WFLA

South Tampa resident discovers serial burglars ransacking his home

Chip Osowski

SOUTH TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — When Todd Bodner arrived home on Tuesday afternoon, he knew something wasn’t right.

He normally parks in the driveway, but with a car full of groceries, he pulled into the garage. He made his way into the kitchen when he heard some commotion.

“I could hear the noise in the back of the house,” said Bodner. “I walked down the hallway and saw my front door was open. So, I ran down the hallway and saw everything in our room on the bed and on the floor.”

Bodner’s home on San Jose Street is the latest in a string of residential burglaries that police believe were committed by the same thieves. Tampa police detectives have tallied a total of 16 burglaries in South Tampa since March (see photos and video of the burglars here).

Tampa Police Department Spokesman Steve Hegarty says detectives believe the burglars are pros. In the most recent case, two men broke into the home, while a third person circled the area, presumably, in the getaway vehicle.

“They are very well organized,” said Hegarty. “They seem to know what they’re doing. They seem to be calm, they’ll go through a neighborhood like they own the place, they work pretty quickly.”

But, Hegarty points out, they aren’t quick enough to avoid surveillance cameras. Cameras in several of the thefts captured the men leaving the scene. TPD released video this week in the hope of capturing the crooks.

Bodner was lucky. When he arrived home, unannounced, he startled the men. They ran off taking nothing. “I ran into the office real quick and noticed one of our pillowcases lying behind the desk,” said Bodner. “It was full of everything, so they didn’t get anything.”

Bodner says they did make away with one item he can’t put a price tag on: his piece of mind.

“I’m hoping they catch these guys, because you know my wife can’t sleep at night,” he said. “She doesn’t deserve that. She deserves to feel safe in her own home.”

Marsha Kumar also talked about the emotional trauma of the break-ins. Her home was the first to be burglarized. The thieves broke in in March.

“The drawers open and stuff all over my bed,” Kumar recalled months later. “All my jewelry boxes.”

She told News Channel 8 she was in the house for 10 minutes before she realized the crooks had been there.

“Terrifying … absolutely terrifying, one of the scariest moments,” Kumar said about realizing her home had been broken into. She was standing with her 2-year-old son when she made the discovery.

Mike Puckett was the last victim. His house was broken into Wednesday.

“Grabbed the pillowcase, poured everything in, went through the closets looking for stuff and then left,” Puckett said.

He demonstrated the way crooks smashed their way into the back door, which he has since replaced. They took irreplaceable heirloom jewelry from Puckett.

Tampa police released this description of two of the suspects pictured in the recent burglary-

A white male wore a black ball cap with red writing, a dark colored t-shirt and dark pants.

A well dressed Hispanic male who was 25-35 years of age, 5′ 8″ to 6′ tall and weighed about 170 lbs. He wore a white button down shirt and dark jeans.See surveillance photos and video from another home the thieves burglarized.

Tampa Police provided the following locations of the burglaries-

Watch News Channel 8 tonight at 6 to hear more about this organized group of burglars.

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