The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
A 14-year-old in central Florida who is on probation for theft crimes is facing multiple felony offenses after the authorities reportedly linked him to the thefts of two vehicles.
On the morning of September 14, two people in Lakeland called the Polk County Sheriff’s Office within two hours of each other to report that their vehicles had been stolen. The first caller said she noticed her Kia was missing, and the second believed someone had made off with his Toyota Tacoma. The truck owner also informed the authorities that he might be able to help them locate his vehicle using an app that could track it. When they followed the signal, the truck and car were found parked near each other. Forensic investigators inspected both vehicles and reported that the fingerprints they found led them to a 14-year-old local boy.
When he was located, the teen, who has been on probation since last December for a previous theft offense, was taken into custody. It was reported that he initially did not want to discuss the situation with the investigators, but after showing him what they believed was evidence of his involvement, he talked to them without an attorney present. During the interview, he reportedly said he stole both vehicles. He also reportedly said he parked them both, ditched the keys to the Kia, and left the Tacoma keys in the truck. He is currently accused of several charges, including two felony counts of third-degree grand theft of a motor vehicle, two felony counts of burglary in the third degree, one felony count of third-degree grand theft of a controlled substance, and violation of probation – a second-degree misdemeanor.