CrimeWatch Neighbors,

This morning I verified that the individual in the stolen green car using the stolen credit card at 7-11 and McDonalds was NOT arrested yet.  I was sent a message that “they caught this guy” – but today they clarified it.  Yes  - he is “caught” meaning the police know he is the one in the photo and a warrant has been issued and they are now looking for him.

Many of you recognized the individual in the photos and have seen him in the neighborhood.  He is NOT living out here but is acquainted with other people in the neighborhood and they are cooperating with the police.   If you have any information on his whereabouts, please either send to me so I can pass on to the crimewatch deputy or call the non-emergency # 407-836-HELP (4357).  

I strongly encourage you not to take matters into your own hands.  Keep a level head and let the police work on this. 

Keep sharing information – that is what is working!

Remember – there are still other suspects out there – these crimes were not the work of only 1 person.

WHITE FORD TRUCK – while on the phone with a neighbor this Sat morning at 10:40am – an old white ford pickup truck was driving slowly down the street.  She was outside – and asked them what they were doing.  It was two young white guys – one was bald – the other looked “decent” with brown hair.   They told her they had cut trees in the neighbor’s yard and were coming back to see if they could grind the stumps.  She asked who they worked for and asked for a business card.  They totally hesitated on who they worked for and they said “doesn’t it say on the sign?”  On the side of the truck was “New Breed tree service” and the phone # was 407-666-3976.  They didn’t have a business card or anything else with a company logo or information.  As they left heading out of the neighborhood – she got their tag # and noticed that in the back of the truck there was only an orange round cooler and a weed eater. (pretty hard to grind stumps with a weed eater – but I guess they rent them.)  She called this in to non-emergency and a police officer was in the area and took the report.  I called the company number – and supposedly they are a real tree service that has done work out here.  If you have had them actually do work for you – please let me know.  This could be legit – but gathering this kind of information will be key to finding the criminals.

Also – there is a neighbor who set up a private facebook page about the crimewatch incidents.  This is fine and there is some good information being shared – but please understand that this NOT part of the official CrimeWatch, I am not on Facebook and I am not receiving information that is posted there.  If you want our crimewatch deputies to receive your information or follow up on a case – please send it through me or call the non-emergency #.    We are in the process of setting up a website and hope to send it out to all of you in a few days.

Keep your eyes open!

Suzanne Arnold

"They caught the guy."

I do not have details – but wanted to let you know that I just received a reliable message that said “they caught the guy.”  I’m assuming this was the suspect in the stolen car using the stolen credit cards – but this is unconfirmed.  Thanks to so many of you that were able to identify the individual from the McDonald’s & 7-11 photo!!  

Please remember – this CrimeWatch is NOT over.  This was only one individual –and there were many reports about  2 men being involved, and many of us are questioning whether all incidents were done by the same pair. 

Lock your cars and don’t keep valuables in your vehicles or in your driveway!  One great suggestion was not to leave  garage door openers in your car either – so they can’t get into your home.

Thanks again for all the great leads and tag #s!!

DO NOT LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!

I’ll send more info soon.

Suzanne Arnold

CrimeWatch

More photos

Hello LMJ CrimeWatch Neighbors,

These are photos taken at 7-11 and McDonald’s of the criminal in the car that was stolen from one of our neighbors on Wed night (3am Thurs morning) using one of the stolen credit cards from another neighbor!  

If you recognize this individual – please email me so I can forward to our CrimeWatch Deputy immediately – or call the non-emergency police # 407-836-HELP (4357).

Thanks so much to everyone that has been helping to spread the word and reporting suspicious vehicles!!

Hopefully we can find this individual and stop these crimes!

Thanks,

Suzanne Arnold

CrimeWatch

Photos

Hello LMJ CrimeWatch neighbors,

We’ve been working closely with the CrimeWatch Deputy and he is trying to follow up on all reported cases.  He sent me these photos and wants any residents that saw this individual to reply back with details and I will forward on.  Notice the tattoo on his arm.

Thanks to a watchful neighbor that saw 2 men late night / early morning (in the end of Feb) park their pickup truck and start going through their neighbor’s vehicle.  He approached them and they took off in their truck.  He took a ride up to 7-11 to see if they might have gone there – and sure enough the truck was parked there and the men were inside.  He took the tag # - and recently gave it to the police.  So these are the photos of the suspect and the truck they were in that night.

As to the crimes that happened last night – we are now hearing about more incidents including Nell, Fresno, & Desilu.   We are also starting to get more leads.  PLEASE TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBORS and don’t leave valuables in your vehicles!

Thanks for being part of the LMJ CrimeWatch!

Suzanne Arnold

Wednesday night car theft

Looks like our thieves were out again last night (Wed night 3/9 Thurs am 3/10.)  I’ve received about 10 emails so far and several phone calls this morning.  The thieves are getting braver – they smashed several windows on locked cars and cut open a jeep top because there were computers or other valuables in plain sight.  The thieves are getting a lot of tech stuff like IPods, GPS’s, video cameras, phones.   They also practically ripped a car handle off trying to get into one of the cars.  Most incidents were on Lamont  but there was also one on Marine Drive (home closer to the rd near Winterset) and now I just heard of a car window being smashed and a computer stolen on Winterset.  

My understanding is that the car that was stolen was a 2008 Khaki green Hyundai and they left their keys under the mat and the car was not locked. 

I also heard that one of the residents on Lamont had a wallet stolen and when they called the credit card company to report it, they told them that it was used at 3am at the 7-11.  This is good information – hopefully the 7-11 surveillance cameras will help identify them.

The thieves will get caught – but in the meantime – don’t let yourself be a target.  Lock your car doors, do not keep valuables in your car – especially not in sight!  Don’t leave valuable equipment in your driveway. 

Reporting Crime

PLEASE FILE A REPORT if you have had anything stolen over the past 2 weeks!!  I know some of you didn’t bother because it wasn’t a very expensive item – but we’ve only had a few of the many thefts actually documented.

If you are one of the victims – even if you are not filing a claim with your insurance company, please call the non-emergency #  407-836-HELP (4357) to file a police report, or you can file quickly online through this link:  http://www.ocso.com/Fileapolicereport/tabid/126/Default.aspx

Catching the Thieves

The police need tag numbers, photos and reports filed.  We are starting to get some important license plate information and photos.  GREAT Job! Remember - Descriptions of suspicious vehicles without more info doesn’t really help a lot.  I know a lot of frustrated neighbors are now taking turns driving around the neighborhood late at night looking to see if the thieves are back again.  But other neighbors are now seeing those cars driving through the neighborhood and they are mistaking them for the thieves.   PLEASE be careful – there are a lot of people out here with guns and everyone is a little nervous right now! 

Please share this email with other neighbors in case they are not on our CrimeWatch list.  As you know – its free to join – just have them send an email to me at SuzArnold@mindspring.com with their name, address, and phone #.  We now have over 350 homes out of 565 homes in the 4 neighborhoods of Isle of Pines, Lake & Pine Estates, Live Oak Estates, and Lake Mary Jane Shores. 

Keep your eyes open – if the thieves keep coming out here – they WILL get caught SOON!

Suzanne Arnold

CrimeWatch

Hello LMJ CrimeWatch neighbors,

For those of you new to CrimeWatch, there has been a number of thefts in the middle of the night from unlocked cars and driveways in the past 10 days in both the Isle of Pines and Live Oak Estates, and there have been many sightings of a white truck and other vehicles driving slowly through the neighborhoods in the middle of the night.  They are stealing everything from small items to pressure washers.  But last Tuesday a house was broken into in the middle of the day on one of the 5 acre lots on Lacebark Pine.  My understanding is that the thieves smashed in the sliding glass doors in the back of the house, stole guns, jewelry and electronics, and they also ransacked the house destroying items for no reason.  There is also a question as to whether these are the same thieves that are stealing from unlocked cars in the middle of the night.

UPDATE

Now we have another strange thing happening.  Thursday afternoon there were many reports about 2 males, approx 20 yrs old were driving around the neighborhood in a white Sebring convertible.  I have talked to several people about this and sounds like they were all over the neighborhood that afternoon – but only stopping at specific homes.  They pretended to be from around here selling various items such as vacuums – and at some of the houses they actually claimed to be starting a cleaning business and had paper towels with them.  They were telling people that they would clean their house for free that day to show how good they were.  No one that I know let them in.  We think they were out looking to see who was home, who has dogs and what people have.   One of our CrimeWatch members took a photo of their business card and wrote down their license plate and called the police.  (YEAH!) We have also followed up with our Crimewatch Deputy who is asking for a stronger police presence out here.  And many of you have commented that you are now seeing patrol cars in this area and the Citizen’s Patrol car as well!

Reporting Crime

PLEASE FILE A REPORT if you have had anything stolen over the past 10 days!!  I know some of you didn’t bother because it wasn’t a very expensive item – but we’ve only had a few of the many thefts actually documented (about 25%)  so the police are just now learning through our CrimeWatch about how many incidents there have been.  If you are one of the victims – even if you are not filing a claim with your insurance company, please call the non-emergency #  407-836-HELP (4357) to file a police report, or you can file quickly online through this link:  http://www.ocso.com/Fileapolicereport/tabid/126/Default.aspx

Catching the Thieves

The police need tag numbers, photos and reports filed.  Descriptions of suspicious vehicles doesn’t really help a lot.  I know a lot of frustrated neighbors are now taking turns driving around the neighborhood late at night looking to see if the thieves are back again.  But other neighbors are now seeing those cars driving through the neighborhood and they are mistaking them for the thieves.   PLEASE be careful – there are a lot of people out here with guns and everyone is a little nervous right now! 

We are working on your suggestions from the meeting:

·         One of our CrimeWatch Members is working to create a website that will have updates & tips posted.  I’m looking for a cool photo of our lake or our community for the main page – so if you have one please send it to me.
·         Another member is working on the car decals.  The idea is that we would offer small car window decals that say “LMJ” so that people that live in our community will be easy to recognize.  (One of our members pointed out that it would be a positive thing to just have “LMJ” rather than “LMJ CrimeWatch” which makes it seem like our neighborhood needs a crimewatch all the time!)
·         And another CrimeWatch Member has a relative that just opened a pawn shop near home depot on Narcoossee Rd.  He said that anyone that has had items stolen can email him a list and he will keep an eye out for them  David@FantasyPawn.com   

My apologies for a late & long message, but I was keying in data for over 50 homes that asked to be added to our crimewatch list in the past 2 days!  Please share this email with other neighbors in case they are not on our crimewatch list.  As you know – its free to join – just have them send an email to me at SuzArnold@mindspring.com with their name, address, and phone #.  We now have over 350 homes out of 565 homes in the 4 neighborhoods of Isle of Pines, Lake & Pine Estates, Live Oak Estates, and Lake Mary Jane Shores.  With so many neighbors keeping watch, we are getting a lot of tips and suspicious reports on cars and trucks, and we have had 3 neighbors get license plates  – so the police are starting to track down the thieves! 

Keep your eyes open – if the thieves keep coming out here – they WILL get caught SOON!

Suzanne Arnold

CrimeWatch