too bright on our lights," Karessa said.

After displaying a note, the family says he broke into their backyard.

"I opened my back patio to kind of yell at him and there was a man standing 10 feet from me and I can clearly see he had the machete on him," Karessa said.

The Armstrong family says that after property was destroyed in the backyard, he jumped over the wall before being confronted by Karessa's husband, George.

Homeowner: "Hey, bro."

Suspect: "Somebody told me to go there. You need to talk to somebody else."

Homeowner: "Who told you to come here, bro?"

Suspect: "I don't know."

What happened next wasn't on camera, but police say Kotselas tried to pepper spray George and a neighbor. When officers arrived, they detained Kotselas on suspicion of trespassing, then let him go.

"An hour after the police left, we got a notice saying that he was released and wasn't even in jail," Karessa explained. "I don't know how we were expected to go to sleep that night knowing he was still out."

The Armstrong family says they tried communicating with the Surprise Police Department regarding video evidence, as well as the man's charges, and couldn't reach a detective until months later.

"At that point, I was told by the detective all the evidence was gone, and he needed to be called that night or maybe the next day to really do anything. He was the one who added the theft charge, but it was very late on, so they already finished and offered him a plea for trespassing by the time they even got information about the theft."

Although Kotselas was released for this crime, court records show he is in jail as of Jan. 1 on unrelated charges.

FOX 10 reached out to the Surprise Police Department to get additional details about the incident and to see if it reviewed all the video from that night. It released a lengthy statement on Jan. 2.

"The night of the incident, the victims told the responding officers to get off their property, which severely limited the depth of the investigation they could conduct at that time. Because officers were told to leave the victim's residence, the only crime they had at the time of the arrest was misdemeanor trespassing, a charge that typically results in a citation being issued and the offender being released, as it was in this case.

An officer responded the next day to try to obtain any additional information they may have and also provided them with a link to upload the surveillance video. The videos provided were from the front and side yard only, and they have been reviewed. At no time does the video show the offender brandishing or taking out the machete, nor did the victims report that he had. The video does show the offender removing shoes from near/under a bush in the front yard. Additional charges have since been submitted for this theft. The victim reported that the shoes taken were worth $240.

When the homeowner confronted the offender, he fled on foot; the homeowner and another male neighbor gave chase. While he was being pursued, the offender did attempt to deploy pepper spray, which was unsuccessful as it didn’t strike the homeowner or the neighbor. Regarding the amount the victim stated was damaged/stolen, the only items they have reported to the officer/detective are $240 for the shoes and $10 for a sock that had been soaked in bug spray and was hanging in the backyard.

Regarding your follow-up question about whether we asked the offender about who sent him, our responding officers were not made aware that this statement had been made to the camera at that time.  As they had been asked to leave, no video was able to be reviewed that night. The offender has since invoked his right to remain silent, so we are not able to ask him any further questions."