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Man tries to steal two planes at Tampa airport, crashes truck into hangar, police say

 
Police say Drew T. Bronnenberg, 28, tried to steal two planes from Tampa's Peter O. Knight Airport Saturday and then crashed a fuel truck into a hangar. [Photo from the Tampa Police Department]
Police say Drew T. Bronnenberg, 28, tried to steal two planes from Tampa's Peter O. Knight Airport Saturday and then crashed a fuel truck into a hangar. [Photo from the Tampa Police Department]
Published Jan. 30, 2018

TAMPA — A 28-year-old Panama City Beach man tried Saturday to steal two planes from Peter O. Knight Airport then crashed a fuel truck into a hangar and landed in jail, police said.

Drew Bronnenberg's failed caper at the airport, 825 Severn Drive, started about 10:30 p.m., when he entered Hangar 4407, pulled out a Piper PA-12 valued at $60,000 and tried to start it, according to a Tampa police report.

After failing to start the single-engine aircraft, Bronnenberg discharged a fire extinguisher, the report says.

Bronnenberg then moved on to Hangar 5400 and attempted to steal an ICON A5, an aircraft valued at $285,000, the report says. Apparently unsuccessful, he drove an E-Z-GO golf cart valued at $6,500 to the airport's fuel pumps, abandoned it there and started an International 4200 model truck, the report says.

He drove the truck back to Hangar 5400 and crashed it into the side of the building, causing about $250 in damage to the structure, the report says.

Police arrested Bronnenberg minutes later in the 900 block of Severn Avenue. He was booked into the Hillsborough County jail on 11 charges, including burglary, grand theft and criminal mischief, and released on Sunday after posting $26,000 bail, records show.

Jail records list Bronnenberg's occupation as lifeguard. He does not have a pilot's license, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

Contact Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3374. Follow @tmarrerotimes.