LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) – Four Polk County teenagers were arrested Monday after burglarizing 15 vehicles at three different apartment complexes, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said they responded to a burglary call at the Avenue Apartments in Lakeland around 2:10 a.m. Monday.
Deputies said a witness told them they saw four suspected robbers driving south on Florida Avenue before turning west on Shepard Road.
After a search of the area, detectives found a purse belonging to a victim whose Ford Explorer and credit cards were stolen. According to the sheriff’s office, the victim said she received an alert from her bank that a credit card was being used to purchase gas from a RaceTrac in Bartow.
Deputies later found the Explorer at Mavis Tires and Brakes in Lakeland.
“Detectives obtained surveillance video from Mavis Tires that shows two suspects arriving at the business in a four-door Kia, parking and then walking toward the Ariva Apartments,” the sheriff’s office said. “The suspects return to the Kia and wait several minutes, until the stolen Explorer arrives and parks. Two other suspects get out of the SUV and get into the Kia, and all four drive away. Detectives also obtained video of the RaceTrac showing the suspects using the stolen credit card to put gas in the Kia and an attempt to withdraw cash from the ATM.
The sheriff’s office said the suspects were Eugene Akins, 18, of Tampa, and three juveniles, two of them from Tampa and one from Bartow.
According to deputies, the teenagers stole 15 vehicles from the Avenue Apartments, the Ariva Apartments in Lakeland and the Huntington at Sundance Apartments in Mulberry. All of the stolen vehicles were unlocked and one person had a gun stolen from his vehicle, authorities said.
Officers found the four suspects at a relative’s home in Bartow. The sheriff’s office said they found three guns, the keys to the stolen Explorer and stolen credit cards.
Akines and two of the teenagers said they committed the robberies, with Akines acting as a lookout. Akines also admitted to using a stolen credit card at an ATM at the RaceTrac in Bartow, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Thanks to the citizen who saw something and said something, four criminals are off the street,” said Sheriff Grady Judd. “Our juvenile justice system must hold juvenile offenders accountable to protect communities from being victimized. I also have another message for the community: Please help by locking your vehicles to prevent thieves from gaining access easily to the things you work hard for. And don’t leave firearms or other valuables in unsecured vehicles.”
All four suspects face multiple counts of robbery and other crimes, deputies said.
