HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – The investigation continues into several rent drop box thefts in Hillsborough County.
The sign on the front office door at the Raintree Oaks Apartment complex near the University of South Florida says it all. It warns tenants that due to recent thefts, the slot has been sealed off.
A complex worker tells us the thefts happened weeks ago and things are seemingly back in order.
“I seen it, I seen it at the wall. The door saying don’t put your money there because people are taking it,” said Irving, a resident at the complex.
At Raintree Oaks as well as the Cinnamon Cove complex not far away, thieves went to great lengths to get people’s rent payments.
It happened earlier this year through mid-May, court paperwork shows. Other thefts were reported recently.
In some of the incidents, the suspects would use a wire and glue to fish the payments from the slots, paperwork shows.
Security cameras caught at least two people taking the money orders and checks. They’d later alter the payments in order to receive a payout.
While the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has identified at least two suspects, no one has been arrested.
“I don’t know why they would do it. People work really hard for their money,” Irving said.
Court paperwork shows between November 2017 and July 2018, there were roughly 25 cases of rent drop box burglaries in Hillsborough County.
