Pest Control Scammers Stole Jewelry From Bradenton Condo: Sheriff

BRADENTON, FL — A man and a woman face multiple charges after pretending to work with a pest control company and stealing jewelry from a condo at 3600 Lake Bayshore Drive in Bradenton, according to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office news release.

The victim allowed the suspects into her condo Thursday around 2 p.m. after they claimed they were there to provide pest control as a service scheduled by the condo association,

After they left her condo, the victim noticed that several rings worth more than $3,000 had been stolen. When she contacted the condo association office, they told her that hadn’t contracted anyone to spray for pests.

They called 911 and multiple units, including K9, responded to the area. A few minutes later, deputies spotted a female suspect on the second floor and a male suspect in the parking lot, the sheriff’s office said. Both were detained without incident.

A search of the area was conducted, and deputies found a pump sprayer and several pieces of jewelry in a trash can in a laundry room on the fourth floor. The victim identified both suspects, and it was determined that some of the jewelry found in the trash can belonged to the victim.

Deputies also learned that the suspects had entered additional units, but none of those residents reported having had anything stolen, the sheriff’s office said.

On Wednesday, suspects fitting the same description use their pest control scam to get inside several condominiums in the 2300 block of Bayshore Drive in Bradenton. The investigation remains ongoing.

Both suspects — Sean Frank, 30, and Laura Frank, 39 — were charged with home invasion by false personation, grand theft from a person 65 or older, and coordinating with others in theft in excess of $3,000.

Sean is also on probation for several felony charges out of Escambia County.