Motivation Of Intruder Arrested After Trespassing At Sean Hannity's Home Unclear

An arrest was made at the Long Island home of Sean Hannity after a 72-year-old was found trespassing on the property. The motivation of the trespasser remains unclear.

Former dentist Jan Gilbert had entered the home on February 17, according to The Huffington Post. He gained access to the mansion after telling an unnamed individual that he was writing a book on the conservative talking head. Gilbert said he needed to give Hannity some documents.

It was Hannity's wife, Jill Rhodes, who spotted the invader. She said she did not know Gilbert. 

Jill told police that Gilbert “did not have permission to enter the house,” according to Newsday.

Gilbert then exited the building and sat in his car until police arrived on the scene. He continued to ask questions about Hannity when questioned by officers.

“Do you know Sean Hannity?” Gilbert asked police, according to Newsday. “I was coming from his house. I need to talk to Sean and give him information.”

Gilbert was officially arrested by the Centre Island police and charged with misdemeanor second-degree criminal trespass at 3:20 PM.

When later asked about the situation, Gilbert replied vaguely.

“There is a real reason, a valid reason, a superior reason and a fully confirmed reason, but I’m not going to be able to talk about it,” Gilbert said, disputing police accounts of the events, according to Newsday. “Someone misheard, fabricated or misunderstood.”

Gilbert was conditionally released and put on probation one day later. Three stay-away orders of protection were issued by Judge David Goodsell in First District Court in Hempstead.

Neither Hannity nor his wife have offered a comment on the situation.

Real estate listing site Luxury Long Island says that other celebrities like Billy Joel, composer John Barry and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch also live in the area.

Hannity had recently misreported a story about questions asked by Parkland shooting survivor Colton Haab and his father Glenn Haab during a televised town hall. Hannity's show claimed that CNN had scripted questions for the two to ask during a segment. He later retracted the story when it became clear this had not been the case.

“[Colton] said the network tried to script his question. Both he and his father said they had emails to prove that. Told the entire media,” Hannity said on his Tuesday night program, according to Deadline. “Tonight Glenn Haab told the AP that he omitted some words from the email; he says he did not do it on purpose. Therefore what Haab told all news outlets last week was inaccurate. Our job I always to strive for the truth, and we wanted to correct the record.”

[Photo: Getty Images]