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Sheriff's Office: Car burglar left his phone behind in vehicle

 
Published June 1, 2016

CLEARWATER

Sheriff's Office: Car burglar left his phone behind in vehicle

Jacob Leonard embarked on a car burglary spree May 10, according to arrest reports.

He pilfered an iPod Touch from a Ford Explorer, headphones and a gym bag from a GMC truck, and a Hillsborough sheriff's-issued belt containing a Taser, radio and handcuffs from a deputy recruit's Dodge Grand Caravan in the residential streets of north unincorporated Clearwater, just south of Curlew Road along U.S. 19, reports state.

But Leonard, 21, made one mistake: He left his Samsung cellphone behind in one of the vehicles. He called the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and reported that the phone "was stolen as a result of a burglary to a vehicle parked at his residence," a report states.

By the time he called deputies, his phone had already been found inside the GMC truck.

Leonard, of Clearwater, faces several charges, including grand theft, burglary, false report of a crime, false verification of ownership and dealing in stolen property.

LARGO

Man found with counterfeit bills says they're for Monopoly, deputies say

Pinellas deputies responded to the Starbucks at 7398 Seminole Blvd. on May 24 after a man who was "acting suspiciously" remained in the restroom for more than 20 minutes, arrest reports state.

The man told them his name was Corey T. Knapp. But when deputies told him he had a Volusia County warrant out for his arrest, the man said that wasn't his real name. It was Alexander Williams Buhrman.

Deputies also found that Buhrman had 25 photocopied $20 bills, printed "in a manner that they may have been passed as legitimate," a deputy wrote.

After his arrest, Buhrman, 25, of Largo admitted he had the bills copied, but insisted they were printed to play Monopoly with his friends, a report says.

He was jailed on charges of counterfeiting a payment instrument, providing a false name to police, and a drug possession warrant out of Pinellas County.

Compiled by Laura C. Morel, Times staff writer.