Sheriff's Office Nabs Four Suspected Car Burglars
FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - Well that didn't take long.
Less than 24 hours after releasing surveillance video of one of four car burglary suspects who hit a Weston neighborhood last week, the Broward Sheriff's Office announced all four were in custody.
Flavio Cardoza, 18, was arrested along with three juveniles. He's been charged with burglary, grand theft and grand theft of a firearm.
Broward Sheriff's detectives said in the overnight hours of April 7th, the four targeted 10 unlocked cars in the Villas of Bonaventure community. Investigators said they rummaged through vehicles in the 300 block of Fairway Circle until they came upon something worth stealing. What they found was a handgun left in the glove compartment of an unlocked car.
Less than half a mile down the road, in the 400 block of Ranch Road, the burglars found a second gun left in an unlocked car's center console.
Security footage from one home shows one of the burglars as he walked up to a car and tested the door to see if it had been left unlocked.
In the video, the man casually tugs on the door handle of a car. Suddenly he appears to notice he's on camera. He adjusts his hat and moves on.
Tyrone Smith's SUV was hit, he didn't lock the door. He didn't really think about it since his property is surrounded by a fence and a big gate.
"I came in, my gun was gone," said Smith. "It's a 9000 Baretta, compact, very nice gun. Very dangerous gun."
Alberta Whitehead's vehicle was also broken into.
"I forgot to lock the car and when I picked up the newspaper, the door was ajar and I looked in there and there papers on the seat," said Whitehead.
Over the past two weeks, detectives suspect Cardoza and his accomplices broke into 60 cars in Weston, Davie and Sunrise--and they certainly don't corner the market on crimes like this.
Just last week a man was arrested for the same thing. He admitted entering into hundreds of unlocked cars over the last few months.