Officers, deputies respond to car burglaries at Fort Myers apartment complex

Due to multiple car burglaries, a significant police presence was active at a Fort Myers apartment complex on Summerlin Road Wednesday morning. The search is on for two suspects who police say are to blame.

Fort Myers police officers and Lee County deputies went to the Park at Murano apartments at 4757 Barkley Circle. Mike Walsh, FMPD Lt. detective, says the scene responded to several car burglaries that occurred at the Park at Murano. He doesn’t know the exact number of burglarized cars but said law enforcement is searching for two suspects who ran.

Walsh says a car believed to belong to one of the suspects was towed away for processing.

Fort Myers police detectives aren’t talking about what clues the car might offer. WINK News has learned that the two men came to the apartment complex last night to visit a woman.

Instead of leaving FMPD says they broke into several cars. When someone called 911 one of the men went back to the woman’s apartment and forced himself inside to hide from police. He and the second guy got away before the cops arrived.

Ileana Vazquez, and many of her neighbors, had their cars broken into.

Vazquez said, “one was that one, two or three more over there in the other side of the house there were two or three more cars. I don’t feel safe in this place anymore.”

Crime scene technicians dusted her car and several others for prints. They also towed away a vehicle they believed belonged to the suspects.

Inside the suspect’s car was Vazquez’s wallet, but officers wouldn’t give it back because it is now evidence.

“I have to change everything in the bank,” said Vazquez.

Thomas Rose was also a victim of the car break-ins. “They took my wallet. They took my gun case. I guess they thought my gun was in there and just some headphones.”

Rose said even though he’s a victim, he’s not angry at the guys still on the run for the crime. He said he knows from experience the cops will get them. “I went around with my friends, and we broke in a good bit of cars, and we got caught.”

Rose said he left his life of crime behind and is now a man of faith. He believes there’s hope for these suspects too. “You need to get right with God. We’re in some strange times right now, and that’s what’s definitely turned my life around for the better.”

Police say the burglars got into some unlocked cars, but mainly they smashed the windows to steal valuables inside.