Crime Down in Bloomingdale Area

Crime is down in the Bloomingdale Patch coverage area, but that doesn't mean residents should become lax about security.

Bloomingdale Community Resource Deputy Curtis Warren advises residents to keep their eyes open and their doors securely locked to continue thwarting the criminal element.

During the month of January, there were only seven property crimes reported and the sheriff's office made four arrests in those crimes. Two of the arrests were Bloomingdale High School students who were stealing from unlocked cars, said Warren. The other two arrests were oxycodone addicts stealing items they could sell for drugs.

Bloomingdale is part of District 4, which stretches north to Lumsden Road and south to the Manatee County line, encompassing all of the Bloomingdale Patch coverage area.

Last week, the district investigated 17 property crimes including eight home burglaries, five vehicle burglaries, one home invasion robbery and three vehicle thefts.

That's down from the week ending Feb. 6 when the sheriff's office was called out on 49 property crimes.

For the month of January, there was a total of 191 crimes of which 78 were home burglaries and 60 were vehicle burglaries.

Locally, crimes in January included:

Lithia-Pinecrest Road--home burglary

Portobello Circle -- three home burglaries

Forest Breeze Avenue--home burglary

Sandy Creek Drive-- home burglary

Wrencrest Circle -- home burglary

Lithia-Pinecrest Road -- garage burglary

Lithia-Pinecrest Road -- garage burglary

Bell Grande Drive -- home burglary

Culbreath Road -- garage burglary

Cabbage Palm Drive -- garage burglary

Sand Pebble Drive -- garage burglary