JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A series of burglaries targeting cars and homes in the Mandarin and Southside neighborhoods may have come to an end with the arrests this week of three Jacksonville teens.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office announced those arrests in a Facebook post Wednesday evening, saying the trio was suspected in a home invasion Monday in the Reedy Branch subdivision.
Under arrest are Dakota Harney, 18, Benjamin Huger, 18, and Deja Terry, 18, each of whom faces a list of burglary and other charges linked to a string of recent auto and residential break-ins, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The latest break-in happened early Monday at a Canopy Oaks Drive home. The homeowner called 911 after he woke to find a stranger in his bedroom and his handgun and phone missing from his nightstand, according to a police report.
"They made a beeline for that room by chance and went right into the nightstand," said the homeowner's wife, who asked for anonymity. "Stole his gun and cellphone, but he woke up and yelled out, 'Someone's in the house."
Police reviewed home surveillance video, which showed two masked female suspects approach the home. They were later joined by two male suspects who entered the garage and then rifled through the vehicles before going inside the home.
The intruders fled when the homeowner woke up, driving away in a Toyota Prius. But one of them left behind fingerprints on the driver's door of one of the vehicles in the garage. Police said evidence technicians later matched those prints to Huger, who was arrested at home Wednesday.
Later Monday morning, officers were called to a reported auto burglary at a home on Lazarette Court. That homeowner said someone stole a gas card from his vehicle after he left it parked in the driveway overnight with the cars unlocked.
Surveillance video from his home showed one man rummaging through his vehicle, while another man walked up to his doorstep, armed with a handgun, and tried to open the locked front door. After jiggling the handle, he walked away and began rifling through the car.
About 11 p.m. Tuesday, officers checking on a report of someone sleeping in a car at Deer Meadows Apartments on Old Kings Road met Terry and Harney. A search of the vehicle found a stockpile of stolen credit cards, tablets, car keys and a handgun taken from Canopy Oaks Drive.
Harney is charged with three counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary, Huger is charged with four counts of burglary and Terry is charged with two counts of burglary and two counts of prowling, according to court records. All three are being held without bond at the Duval County jail.
Court records show Harney was previously arrested last month on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor after residents reported seeing suspicious people wearing dark clothing near Kellow Drive and Buttonwood about 4 a.m. June 12.
According to that report, Harney and three others were seen leaving driveways along Kellow Drive, while a Toyota Prius idled nearby. The officer noted Harney was found with several items that didn’t belong to him. It’s unclear why he wasn’t charged with burglary in that case.