DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – A ”shameless” shutter thief remains on the run in Broward County, even after he was caught red-handed by one of his several victims.
Local 10 News has been following various cases in Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach, where a man in a metallic blue or silver van pulls up and uses his power drill to quickly uninstall and steal accordion shutters right off people’s homes.
“The Broward Sheriff’s Office is actively investigating these incidents,” BSO spokesperson Carey Codd said. “We’re trying to identify and apprehend this individual.”
On Feb. 3, a man who looks similar to one seen in other surveillance videos approached Candia Lumley-Turner’s home in Deerfield Beach and got to work on a shutter in the back of the house.
It appears the man didn’t realize she was home at the time. She went to the yard to confront him, thinking he might have been sent by her homeowners association.
“When I run outside I said, ‘why are you taking off my stuff?!’ and he said, ‘It’s broken!’ like he’s angry. He doesn’t want me to trouble him,” she recalled. “I’m going to give you a brand new one,” she remembered him saying.
Moments later, he loads up the shutters he just uninstalled and drove off in his van.
Lumley-Turner said that’s when she realized he had stolen the shutters and called deputies.
BSO says it has three cases that detectives are working to crack right now.
Local 10 News, however, has found several others that weren’t reported and even more attempted shutter thefts, some of which were also caught on camera.
Deputies are asking residents with information to come forward, even if you don’t have video, as they continue to work to identify the man.
“If there was an attempt at your home to remove those hurricane shutters and they were damaged in some way or partially removed, our detectives want to hear from you as well,” Codd said.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.