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Man, 21, arrested in string of break-ins

By ASHLEE CLARK
Published August 10, 2006

LARGO - A Clearwater man was arrested Tuesday night on burglary charges stemming from a string of apartment complex break-ins in Largo and Clearwater.

Police said Saul Volteada, 21, has broken into one apartment in Largo and at least three in Clearwater since January, on one occasion touching a woman's genitals.

According to a Clearwater police report, Volteada also attempted sexual battery on a woman while she walked home.

Volteada was arrested at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday at Westgate Mobile Home Park, where he had been staying for about a week, said Sgt. Edward Sohoski of the investigative services division of the Largo Police Department. Volteada is being held at Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $211,000 bail.

Volteada might be linked to other sexual assault cases in the area, but those cases are still under investigation, Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor said.

"We're waiting for everything from victim interviews to DNA evidence," he said.

Most of the incidents in Clearwater took place in complexes near U.S. 19 and Drew Street. Police said Volteada is responsible for the following, according to reports:

A man broke into apartments in the early mornings of Jan. 5, March 12 and July 30. The first incident took place at Savannah Trace Apartments on Drew Street, which is listed as Volteada's residence. A man broke in, but left after the woman in the apartment confronted him.

The man touched a sleeping woman's leg during the second break-in at Royal Breeze Apartments on U.S. 19, south of Drew Street.

And he touched a woman's genitals as she slept at Lantana Apartments on Fairwood Avenue in July.

A woman was also attacked as she walked home at 1:42 a.m. April 15 in the 300 block of Old Coachman Road. A man hit her and tried to take her clothes off.

In Largo, a woman was awakened on May 12 at the Columns apartment complex on Oak Trail South and saw a man with no pants on standing near her. The victim said this was the second time within the week that the man had come in, Sohoski said.

When a similar disturbance happened on May 8, she thought he was an on-site construction worker who walked into the wrong room, and she didn't report the incident to police.

She later identified the man as Volteada. A cell phone might also be missing from the apartment, Sohoski said.

Ashlee Clark can be reached at 445-4158 or aclark@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 10, 2006, 07:34:24]