Crime & Safety
Police: Burglars Caught Hitting Tire Shop For Third Time
A police officer recognized the truck the two St. Petersburg men were in from burglaries reported at the Clearwater shop in August.
Two St. Petersburg men were arrested Tuesday after police say they caught them returning to burglarize the same Clearwater tire shop for a third time.
A Clearwater Police officer on routine patrol spotted the two suspects leaving Uncle's Shop, 1551 Gulf to Bay Blvd., in a red Ford truck around 11 p.m. Tuesday after the business was closed.
The officer recognized the truck from an alert he had issued in August for the same location in reference to several commercial burglaries, according to police spokesperson Elizabeth Watts.
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The officer stopped the suspects, and both confessed to stealing tires from the business, Watts said in a media release.
The two men, David Lee Wilson, 26, and Paul A. Patrick, 50, were each arrested and charged with two additional burglaries that occurred at the tire shop in August.
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"Detectives believe the suspects are involved in additional similar burglaries," Watts said. Additional charges are pending.
The truck the men were in, a 1995 Ford F-150, was seized by police.
The suspects were released from Pinellas County Jail on Tuesday after posting bond, according to online records.
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