Looters make off with dirt bikes, jewelry, sneakers and clothes in Manatee County, cops say
Looters broke into several businesses around Manatee County overnight into Monday, making off with dirt bikes, jewelry and clothes, according to law enforcement.
Four juvenile suspects have been charged with at least one of the burglaries, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. The four were driving in a stolen vehicle at the time of their arrests. There were in baseball bats, which were used in most of the burglaries or attempted break-ins, according to the sheriff’s office.
Nothing in the sheriff’s office report indicated that investigators believe the break-ins were connected with protests Sunday against police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minnesota on May 25. Protests elsewhere, including in Tampa, have been accompanied by rioting and looting.
“Manatee County Sheriff’s Office is aware of a lot of the chatter and things that’s going on out there,” spokesman Randy Warren said. “We have intel that is helping us know where people are trying to commit these crimes. We are in great numbers as well and we are going to be doing everything we can in our power to stop this criminal activity.”
At about 11 p.m. Sunday, deputies were called out to Action Kawasaki at 2705 First St. E., Bradenton, after an employee arrived to check on a security alarm alert and found suspects taking dirt bikes from the business. A small U-Haul van and a white Toyota Corolla were standing by in the parking lot of the adjacent O’Reilly Auto Parts.
One of suspects dropped a dirt bike and took off running, while the other five suspects jumped into the U-haul and car and drove off ,heading east on 28th Avenue East. Three green and white Kawasaki dirt bikes and two KTM orange and white dirt bikes — with a total value of more than $20,000 — were taken.
At about 12:45 a.m., deputies responded to J&M Gun Repair at 2220 Whitfield Park Drive, when the store’s alarm system was triggered.
Video surveillance captured about 30 suspects getting out of eight or nine cars, wearing hoodies, gloves and backpacks and approaching the business and trying to break in the door.
“They parked all by the street,” owner Anthony Morrison said.
The suspects used baseball bats to smash the glass of the front door and two surveillance cameras beside it.
“They didn’t get inside, though,” Morrison said as work was being done to repair the door.
The steel door had bars on the inside making it impossible for anyone to enter despite shattering the glass.
Darren Blum, the general manager of Jess Jewelers, 1312 Sixth Ave. W., Bradenton, was called by the Bradenton Police Department after an attempt to break into the jewelry store triggered their security system.
“They pulled up at about 2 a.m., got out and scoped out the situation. You could see them running all around the building, up and down,” Blum said. “We have excellent video of all those involved.”
The surveillance video captured one of the suspects open the trunk of a white sedan and take out baseball bats and hammers.
“They proceeded to bash the window, kick the window and light fire to the palm tree and buses outside the door,” Blum said.
After several minutes, the suspects gave up when they couldn’t penetrate the windows, which are hurricane impact windows made to sustain up to a category 5 storm.
“Thankfully, we’ve had two vehicles that have gotten into accidents, not intentionally but accidents, that have hit these windows that were not able to penetrate,” Blum said. “So thank God, this shows that the people trying to get into our store with their sticks and hammers and baseball bats were also not able to get into the store.”
Meanwhile, deputies noticed that looters had broken their way into the Desoto Square Mall, 303 301 Blvd. W., just up the street from their headquarters. The glass doors at he food court were smashed, and the looters made their way to the Champs store, Desoto Gold and Piercing Pagoda kiosks.
The windows at the Champs Store were smashed and the store was ransacked. Both jewelry kiosks were damaged, and it appeared jewelry had been taken, according to the sheriff’s office.
Surveillance footage from the mall captured the looters, seen arriving in about 15 vehicles.
At about 1:40 p.m., several suspects also broke the glass doors at the entrance of the AMC Bradenton 20, 5125 26th St. E., in an attempt to get inside. Deputies had spotted the about 15 cars twice earlier in the evening pull into the parking lot, but the cars took off when deputies pulled in.
Anyone with any information on these cases can call the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office at 941-747-3011 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-8477 TIPS).
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 4:26 PM.
