4 Pasco County teens arrested in auto burglary ring

They stole iPods, laptop computers and GPS devices from unlocked cars in Beacon Square and other Holiday neighborhoods.

Then, Sheriff Bob White said, the teens hid the items in an abandoned house at 3105 Atlantis Drive in Holiday.

On Wednesday, Pasco deputies arrested the teens they say are the ringleaders — Kris Geidel, 18, and a 17-year-old boy — in what they call an ongoing investigation of unlocked vehicles being burglarized.

Deputies arrested another 17-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl at the same address, believing they were also involved in the burglary ring.

The Times is not naming the juveniles in this case.

White said the rash of crimes has prompted Pasco deputies to crack down on curfew violations. He said curfew for minors is 11 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on weekends.

"We are going to work on curfew with a vengeance," he said Friday.

He also said most residents can easily avoid becoming victims.

"They targeted unlocked doors," he said, "so the message here is, lock your car doors."

White said he was unsure how many victims there have been or how much merchandise was stolen.

Geidel and the others were arrested Wednesday afternoon after deputies got an anonymous tip that teens were staying in the house in Holiday, White said.

When deputies arrived, all four teens tried to run off, according to a sheriff's report. They were soon caught and arrested.

Geidel faces charges of residential burglary and resisting arrest without violence. He is being held at the Land O'Lakes jail in lieu of $5,150 bail.

The 15-year-old and one of the 17-year-olds were charged with the same crimes.

The other 17-year-old was charged with auto burglary, residential burglary and resisting arrest without violence. He was also charged with lewd and lascivious conduct after a 15-year-old girl said they had consensual sex on several occasions.

And he has been charged with home invasion and two counts of aggravated battery after an incident Aug. 25 in which deputies say he kicked open the front door of a home on Atlantis Drive and beat a 67-year-old man with a baseball bat in the living room.

The teen then hit the man's 53-year-old wife with the bat, took one bottle of methadone and one bottle of oxycodone and ran off, sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said.

White said he anticipates more arrests in the auto burglary ring.

"A lot of young people knew the boys were doing this," he said of the thefts. "Customers and friends were purchasing the fruits of their crimes."

Camille C. Spencer can be reached at cspencer@sptimes.com or (813) 909-4609.