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Burglarizing unlocked cars sounds so easy

But deputies say they found one suspect's phone and the other sleeping next to some marijuana. Deputies say they found one's cell phone at the scene and the other asleep next to marijuana.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published January 20, 2007

PALM HARBOR - As in other professions, there is a hierarchy among criminals. The big fish, the Mafia, safecrackers and armored truck robbers, look for a big score.

The small fish, on the other hand, those still new to the game, well, they look for something easy. Less effort, but less payoff. Yet they make rookie mistakes, like leaving something behind that points right to them.

This case definitely falls in the second category.

Early Friday, Pinellas County sheriff's officials say, two Tarpon Springs teens found their easy target: cars left unlocked.

Officials gave the following account: The teens drove to Villas of Beacon Grove at 2855 Grovewood Blvd. and began their search. A resident saw the teens rummaging through a car about 2:25 a.m. and confronted them.

They sped away in a Mitsubishi Eclipse. The resident gave chase in his own car.

The teens lost him.

The resident headed home and, minutes later, saw a teen on foot. The boy said he was looking for his cell phone and ran away. The resident went to his neighbor, whose car had been burglarized. The authorities were called, and deputies were dispatched.

A deputy found the Mitsubishi parked nearby. Inside, one of the teen suspects was sleeping, next to 32 grams of marijuana.

Detectives canvassed the neighborhood to see what other cars had been burglarized. One resident checked his Cadillac and found a cell phone inside. The phone, it turned out, belonged to the second teen suspect.

Deputies found the boy at his home in Tarpon Springs. He had apparently run all the way, sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner said. The Times is withholding the teens' names because of their ages.

"This type of crime is often preventable," Bordner said. "In most cases, all the victims need do is lock their car."

Jacob H. Fries can be reached at 445-4156 or jfries@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 19, 2007, 23:08:12]