Digital camera's stored photos lead to thief, Clearwater police say

CLEARWATER — Chalk one up to technology for unraveling a would-be thief's best-laid plan.

A man who bought a digital camera from a neighbor realized something was amiss when he noticed pictures of another neighbor stored on the camera.

The memory card discovery helped lead police to Leon Anderson, 53, of 119 N Fredrica Ave.

Police arrested Anderson on Monday on a charge of dealing in stolen property.

Anderson sold a camera to a neighbor for $25, according to an arrest report. The buyer, looking at the camera, saw photos of another neighbor from the same block and took it to the man to see if the camera belonged to him.

It did.

At that point, the victim realized his camera was missing and reported the incident to police.

Records show that Anderson has an arrest record in Florida dating back to the late 1970s and has served several stints in state prisons.

In 1985, he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five years. He was sentenced to nine years in 1992 for burglary and grand theft. He was released from prison in 2002 after serving nearly five years in prison on burglary and grand theft charges. He was charged with grand theft in Pinellas County in July.

On Tuesday, he was being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Rita Farlow can be reached at farlow@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4157.