Florida Home Invaded by Not-So-Stealthy Masked Ninjas

Bill Kitchen, left, is seen being confronted during a home invasion in Windermere, Fla. in this undated surveillance video. Credit: Courtesy Bill Kitchen

Ninjas of legend were said to be stealthy warriors seldom seen, but armed robbers dressed as Ninjas in Florida that authorities believe are responsible for a string of recent home invasions apparently didn't get the memo about the stealthy part.

Bill Kitchen, who lives in the town of Windermere in Orange County, Fla., was the latest victim.

"I've gone down in a flaming airplane before with a good outcome and it wasn't nearly as scary as this. There, I was in control, here, they were," Kitchen told ABC affiliate WZVN about the April 30 robbery.

Three armed robbers dressed in ninja outfits confronted Kitchen and his acquaintance Camilo Espinol in Kitchen's garage as they got out of their car, he said. The masked men bound the hands of the men and made a series of demands from them, he said. Surveillance cameras in the home caught the robbery as it unfolded.

"They demanded everything in sight, so I gave them everything. I gave them my watch, my wallet, everything they asked for," Kitchen said. "It was not about being robbed, it was about what are they going to do when they finished robbing, so we cooperated in every way."

Five other similar incidents, all unsolved, occurred in upscale neighborhoods in Naples earlier this year, authorities said. Windermere police has joined forces with the Collier County Sheriff's Office, Orange County Sheriff's Office, as well as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to look into any possible connections.

"Although this is frightening to happen in our community I believe this to be an isolated incident," Windermere Police Chief David Ogden said in statement released by the Town of Windermere.

No one was injured and ultimately the suspects stole one of the owner's vehicles and fled, officials said, noting the vehicle was eventually left abandoned.