Articles Tagged with grand theft

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A man from Georgia is facing many charges after he was arrested in Florida for allegedly stealing from vehicles and occupied residences.

At the beginning of June, an individual was in the vicinity of a single-family housing complex in Doral, Miami, with the alleged intention of swiping items from the residents. The person, who was believed to be a man, was wearing a ski mask as they reportedly strolled through the area. He allegedly tried to open several vehicles, and when he found unlocked ones, he reportedly stole garage door openers and used them to enter the garages of the homes where they were installed.

From one of the houses, the residents, who were home when the alleged intruder entered, reported that electronics, credit cards, and their Kia were taken. Several items were also reported as stolen from multiple additional residences. The suspect allegedly used the reportedly stolen car to leave the area.

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Two PortMiami employees are facing several charges after they were allegedly caught on camera stealing art pieces worth over $50,000 from their job site.

According to reports, public artwork made of marble and crafted into mosaics with depictions of different marine life in the center decorated the walls in PortMiami’s Terminal G. On May 12, some of the mosaics began to go missing. Eleven days later, someone notified the authorities about the situation, and the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation.

The terminal has security cameras, and on May 27, deputies started looking through the footage. They reported that an individual was seen taking the art off the walls, and it appeared as if they hid the pieces until they were later able to put them in a vehicle and take them from the premises. The deputies believed the suspect was an employee who works as a custodian at the port, and that the car the items were loaded into belonged to one of his coworkers. They searched the man’s home and reported that they found 12 of the pieces, and added that both suspects allegedly admitted they took the mosaics.

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A Florida man allegedly stole an ambulance and forced the police to chase him when the paramedics said they would not give him a ride home.

On the evening of March 15, a 43-year-old man was at the HCA South Tampa Hospital, and he asked paramedics from the Tampa Fire Rescue if they would give him a ride home in the ambulance. His request was denied, and the man allegedly jumped into the vehicle and drove away. Florida Highway Patrol was notified about the situation, and troopers began searching for the ambulance. They quickly found it, and when they tried to perform a traffic stop, the driver allegedly ignored them and forced them to chase him down.

According to reports, the troopers trailed him as he failed to stop at multiple stop signs, turned into oncoming traffic, and almost caused several collisions with other vehicles. When he finally stopped, a deputy’s dash cam reportedly displayed the man sitting in the ambulance after refusing to get out and drinking from a can of what was believed to be beer. The police tried to physically take him out of the vehicle, but he reportedly resisted by gripping the steering wheel. After he was removed, he was identified as a homeless individual from the Tampa area. When they talked to him about what occurred, he allegedly said he had been drinking for two days prior to the incident.

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A man who worked as a manager for a cabinet store in northeast Florida was arrested on several charges after collecting payments from multiple customers for cabinetry work that he reportedly never performed and spent the money himself.

According to reports, a few months ago, the General Crimes Unit of the Palm Beach Police Department opened an investigation when they learned that the manager of Oceanside Cabinets was reported for accepting money from several customers but failed to follow through with the work. The people who called them said the business was permanently closed, and they could not contact the contractor. The police heard from ten families who said they hired the man for cabinetry services. They reported giving him the money upfront, but he never did the work.

One family, who said they paid the man $8,000, reported that when they tried to get updates about the status of the work he was supposed to do, he told them each time that the cabinets needed to be ordered. They said it cost them an extra $11,000 since it held up the construction on their new home, and forced them to pay for alternate housing since they could not move in.

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A southern Florida woman accused of being part of a retail theft ring was arrested after allegedly stealing merchandise from several stores in multiple counties.

It was reported that law enforcement and the Florida Organized Retail Crime Exchange Task Force teamed up to investigate multiple thefts taking place across the state. The authorities believed the thefts, carried out in at least 50 different stores, spanned over a period of nearly two years. It was also reported that the swiped merchandise was estimated as being worth at least $100,000. It was believed that the goods that were taken were being sold on social media, and the three suspects they believed were responsible were arrested.

Last week, one of the women from the trio was allegedly involved in additional thefts. According to the authorities, when the suspect went to Walgreens, CVS, Ulta, and liquor stores in Brevard, Martin, Palm Beach, Sarasota, and Seminole counties. She allegedly collected items and stashed them in a bag before walking out of the store without paying for the items. It was assessed that the merchandise taken from the stores was worth approximately $15,000.

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A Florida man is facing felony charges after reportedly pretending to be Elon Musk in an alleged scheme that allowed him to steal at least $250,000 from an elderly woman.

According to reports, in 2023, a 74-year-old woman from Texas started getting messages on Facebook from someone who claimed to be Elon Musk. After a while, the person she was chatting with convinced her she was, in fact, corresponding with the tech billionaire. The account holder or holders began giving her promises that she would make $55 billion if she invested money in their businesses. The woman decided she would like to accept the offer, and, over time, she transferred a total of $250,000 to multiple bank accounts.

The authorities in Texas were made aware of the situation and they opened an investigation. They talked to the alleged victim’s husband, and he said his wife transferred $600,000 total for the faux investments. The police were able to trace the bank activity, and they learned that $250,000 of the money was sent to personal and business accounts held by a 56-year-old man from Bradenton, Florida. They contacted the authorities in Florida about the situation, and officers from the Bradenton Police Department went to the man’s home with a warrant.

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An Uber Eats driver in Northeastern Florida is being held without bail after allegedly eating food from a delivery order, spitting on the customer, and stealing hundreds of dollars worth of seasonal decorations from their yard.

Late in the evening on September 12, a 29-year-old woman who works as a driver for the Uber Eats platform accepted the task of delivering a food order from a customer in Davenport. Just before midnight, the driver arrived at the address with the items and walked up to the front door. The customer was watching the woman when she approached with the order, and she believed she saw the driver eating some of the food out of the bag.

It was reported that when the customer opened her door, she saw the driver was holding one of her seasonal decorations in her hand. When she yanked it away, the alleged thief reportedly spit at her. During a heated verbal exchange, the woman used the sign to shield herself from additional potential projectile spittle as she closed the door and called the authorities.

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A woman is facing charges after allegedly using a child to help her steal over $1,000 worth of items from a local Target store.

On October 11, a woman with a youngster in tow went to Target in Cape Coral, Florida. According to reports, she filled her cart with large items including a vacuum cleaner and a barista-style coffee machine. When she was finished, the woman allegedly failed to pay for the merchandise and walked out of the store a few moments after the child, who was pushing the cart. Employees reportedly saw the incident and informed loss prevention.

Surveillance video from the time of the alleged theft was searched, and after they believed they saw footage of the robbery as it took place, the Cape Coral Police Department was notified. They opened an investigation, and they passed around an image of the suspect so additional officers could keep an eye out for her.

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Last week, two men were arrested for allegedly stealing a deputy’s firearm from a bathroom at a RaceTrac gas station in Oviedo, Florida.

On August 29, around 5:30 p.m., a Seminole County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped at the RaceTrac gas station to use the bathroom. While inside, the deputy placed his vest on the ground and his gun belt over the handicapped railing in the stall. After finishing, the deputy put his vest and gun belt back on and left to respond to another call.

Not long after, the deputy realized his firearm was missing. He returned to the gas station to look for it and wondered if someone might have taken it while he was in the stall. When surveillance footage was reviewed, it showed that the deputy was alone in the bathroom. After he left, two men went into the bathroom, and when they exited, one of them appeared to have a noticeable bulge in his waistband. It was believed he had taken the deputy’s missing gun.

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A Florida airport employee was arrested after a woman whose luggage went missing was led to his address when her Apple Watch sent her a notification and she tracked its location.

Recently, a woman took a Spirit Airlines flight out of New York to return to her residence in Florida. She had a small travel suitcase with her that she typically takes on the plane as a carry-on item, and it held her laptop computer, Apple electronics, and personal belongings. The woman was asked to check the bag before boarding, and she took the necessary steps to do so.

When the plane landed at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the woman went to the luggage carousel with the other passengers. The woman waited approximately two hours without any sign of her suitcase. After talking to the Spirit Airlines employees, they told her they were mailing the bag to her residence.

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