Twelve-Year-Old A Suspect In Burglary

SEBRING - A 12-year-old Hill Gustat Middle School student who had been arrested four times since May 2, was arrested Tuesday as a suspect in an October burglary.

The boy was reportedly in the custody Wednesday of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, charged with burglary of a dwelling and grand theft more than $300 but less than $5,000.

Sometime between 8 a.m. Oct. 27 and 6:20 a.m. Oct. 29, sheriff's investigators believe the boy entered a home in the 200 block of Spring Garden Road after locating a hidden key.

The boy reportedly entered the victim's bedroom and removed the victim's undergarments from her top dresser drawer, the report stated, and placed them on her bed.

He then shuffled through her children's clothing in their bedrooms. At some point he reportedly found a bank bag on a table and moved it to a desk near the front door.
The bag contained personal checks and about $400 in $20 bills.

When the boy was located at school by a principal on Nov. 2, he had $240 in $20 bills in his possession, the arrest report stated.

He also is accused of taking a couple of pairs of men's boxer shorts valued at about $50 and a pair of the victim's panties.

A neighbor who was burglarized the same night found a pair of panties in the road near her home, later identified by the other victim as being hers. In that case he was spotted naked by one of the victims.

After the May 2 arrest he was turned over to the care of a parent.

The boy was since arrested Sept. 13, Oct. 1, Oct. 30, and each time was turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice, in Bartow. At the time of his Nov. 20 arrest, he was in custody in Bartow awaiting his court hearing, the report stated.