PALM BAY, Florida -- At approximately 5 a.m. on Saturday, Palm Bay patrol officers responded to a burglary alarm at a Verizon Wireless store located at 1109 Malabar Road in Palm Bay, Florida.
When officers
arrived, they discovered that the front door of the business was shattered. Because of the
type of business targeted in the burglary, Sgt. Boyd Williams
immediately sent officers to other cell phone stores in the area -
including a Sprint store located in the Hammock Landings mall at 225
Palm Bay Road in West Melbourne, Florida.
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Subsequently, Palm Bay police officer Ryan Palmer saw a 2010 Nissan
Altima parked behind the Sprint store in West Melbourne. He then contacted the West Melbourne Police Department
for assistance. .jpg)
When the officers made contact with three individuals in the vehicle, police say that
the officers noticed in plain view a blue mask, gloves
and an axe. West Melbourne police officers then arrested the three individuals for
loitering and prowling. The vehicle was later seized and Palm Bay detectives
obtained a search warrant to search the Altima. .jpg)
After the search
warrant was executed,
Palm Bay detectives located 44 cell phones in the trunk along
with evidence allegedly used to commit the burglary at the Verizon
store. The surveillance video reveals burglary suspects with what
appears to be the same
burglary tools and mask that were recovered from the vehicle. .jpg)
The cell
phones, valued at more than $20,000, were later confirmed
to have been the ones stolen from the Palm Bay Verizon store. The three
suspects were subsequently charged in connection with the Palm Bay burglary.
“It
looks like these individuals drove in from Orlando looking for cell
phone businesses along the I-95 corridor,” said
Detective Danielle Featherston. “It appears they were after
high-dollar cell phones to turn around and sell on Craigslist and other
internet venues. We are working with other jurisdictions in the area to
determine if this same group may be responsible for
other crimes.”