Off-Duty Tarpon Springs Cops Help Nab 5 Accused Auto Burglars

TARPON SPRINGS, FL – With the help of two off-duty police officers, Tarpon Springs Police have arrested five people in a string of auto burglaries.

On Wednesday, July 18, at 1:32 a.m., two off-duty Tarpon Springs Police officers noticed a suspicious white Lexus driving slowly without its headlights in the area of Castleworks Lane and Toddsmill Trace.

The off-duty officers watched as the car’s occupants got out and began to check the door handles of cars parked in driveways in the neighborhood to see if the cars were unlocked.

That’s when the officers confronted them. But the would-be burglars fled the area in the Lexus while the off-duty officers were alerting their police department.

The Lexus was spotted by patrol officers who tried to stop the car but the Lexus fled from the marked patrol car east on Klosterman Road.

Officers then deployed tire deflation devices at U.S. 19 North and Klosterman Road but the Lexus continued south on U.S. 19 North despite its flat tires.

At that point, Tarpon Springs Police requested the assistance of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office aviation unit, which followed the car for about 50 minutes.

Eventually, the Lexus, which had been stolen, pulled over at a 7-Eleven at 5451 31st St. S. in St. Petersburg where the five occupants of the car were apprehended.

The sheriff’s office and Tarpon Springs Police arrested two adults and three juveniles age 14 to 16 years old, all from St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park.

The adults arrested were Anthony Grayson, 19, of St. Petersburg, and Igor Lavrenenko, 18, of Pinellas Park.

The names of the juveniles arrested are being withheld due to their ages.

Police believe this group may be connected to a burglary ring responsible for a rash of vehicle burglaries and attempted burglaries in north Pinellas County, Clearwater and St. Petersburg in the last month, including the auto burglaries that occurred in the Riverwatch neighborhood in Tarpon Springs on June 23.

In that case, four juveniles from Clearwater, also using a stolen car, were apprehended with the help of tire deflation devices and the stolen items were recovered.

On July 13, Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies spotted another stolen car heading south on U.S. 19 North. Deputies used tire deflation devices to stop the car, and four men ages 18 to 21 years old were apprehended with items stolen from Tarpon Springs and Pasco County car burglaries.

The Tarpon Springs Police Department is urging residents to make sure their cars are locked and that no valuable items are left inside cars.

Police are also asking members of the community to be on the lookout for suspicious cars cruising through neighborhoods.

Image via Tarpon Spring Police

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