Alert neighbor helps deputies stop Palm Coast home burglary

PALM COAST, Fla. – Flagler County deputies stopped a burglary from happening Sunday night in Palm Coast with the help of an alert neighbor.

"If you see something, say something, although in this case, if you hear something say something," said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said.

That's exactly what the neighbor on Riverine Drive did. Staly said the neighbor heard glass shatter and called 911, since he knew the family wasn't home. Staly said the burglary call came at a perfect time for his deputies.

"Now, one of the bad things for the suspects is that they happen to do this at shift change so I had plenty of deputies out," he said.

The deputies, along with their K-9s, surrounded the house and found an open gate, a broken window and three people inside. The sheriff said the trio had piled up a lot of electronics at the door.

"They had TVs that they had actually taken off the wall and other electronics that go with TVs," he said.

However, deputies caught them just in time and arrested 18-year-old Dezmon Kearse. The Sheriff's Office said Kearse has been arrested three times this year, and has previous arrests in 2018 for aggravated battery in Volusia County.

Deputies also arrested a 16-year-old and 15-year-old  who had been reported missing from Ormond Beach.

"It doesn't happen often but it always feels good when it does," Staly said when asked about stopping a burglary from occurring.

The sheriff said he's proud of that neighbor and his team for their hard work and recovering the electronics that would have otherwise disappeared.

"We're not going to play around," Staly said. "If you commit a crime here, if you want to prey on our community, we're going to use all the resources we have  to apprehend and arrest you."


About the Author:

Loren Korn is a native Texan who joined the News 6 team as a reporter in May 2014. She was born and raised in Houston and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Journalism.

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