Vacant house entices teens, who party and steal

SPRING HILL -- Teenagers who turned a vacant house in their neighborhood into party central inadvertently dropped a dime on themselves when one used a cordless phone.

Deputies investigating the breakin Saturday used the phone's redial function, which led them to the home of a 13-year-old boy who had been inside.

According to a Hernando County sheriff's report, four other teens, ages 13 to 15, had broken into the home on Greynolds Avenue, where they made off with thousands of dollars in jewelry and invited friends to use the spa.

On Friday night, a neighbor keeping an eye on the house noticed a light outside a shed and called the owner.

When he went back to the house the next day with a key, the man found a boy and a girl in the living room, and they appeared to be soaking wet.

According to the report, the boy and girl fled out the front door as the man searched the house. Minutes later, two more girls and a boy appeared at the front door. They also ran when the man approached them.

Authorities said the home's owner had moved away and is selling the property. The house was largely empty, except for a bed in the master bedroom, where the owner kept $7,500 to $10,000 of jewelry under the mattress.

According to the report, the teens admitted taking the jewelry and trying to sell it to friends. Several items were recovered, according to the report.

The boys, whose names are being withheld by the Times because of their ages, got into the house by cutting a screen and prying open a window.

In emptying the spa, authorities said, they flooded the screened porch and carpeting. The report said one of the boys also kicked a hole in the dining room wall.

One of the four boys was charged with theft, while the other three face charges of burglary and grand theft. One was taken into custody by the Department of Juvenile Justice, and the others were released.

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