Resident Arrested in Neighborhood Vandalism Spree

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says deputies have arrested a suspect in connection with a string of at least 30 vandalism attacks in a Palm Harbor neighborhood this morning.

Deputies arrested 21-year-old Ramsey Charles Sheard about 12:30 Monday afternoon on one count of felony attempted arson, according to the sheriff's office. Bail is set at $20,000 for this one charge. The sheriff's office says more charges will be filed against Sheard.

Detectives say a trail of paint led them to the suspect's garage and when they confronted Sheard, they saw the same paint on his clothing. Investigators say Sheard lives in the Deer Run neighborhood with his mother, which is where the attacks occurred. 

Detectives say Sheard told him that he had been drinking and taking Xanax, and about 3:30 a.m. he went into a "fit of rage" over personal problems and started vandalizing vehicles in the neighborhood.

Many residents of the Deer Run neighborhood woke up this morning to discover their vehicles had been attacked. At least two cars had paint dumped on them, one of those cars was also set on fire, and scores of other vehicles had their tires slashed.

The attacks are the talk of the neighborhood. This morning, as Palm Harbor Patch drove through Deer Run, residents were out on the street examining their cars and talking with others about the attacks.

Firefighters responded to what could be described as the most frightening incident at 4:40 this morning in the driveway of a home at 641 Deer Run Way North.

Patsi Mooney says Ramsey Sheard knocked on her door and said, "I thought you might want to know someone set your car on fire."

Mooney says she went outside to find her son's car had been splashed with paint. A bucket of white paint was on top of the car and there was a trail of gasoline on the driveway that was still on fire. "LSD" was painted on the hood of the car in large block letters.

Mooney's husband and other family members put out the fire while she called 911. No one was injured.

Mooney says there have been other acts of vandalism in the neighborhood in the past few weeks. "LSD" was also painted near the pool and on the road. She says the extent of this morning's act of vandalism scared her and her family.

"It's stepped up to a new level. Spray paint in the street is one thing, but when you set a car on fire, that could set other cars on fire, that could set a house on fire, that could kill people; that's a whole new level," she said.

As Palm Harbor Patch spoke to Mooney, her neighbor across the street was having her white SUV loaded onto a tow truck. Caitlin Maloney says at about 6 this morning, she was awakened by Pinellas County Deputies knocking on her door.

"I went outside and my car had three tires slashed, and my brother-in-law had his car in our driveway; one of his tires was slashed," she said. Maloney says she spent $850 for new tires last year.

A few houses down the street, Sylvia Chace was looking at the damage to the tires of her Nissan Xterra. She says the police knocked on her door at 4:30 this morning. Two of her SUV's tires were slashed.

It is not the first time she has been a victim. Chace says a couple of weeks ago, she noticed someone had written "LSD" on her front license plate.

Around the corner, a Pinellas County Sheriff's Office crime scene van was parked at the side of the street. A deputy was taking fingerprints of the owners of vandalized vehicles. 

Deputy John Huff says the fingerprinting is a routine task that is conducted so investigators can compare the owners' fingerprints to the suspects' fingerprints. However, because of the large number of victims, this routine task kept Deputy Huff in the neighborhood for many hours.

A few blocks away, residents were gathered outside a home with a BMW in the driveway. Crime scene tape surrounded the car and front yard while a Palm Harbor Fire Rescue investigator photographed the shiny BMW. 

At first glance, the car looked fine, but a closer look revealed the hood and one side had been splattered with light blue paint. A neighbor says the owners of the car are away on their honeymoon.

Detectives say surveillance video from a resident who lives in the neighborhood also links Sheard to the crime. At this time, the video is not being released. Palm Harbor Patch will be sure to let you know when more charges are filed.