Man armed with a rifle and wearing bulletproof vest rings family’s doorbell

A West Boca family feared for their lives when a man armed with a rifle and bulletproof vest walked up to their door and rang the doorbell, authorities say.

A teenager in the home phoned 911 shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday to report the man, their neighbor, lurking outside, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.

The family could see Kevin Flaherty through the family’s Ring video doorbell device. It detects motion outside people’s homes and lets them see what’s happening outside through a cellphone app. Flaherty rang the doorbell and put his hand over the camera, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The teen’s father, Tom D’Errico, was in California on business, but watched everything unfold on the screen of his phone, while his wife and children hid inside the house. “Not being home, not being able to do anything, I felt like I was in the movie ‘Taken,’ ” D’Errico said.

Flaherty’s wife and daughter had left him a few days before, after he threatened to shoot and kill them, D’Errico told deputies. Flaherty’s daughter stayed at

the D’Erricos for two nights because she feared her father, according to a sheriff’s report.

Tom D’Errico’s wife told deputies that she, too, was watching the video on her phone, but the phone died. When she saw Flaherty at her front door, they hid in a bathroom, fearing for their lives, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Flaherty’s house is about 200 feet from the D’Errico’s house.

Deputies responded Wednesday night, and 48-year-old Flaherty was charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.

“Not being home, not being able to do anything, I felt like I was in the movie ‘Taken.’ ”

Tom D’Errico, homeowner

D’Errico told CBS12 that he wanted to know why his neighbor wasn’t immediately jailed. He said he also thinks deputies took too long to intervene Wednesday night.

“Well, you don’t know what this man is going to do,” D’Errico said. “I thought that would be a priority and to make sure all units are called.”

The Sheriff’s Office told CBS12 that deputies responded in force, but wanted to have a tactical advantage, so they didn’t make their presence immediately known. A helicopter even was sent to look over the neighborhood.

Flaherty