CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) – Mindy May couldn’t believe it. She was sitting on the couch in her Clearwater home and saw a man who she didn’t know getting into her car. She immediately confronted the shirtless thief.

“I ran out and said what the F. are you doing?” said May. “And he jumped out of my car.”

May jumped into action running into her home and grabbed her cell phone and called 911. While on the phone with dispatchers, she followed the man.

“He had run down our street and then hid in a bush and then ran up McMullen Booth and then ran in the median of McMullen Booth,” said May. “He ran up past Kapok and into the Sam Ash Music parking lot.”

While in the parking lot of the music store, police say the man was trying to get into cars there. They believe he was either looking for items to steal or a car to get out of the area.

Police were on scene in moments and arrested 46-year old Walter Hock. He’s now facing three counts of car burglary and detectives are looking to see if he fits the description in other cases around the city.

Walter Hock booking photo from 2017 arrest.

Clearwater Police Detective Jason Jones says there is an uptick in burglary cases in the city. It’s hard to pinpoint why, but the department has taken to social media warning residents to take precautions so they don’t become victims.

“They’re leaving items in the car that are visible. They’re not locking their doors and they’re making it easy for them,” said Jones. “To walk by and see what’s in their cars.”

May says she is relieved that the man who tried breaking into her car is now behind bars, but the entire ordeal makes her feel uneasy.

“After it was all over and the cops had left, it was like man, I had someone in my car and it wasn’t someone I knew,” said May. “And I had to clean all the fingerprint stuff off my car. Once it was all said and done, I definitely felt violated.”

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