Crime & Safety

Sheriff Seeks Teens Who May Be Burglarizing Valrico Homes

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is on the lookout for a group of teens attempted to break into homes in a Valrico neighborhood.

VALRICO, FL -- The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is on the lookout for a group of teens attempted to break into homes in a Valrico neighborhood.

The sheriff's office said five teens (four boys and one girl) were caught on surveillance video approaching homes on Anna George Drive off Bloomingdale Avenue east of Lithia-Pinecrest Road and checking door handles, then running away.

Around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, surveillance video from a home in the 3000 block of Anna George Drive showed five teens walking down the street and then spreading out toward different driveways.

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One teen was seen approaching the front door of a home with his face concealed. He rang the doorbell and then ran away with the other four teens. Nothing was stolen.

Detectives are working to determine if the incident is linked to a burglary that occurred the previous night, March 15, at another home on the 3000 block of Anna George Drive. The homeowner woke up to the sound of her dog barking. She later realized her front door was open and her cat was outside.

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The next day, the homeowner reported that a pair of walkie talkies and a Ninja Net toy, two items she left sitting by the front door, were missing. Deputies located the stolen toys a block over on Bright Sky Trail by another homeowner's gate.

Detectives want to identify and interview the teens in the video.

Anyone who recognizes them is asked to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at 813-247-8200.

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