VIDEO: Burglars squeeze through doggy door
TAMPA (FOX 13) - Burglars were seen by surveillance cameras squeezing into a house through the doggy door and Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies are trying to identify two of the suspects.
Video taken January 21 shows a black male going into a vacant home on Little Road through a pet door at the back of the house. The next day, two white men, accompanied by the original burglar, were captured by surveillance cameras coming and going from the house - again using the doggy door.
HCSO says the suspects ransacked the home, took a flat screen TV and other property.
"Shocked, I really am," says neighbor Brenda Lanigan. "Perhaps someone knew the house was vacant that long and maybe decided to check out, I mean nice place to hang your hat."
The upscale mansion once belonged to high-profile Tampa attorney Gene Odom. Odom died in 2015 in a plane crash in Southern Georgia. He was flying with Lester Hathcox, a former pilot for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
"You just don't take things that don't belong to regardless if it's a vacant house or not," Lanigan said.
The black male, 19-year-old Joaun Evan Wright, as identified and arrested on February 3. He faces several burglary and drug charges. The two unknown white males are believed to be in their early 20's, 5'2"-5'3" tall and weighing 130-140 pounds.
"We don't hear doggy door break ins very often not too common," said Cristal Nunez, spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. "It is innovative you have to give them credit," Lanigan said. "I think they should be punished I really do, I'm all for justice."
Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay is offering a reward of up to $3,000 for information that leads to the identification and arrest of the unknown suspects involved in this case. Anyone with any information regarding the identity of the suspects and who wants to be eligible for a cash reward is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477), report anonymously online at www.crimestopperstb.com or send a mobile tip using the P3 Tips Mobile application. Crime Stoppers must be contacted first in order to be eligible for a cash reward.