Burglary ring may be shut down

Historic City News crime patrol reporters have received word that four South Florida men have been charged in connection with several home burglaries that occurred in Palm Coast; however, they may be responsible for others throughout the state.

“I would like to thank the resident who called in the suspicious vehicle,” Flagler County Sheriff Donald W. Fleming reported to Historic City News. “Based on her tip, we may have shut down a professional burglary ring.”

The four were taken into custody following a Monday afternoon vehicle crash involving a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy. The deputy was part of an effort to stop the vehicle which was seen leaving the area of a home burglary on Serbian Bellflower Trail around 11 a.m.

Monday afternoon, the four burglary suspects refused to cooperate with Sheriff’s investigators and as a result, efforts to identify them were delayed. Investigators believe the four are part of a burglary ring operating from Savannah south to Deland and west to Tallahassee. The FCSO is working with other law enforcement agencies to determine if the four are implicated in other burglaries in their jurisdictions.

The suspects, their charges and their bonds are:

Andre Foster, 19, 4407 Treehouse Lane, Tamarac, Fl. Charges: Misdemeanor – Giving false information during an investigation; Felony – Two counts Principle to armed burglary in the first degree and two counts Grand theft of a firearm. Bond: $401,500.

Nick Roger, 20, 3102 Enclave Way, Lauderhill, Fl. Charges: Misdemeanor –Loitering and prowling and driving with a suspended license. Felony: Two counts Principle to armed robbery in the first degree and two counts Grand theft of a firearm. Bond: $203,000.

Christopher Joseph, 20, 5980 NW 16th Place, Sunrise, Fl. Charges: Misdemeanor – Giving false information during an investigation. Felony: Violation of probation, two counts Principle to Armed burglary in the first degree and two counts grand theft of a firearm. No bond.

Sarto Joli, 19, 9335 NW 46th Street, Sunrise Fl. Charges: Misdemeanor – giving false information during an investigation; Felony – Two counts Principle to armed robbery in the first degree and two counts of grand theft of a firearm. Bond: $201,500.

All four men are currently being held in the Flagler County Inmate Facility. “These four were very busy in a short period of time while they were here in Flagler County,” Fleming said.

The men are charged with burglarizing two Palm Coast homes Monday, one at 42 Braddock Lane and the other 148 Bayside Drive.

In the Braddock Lane burglary, deputies reported that a .44 caliber magnum revolver was stolen along with some loose change. The revolver was recovered by deputies. Entry to the home was made by prying open the front door. Unoccupied homes on either side of this house also were burglarized, but no charges have been filed in those incidents. A gun was reported stolen from one of the homes and it has not yet been recovered.

At the Bayside Drive home, four other firearms were stolen. All of them were recovered by deputies. The burglars gained entry to the unoccupied home by prying open the rear sliding door. The homeowner discovered the burglary when he arrived home at about 10 a.m. Monday.

Deputies located the suspected burglars near Serbian Bellflower Trail around 11 a.m., when a homeowner called in a suspicious vehicle that had been parked in her drive. She told deputies that someone had repeatedly rang her doorbell and then backed out of her drive. Within minutes, deputies located the vehicle described by the woman and attempted make contact with the occupants. Roger, who was driving the vehicle, tried unsuccessfully to elude law enforcement officers by driving to U.S. 1 where he eventually drove north before turning eastbound onto S.R. 100. Deputies took the four into custody following the vehicle crash on Old Moody Boulevard which is located just off the highway.

Roger is additionally charged with loitering and prowling and driving with a suspended license in connection to the Serbian Bellflower Trail incident.