Accepting pleas of no contest, 12th Circuit Judge John F. Lakin ordered 36 months of probation and 50 hours of community service to an Auburndale couple arrested in a beach-to-rental-unit crime spree in Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach.
Mitchell Sylvester, 18, and Tiffany Maltbie, 19, were each charged with four felony grand thefts — one for burglary of an unoccupied rental unit in Bradenton Beach — and one misdemeanor theft, stemming from their July 5 “snatch-and- grab” excursion that netted numerous unattended items on the beach, including cellphones, sunglasses, prescription drugs and keys to a nearby rental unit, which they unlawfully entered, according to court records.
According to Bradenton Beach Police Department reports, the thefts ended with a burglary at the rental unit in the 1800 block of Gulf Drive North. Holmes Beach Police Department reported thefts from the beach area near the 2900 block of Avenue E.
“We were at the beach and boyfriend said hey let’s snatch and grab, and gave me the explanation of what a snatch and grab was. I said no. He pressured me. I said fine,” Maltbie said in a handwritten court document.
“We found some room keys and I said imagine what they have inside … after we fought an hour about it, I finally said OK and that’s when the people came home and found us,” Maltbie wrote.
In ordering the probation Aug. 14, the judge withheld final judgments on the felony charges, pending the outcome of probation, which includes restitution to some of the victims.
On the misdemeanor theft, the judge found both defendants guilty and sentenced them to time served in the Manatee County jail.
Both were booked in the jail after their arrests July 5 by the Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach police departments. Sylvester had been released July 21 on $12,500 bond, and Maltbie on July 29 on a supervised release order.