Flags again will flutter at homes hit by thieves

LARGO -- The neighborhood where Nancy Ellie lives seemed empty this Veterans Day. Most of the flags were gone, ripped from their posts and poles by thieves.

Rick Krampert knows the feeling. A burglar broke into his business, Beaver Flags, on Sept. 30 and took 25 American flags that had been promised to customers.

Despite his loss, Krampert -- when he learned that a neighborhood near his Ulmerton Road shop had been stripped of American flags -- offered to donate 25 flags to residents. Ellie and her husband, Perry, came to Beaver Flags Tuesday afternoon and accepted the gift from Krampert.

"I really know how they feel in their gut," Krampert said. "It's ridiculous."

Ellie, who lost her flag in a neighborhood crime wave last week, planned to bring the donated flags to other neighbors who also had their flags stolen.

"The neighbors are really going to be appreciative," said Ellie, who lives in the Shadow Pines subdivision near Ulmerton and Starkey roads. "Now the neighborhood is naked. There's no flags. It was bad on Veterans Day because there were only a few flags."

No arrests have been reported in either the break-in at Beaver Flags or in the flag thefts from Shadow Pines.

Some of the flags stolen from Shadow Pines residents were special to their owners. One resident received her flag when she became a U.S. citizen, another lost a flag that had been draped over his grandfather's casket at his funeral, and another resident lost a flag that she had owned with her late husband.

"Some you can't replace," Ellie said.

Ellie, who heads up the crime watch in her neighborhood, said at least 13 people had flags stolen last week, probably more. The thieves delicately slipped some flags off their hangers; others they took with muscle, including one that was taken flag pole and all.

Pinellas sheriff's spokesman Cal Dennie said the thefts were probably the work of youngsters. He said there's no indication they were committed by the same person who broke into Beaver Flags. Dennie also said the Sheriff's Office has increased patrols in the Shadow Pines and Bardmoor area, where flags also were taken.

Krampert's family business at 6875 Ulmerton Road was broken into twice in September. The first time, the burglar took cash from his register. Krampert had purposely kept money in the register so a potential burglar would leave the flags alone.

But after being hit once, he emptied the register over a weekend. When the burglar struck again, the intruder snagged the flags instead. Krampert said he thinks the flag thieves are reselling the banners on street corners.

Krampert lost about $625 worth of flags during the burglary at his business. About $200 was taken from his register in the first break-in.

The total cost of the full-size flags Krampert gave away Tuesday is about $500. He said it's worth the cost.

"We're neighbors," Krampert said to Ellie. "We have to help each other out."

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