A Villager who in 2016 fired 33 rounds at the front door of his neighbor lady’s house has been released from a Florida prison.
Howard Sparber, 73, was released Thursday from the Zephyrhills Correctional Institute. Sparber had indicated that upon release he would be checking into the Best Western hotel in Leesburg, which is located by the well-known Ramshackle Cafe on U.S. Hwy. 27/441.
He had been arrested June 20, 2016 after he armed himself with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and repeatedly fired at the front door of the home of a woman on Landale Loop on whom the married Sparber had developed a crush. She was not home at the time. He had been drinking.
She later said her Village of Hadley neighbor had been harassing her with sexual propositions, tried to lure her into a hot tub and had previously pointed a gun at her, all over a span of several months.
In 2017, Sparber was sentenced to five years in prison, to be followed by 10 years probation. He was also ordered to pay $7,387 in fines and court costs.
In addition, Sparber was ordered to pay restitution to the victim. At the time of Sparber’s arrest, the damage to the woman’s home was estimated at $3,000. Bullets had struck her storm door, front door, and continued through the foyer and into the kitchen cabinetry.
Sparber’s wife at the time obtained a divorce and moved out of The Villages.
