Burglaries in Holmes Beach, Longboat Key and as far south as Venice are tied to a raid on a Bradenton home where TVs and other stolen items were recovered by a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement effort.
Holmes Beach Police Department Sgt. Brian Hall obtained a search warrant for the 1600 block of Ninth Avenue West in Bradenton while investigating a Feb. 7 break-in on the 500 block of 70th Street in Holmes Beach.
And on Feb. 10, Bradenton Police Department’s SWAT team broke down the front door of the Bradenton duplex.
There, police found stolen items, rifles, handguns and a marijuana grow house and arrested one of three suspects allegedly connected to the burglaries.
Austin Hale, 22, of Bradenton, was arrested for burglary to an unoccupied dwelling, attempted burglary to an occupied building, growing and intending to sell marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school and possessing paraphernalia.
The SWAT team was used to enter the residence because guns and drugs were thought to be present, Hall said.
On Feb. 8, Zach Stein, 21, and Jimmy Harris, 20, both of Bradenton, were stopped by a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy in a vehicle identified by surveillance equipment on Longboat Key and in Holmes Beach.
Then, after a police chase into Sarasota County, deputies arrested Stein for burglary, fleeing to elude police, possessing cocaine and resisting arrest and Harris for burglary and possession of cocaine.
Four televisions, a comforter and marine extension cord valued at $3,350 were stolen from the Holmes Beach residence, according to the HBPD report.
Hall said all the items stolen from 70th Street were found in the Bradenton raid.
The quick recovery was assisted by “a very good surveillance system” in the burglarized Holmes Beach home, where the intruders smashed hurricane-resistant glass to gain entry, Hall said.
Despite an attempt to destroy video evidence by the suspects, the system captured pictures of them and their getaway vehicle, according to police reports.
The vehicle had pulled into the 70th Street garage and left after loading it with stolen items.
HBPD alerted other jurisdictions with the information.
Hearing the alert, Longboat Key Police Department checked a license-plate-recognition device near the Bradenton Beach border that read the vehicle’s Tennessee license plate and identified one of the suspects, according to LBK Chief Pete Cumming.
That led to a Manatee County Sheriff’s deputy stopping the suspect vehicle the next day.
“This is a glowing example of what working with other agencies can do,” Cumming said.
Other burglaries in Manatee and Sarasota counties, as far south as Venice, may be linked, he added.
Cumming said an early morning Longboat Key burglary Feb. 7 in the 500 block of Yardarm Lane and another on Rountree Drive, as well as others on Longboat Key may be connected.
In Holmes Beach, a break-in Feb. 7 in the 400 block of Clark Drive also was reported. Hall said he was still investigating.
Hale and Stein, as of Feb. 12, were in custody at the Manatee County jail. Hale was held on bonds totaling $29,500. Stein was being held on $11,000 bonds.
Harris was in custody at Sarasota County jail on $9,000 in bonds.
A Bradenton woman arrested in the raid for cultivation of marijuana posted a $1,500 bond and was released.