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TAMPA - A Massachusetts man accused of stealing $60,000 in office equipment from the John Lynch Foundation in downtown Tampa has been linked to another crime, police said Friday.
Paul Dana Doucette, a 37-year-old who's been staying with an aunt and cousin in Tampa since July, was charged with breaking and entering and grand theft.
Sgt. Buddy Brogdon said police believe Doucette, his cousin, Hector Santiago, and Santiago's girlfriend, Brinda Hunt, broke into a car at Ben T. Davis Beach on Aug. 15 and stole a briefcase containing $1,500 and a corporate credit card, and used the card to buy camping gear and fishing rods. All three were charged with grand theft, a felony and that carries up to five years in prison if convicted. Doucette was arrested Wednesday as he carried a laptop computer out of a downtown office. Brogdon, who was trying to solve who robbed the Lynch Foundation Aug. 13, saw Doucette being interviewed by detectives. Doucette was wearing a new Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey with "John Lynch #47" on the back. Police say that after questioning, Doucette admitted to the theft.
Evidence of the briefcase theft includes security videotape showing Doucette and Hunt using the credit card at a Tampa Wal-Mart, Brogdon said. Doucette is being held at the Orient Road Jail on $10,000 bail. Santiago was being held on $8,000 bail and Hunt on $12,000 bail.