According to Courtney Irby’s arrest affidavit, she told police her husband had been taken to jail for trying to run over her with a car. Irby said she went to Joseph Irby’s apartment on Village Center Drive in Lakeland and searched for the guns she knew he had.
When she told a Lakeland police officer she had the guns with her to turn them in, he replied, “So are you telling me that you committed an armed burglary?” and Irby answered, “Yes, I am, but he wasn’t going to turn them in, so I am doing it,” according to reports.
Police verified Irby had never stayed at her husband’s apartment until the day of the burglary.
Officers made contact with Joseph Irby, who was still incarcerated at the Polk County Jail, and he said he wanted to press charges against his wife for entering his apartment and taking the guns, reports say.
Court records show that Irby applied for a temporary injunction against her husband and the two were in the process of a divorce.
She was charged with armed burglary of a dwelling and grand theft of a firearm.
Kathy Leigh Berkowitz can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 863-802-7558. Follow her on Twitter @kberkowitzthel1.
