The following Crime Watch notices have been forwarded to the Woodruffs by Deputy Walter Wolf of the Lake County Sheriff's department. He can be reached as follows:

7/20/10

I just wanted to warn everyone to be extra cautious and warn your children not to pick up any bottles just laying around. If you should find any plastic or glass bottles (usually soda bottles) with any liquid and any shiny material inside of the bottle call law enforcement imminently do not touch it. We have unfortunately had two more incidents in the Clermont area of two plastic soda bottles exploding after being placed outside of two separate residential homes. The explosions were minor and no one was hurt, Please report any suspicious items to law enforcement.

As this is a active criminal investigation I am limited to the information being sent out.

7/6/10

This e-mail is in regards to the e-mail that I sent out to everyone June 21,2010 warning about a e-mail that was circulating warning of homemade explosive soda bottle bombs. In my e-mail I stated that I was concerned about the e-mails advising of the ingredients and basically how to make them. Well unfortunately we have had an incident in the Clermont area where a mail box was blown apart with what appears to have been a homemade soda bottle bomb. Thank God it was a isolated incident and no one was injured. If you should see any bottles that appear to have liquid and any shiny objects(tin foil or aluminum foil) inside of it do not touch it. Call Law Enforcement so it can be checked out.

We have had several incidents in Lake County were twenty dollar counterfeit bills have been passed.

In the Lake Mack area we have had several cases were air conditioner units have been damaged to get the cooper wire. In several of the incidents a white van pulling a black trailer was seen.

Now for this ---In the last thirty days we have had 107 vehicles broken into and guess what ???????? 96 were unlocked. Please pass the word to lock your vehicles.

In the very south end of the county we had a white male approximately 30-35 years old driving a newer black van approached two young girls and tried to engage them in conversation then exposed himself to them. Please warn your children and grand children to never approach strangers and to report any strange activity. You also may want to talk to them about safe houses in your neighborhood that they can run to in a emergency.

Just for your general information we are working on having the next Sheriff’s Town Hall Meeting in Umatilla sometime in August.

6/24/10

Just wanted to advise everyone that with school out we are seeing an increase of various types of vandalism around the county. Most of what we are seeing other than being a pain are relatively harmless(unless it’s your yard that has been toilet papered). However this week mainly in the City of Eustis we have had a very large number of vehicle tires being slashed.

Please report any suspicious activity immediately to your local Police Department or the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. As I have repeatedly said we would much rather you call us and it be nothing then not call us and something happens.

Also please double check your vehicles whenever left unattended (especially at night) to make sure that they are locked.

6/22/10

First of all I would like to thank those of you that attended the Sheriff’s Town Hall meeting last week, and to the many of you that e-mailed me advising me of how much you learned about the Sheriff’s Office and how much you enjoyed the meeting, thank you.

Next I have had several inquiries regarding an e-mail that is currently circulating advising of a explosive homemade soda bottle bomb. Unfortunately it is not a hoax or rumor, its true however it’s not a widespread threat, actually there have only been a couple of isolated cases nationwide (none locally). One however is one to many.

The device is known as a “works bomb” usually the device is made with a plastic soda bottle filled with two ingredients that when mixed becomes very explosive. What worries me about the e-mail is not the warning, it’s that they not only tell you all about it they tell you the ingredients so that anyone after reading the e-mail could make a very dangerous device. What makes the device so dangerous is the chemical reaction when the two ingredients are mixed. The reaction is not immediate, it does take some time for the gas build up. This can be greatly sped up by movement of the bottle.

I do not feel comfortable advising both ingredients that make the device work however if you should see a soda bottle or any bottle that appears to have aluminum foil inside it along with a liquid do not touch or attempt to move it. Move away from it and call law enforcement.

If you have any concerns or questions about this e-mail, e-mail me with a phone number that I can reach you at and I’ll call you.

5/13/10

For those of you that are not aware of it Sheriff Gary Borders has since becoming Sheriff of Lake County in 2006 held a Sheriff’s Town Hall Meeting once a month. Each month a meeting is held at a different community within Lake County. After a 10 minute video overview of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office operations Sheriff Borders introduces his command staff. Each member then explains their specific duties within the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Borders feels that this way if you ever have to contact a command member for whatever reason you can put a face to the name. After introductions Sheriff Borders talks briefly about all the various services that your Sheriff’s Office provides to all citizens of Lake County, then opens it up for questions and answers. Normally meetings have been held in either community centers of some of the larger communities or for several communities that have not got a community center the meetings have been held at various local churches. These meetings have been so well received that several communities have invited us back for a second town hall meeting. In the past all but the meetings held at the local churches the attendees have pretty much been from defined communities (such as Plantation or Kings Ridge ect: ect:). The reason for this e-mail is that we will be holding our next Sheriff’s Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday June 15, 2010 at 6:30 PM. The meeting will be held in the gym at Faith Lutheran Church and School located at 2727 South Grove Street Eustis Florida. This location is one block East of SR 19 at the corners of Old Mount Dora Road and South Grove Street. This meeting is for anyone living in Lake County. I have a lot of crime watch communities in and around Eustis so I am inviting all of you to join us for what you will find to be both informative and entertaining. If at all possible the meeting is for adults, however Faith Lutheran has offered to provide a care area for any children that you may have to bring.

Refreshments will be provided after the meeting.

Hope to see you at the meeting

Walter

4/28/10

Here is another "TalkFusion" from the sheriff's department. I had a little trouble viewing it but that may be because I screwed it up. Hope you can view it just fine. Thanks, Susan

Subject: Crime Watch Scam's

Click here if you are unable to view this image.

4/21/10

Just wanted to re-warn everyone of all the different type of scams that are being sent out daily by the thousands. As I have stated in the past there are just too many different type scams out there for me to be able to address all of them. There is one that has just recently surfaced in Lake County were you may receive notification that your name has been drawn in an annual consumers promotional drawing. They tell you that you are entitled to the primary prize of $250,000.00 payable by a certified check that will be delivered to you by courier. They will enclose a check drawn on Bank of America payable from Allstate Life Insurance Company. The check in the amount of $4,970.00 represents the mandatory non Canadian residential tax, insurance, and delivery charges. The letter will state that this check is being sent to you so that you will not have any out of pocket expenses. They will tell you that after cashing the check you will need to send them back $4,770.20 by way of money gram or western union. They also tell you that the difference in the amount that they have sent you and the amount that you send them is yours to do with as you please. They tell you once that is completed they can process your check for they $250,000.00. (I took one of the checks to a bank of America and asked them if a customer of theirs would of brought the check into them to cash what would they do? They ran it through their system and no red flags popped up at that time. They said that they would have deposited the check into your account. The bank said that it would have taken from three days to a couple of weeks for it to come back as it actually being a bad check. Your bank would then debit your account the $4,970.00. If you had done what the people wanted and sent them the money or used any of it you would be responsible to the bank for that amount. As I have said if you ever receive any unsolicited correspondence stating that you have won something or they need certain private information to complete something check it out as many ways possible and even then it still could appear legitimate and not be. I will be putting out a Talk Fusion Video E-Mail in a couple of days addressing this).

We have also seen a increase of trailer thefts and atv thefts in the past couple of weeks. It’s been in all parts of the county but more of an issue in the Groveland, Clermont area. Still a lot of unlocked cars being broken into all over the county. In the Astor area we have had several cars that were parked at recreational areas or fishing areas with the windows down and things of value in plain sight being taken out of the vehicles.

No matter where you are, please always secure your vehicle whenever you leave it unattended.

4/1/10

Good day everyone, I just wanted to bring everyone up to date on several issues. First of all regarding vehicle burglaries in various unincorporated Lake County from January 1, 2010 through March 27^th 2010 we have had 169 vehicles broken into. Out of the 169 vehicles 144 were unlocked and 25 were locked and had a window broken to gain access. That’s 85% of all the vehicles in unincorporated Lake County were left unsecured. Of the 25 that had the windows broken 23 had things of value in plain view. GPS systems were the leading item of things taken from all vehicles. It’s amazing to me the number of people that leave wallets, purse’s, large sums of cash, and weapon’s in unsecured vehicles or they take the time to lock their vehicles but leave those items in PLAIN view. Believe me it does help to secure your vehicles and not leave things of value in plain view (unless you have bears in the area).

I also wanted to warn every one of a scam involving Facebook. You may get a e-mail that appears to be from Facebook saying that your password has to be reset for security reasons. The bogus message informs you that you can find or reset your new facebook password in an attachment. Opening the attachment launches an executable file that triggers the download of a virus that allows others to take control of your computer and steal personal information. This scam actually first appeared in the latter part of 2009. As with a lot of scams, rumors, and hoaxes you can check them out on Snopes.com .

I plan on putting out a talk fusion video this week readdressing issues regarding some of the more resent scams that have recently surfaced in our area.

As most of you know I’m now in my sixth year as the crime watch coordinator with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. I personally feel that this is and has been one of the most rewarding job’s that I have done in my forty two years in law enforcement. Over the years as the crime watch coordinator I have addressed or talked to literly thousands and thousands of people at various crime watch or safety meetings that I have conducted. I also have done numerous informational TV messages on various local TV news stations as well as news articles in all the local newspaper’s. In saying that when I’m out and about quite often someone will recognize me and come up to me and engage me in conversation ( I really enjoy it). This past Saturday I was shopping at a local store when a gentleman came up to me and with several senior ladies within hearing distance stated “Hay aren’t you that crime guy”? Well I knew what he was referring to, so I stated yes sir I’m the crime guy. Before I could say another word one of the ladies walked up to me and as serious as she could be said “ You ought to be ashamed of yourself committing crimes against honest people like us. Well if looks that I got from those ladies could have killed I wouldn’t be here today. I actually had to show the group my badge to convince them that I was really a good guy. So if you should see me out and about feel free to say howdy but please don’t call me the crime guy!!!!

3/28/10

I plan on putting out a talk fusion video this week readdressing issues regarding some of the more resent scams that have recently surfaced in our area.

3/16/10

Just wanted to let everyone know about a false rumor that has just started circulating in our area. There are many versions of this rumor e-mail that you may receive, the two most popular being about a serial killer or serial rapist. The towns and description as to what happened also change. The e-mail will generally start out with a warning usually to women about being weary about any stranger approaching you and advising you that you had just dropped some money. He will then hand you a bill (a one, five, ten, or a twenty). The suggestion in the e-mail is that this is how a serial killer or rapist is gaining the confidence of women in a certain town.

Not a bad idea for anyone to be cautious, but this is a false rumor that first started surfacing dating back to July of 2003. You can go to snopes.com and type in dropped money for the information on this particular rumor.

Walter

2/19/10

Another bit of important information I wanted to pass onto everyone.

Here are common-sense warnings about our common census about to begin:

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson urges state residents to avoid falling prey to scam artists intent on stealing your identity who may pose as U.S. Census workers.

Approximately 134 million households will be mailed census forms on March 1. The form includes 10 questions about your age, date of birth, race and whether you own or rent a home. It does not ask for your Social Security number or information about your taxes or income.

If you do not return a completed census form by April 1, it is likely that a census taker will either call or come to your door to obtain the information.

Bronson is urging residents to observe the following safety tips:

Do not provide your Social Security number or any financial information, including credit card or bank account information, to anyone claiming to represent the U.S. Census Bureau.

Never invite a census taker into your home.

All census takers carry official government badges.

Census workers are supposed to provide you with a letter from the Census Director on official letterhead.

The Census Bureau will not contact you by e-mail, so any website that pops up disguised as a census survey is fraudulent. The Census Bureau does not solicit information over the Internet.

2/19/10

This was brought to my attention by one of our investigative assistant’s Lynn Dewitt. I just want to pass it onto all our crime watch people so that you can pass it onto your friends and neighbors.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Online users who socially network their whereabouts could soon become victims thanks to a new Web site called PleaseRobMe.com.

VIDEO: Web Site's Motives Questioned

The Web site sucks data from social messaging services, such as Twitter and Foursquare, and displays information which it says thieves can use to break into homes when it appears no one is there. The site also provides a map to the person's past or present location.

The site's creators said they're not trying to help people burglarize homes but instead want the site to be a wakeup call for people ignorant of their personal security habits.

Local 6 News reporter Jessica D'Onofrio put the site to the test.

"So I'm here at Piper's in downtown Orlando and I've come to find this guy who says that he's here at the sports bar and grill," D'Onofrio said. "I went inside to find him and he had no idea he was on PleaseRobMe.com."

The man did not want to talk on camera, but others did.

"If people want to give out their information and tell the robbers out there when they're not home, let those people have at it and get their stuff stolen," Brian Repple said.

But many believe that instead of exposing these dangers, the site is a menace in its own right.

"I think it's assisting criminals in getting into people's homes, and I think the person who created it should be prosecuted," Sean Devries said.

"I think these people put their information out there for social reasons or for networking or work purposes. I don't think they put it out there so they can get robbed," Shelby Norwich said.

"So the bottom line is if you're on Twitter and Foursquare don't be surprised if you wind up on PleaseRobMe.com," D'Onforio said.

2/10/10

I hope you enjoy this TalkFusion video #4 regarding vehicle burglaries. Any questions or problems please call 352-267-3655 or email me at walter.wolf@lcso.org

2/7/10

Greeting’s just want to bring everyone up to date on several issues. First of all I want to thank all of you that have contacted me with the positive comments regarding the four video e-mails that we have sent out using the talk fusion program.

As I have stated in the past we are very excited about this program. As we learn and become more familiar with the system the better the quality of the videos will become. Hopefully within the next week I’ll be sending out a questioner asking you questions pertaining to any problems that you may be or are having with the program either in receiving, openining, or forwarding the video . One thing that is very important is that I need to know as soon as possible of any changes in your e-mail address. I not only have to change it in my crime watch data bank, but I also have to change it in the talk fusion program. Also as a note if for some reason the talk fusion video should go to your spam folder you will not be able to receive any of the videos until I get a e-mail from you stating that it was not intentionally sent to your spam folder and that you would like to receive the video e-mails that we send out through talk fusion. Talk fusion takes the spam e-mail very serious.

I plan on doing two video’s next week, one readdressing the scam’s and fraud’s and the second on vehicle burglaries.

Speaking of vehicle burglaries so far this year(January 1 through February 6th) in unincorporated Lake County we have had 68 vehicle burglaries. 57 were unlocked and 11 had a window broken to gain access That’s 84% of all vehicles that were burglarized in unincorporated Lake County were unsecured.. All 11 vehicles that the windows were broken had things such as purses, wallets, GPS systems, IPODS, lap top computers, and other things of value in PLAIN VIEW.

We have made several juvenile arrests in the Minneola, Clermont, and Grand Island areas regarding vehicle burglaries. In several of those arrests they were made possible by citizens such as yourself that reported suspicious persons or activity in the area.

Regarding scams, as I have said over and over no one will just out of the blue offer you something for nothing. Greed will do you in every time. But there are scams out there that do not involve greed. These scams will play on your kindness and willingness to help your fellow human beings. I would caution you to always be cautious when dealing with individuals or groups of people and thoroughly check them or their organization out.

Anyone can become a victim of a scam. For example there is one elaborate scam that has recently surfaced called the “collection Scam”. This scam target’s U.S. and Canadian Law firms and as in the vast majority of scams has Nigerian connections. How it works is that the suspects have access to mass produced counterfeit negotiable instruments, mostly in the form of certified or corporate checks.

The target firms will be contacted by an individual claiming that their company wishes to engage the firm for collection efforts. After agreeing to represent the client a person from the law firm will then contact the person supposedly owing the debt (an accomplice) at which time they will agree to pay the amount or an amount over what was due. They will then send a check that is usually sent via UPS, FedEx, Canada Post Office and in some cases, U.S. mail.

The instrument will arrive and to all will appear to be legitimate, and in most cases even examination by the bank fails to detect the counterfeit. These checks are stolen from real companies and altered so that only the name of the payee is changed. It is not until the check returns to the legitimate company and an audit is performed that the counterfeit is detected. The paying bank will often only check to see if the funds are available and that the account that the check was drawn against is in good standing. In these cases it may be several months before the scam is discovered and even then only by the real company itself during account reconciliation.

In the meantime the law firm will have deposited the false check into their account and issue a check to the client after taking out their fee. In several cases law firms were bilked out of thousands of dollars.

So as you see any one can become a victim even under the best of circumstances.

I would also caution you when doing business with any person or company that uses pressure tactics in trying to sell you a product or service. If you have any doubt or concerns never sign a contract. Tell them you would like to think it over and further check out their contract terms and their company. If they continue to get pushy call law enforcement so that they can be checked out. This advice is more for the unsolicited sales person that just shows up at your door (by the way they are required in most cases to have a County solicitation permit issued by the Clerk of the Court).

And last but not least is the numerous types of scams that are generated via e-mail. There are literally thousands of them. Unfortunately some of them have become very demanding and in some cases threatening. The problem with these type scams is that they are usually very aggravating, but usually untraceable the way they are set up. And even if they could be traced in most cases no crime has been committed unless you fall for whatever they are trying to obtain from you. Then as far as jurisdiction goes it would be almost impossible to prosecute under most situation’s (Not that it would never be prosecutable it would depend on the circumstances, every case is different).

I know that this was a little long, but wanted to get this information out.

1/16/10

Just wanted to let everyone know that last week we made an arrest of a young fellow in the Clermont, Minneola area for vehicle burglaries. He stated that the only vehicles that he was targeting were vehicles that were left UNLOCKED.

Sometime this week I will be sending out a crime watch questionnaire so that I can update my crime watch data bank. I also want to see how many of you are having difficulty with the talk fusion video e-mails.

Speaking of talk fusion we are working on and hope to have out this week a video e-mail regarding meth labs and what you need to be aware of.

1/11/10

Guess what I’m going to discuss? UNLOCKED VEHICLES. In just the county area not counting the individual cities we have had 71 vehicle break-ins from 12/11/2009 through 1/10/2010. Since the first of the year 1/1/2010 through today January 10^th we have had 35 vehicle break-ins in unincorporated Lake County. The sad thing is that out of the 35, 31 were unlocked 2 had their windows broken to get the purses that were left on the front seat, and 1 had its widow shattered to get the wallet and GPS that were in plain view. 1 vehicle we are not sure how they got in, it was possibly someone who had access to the vehicle keys.

Out of the unlocked vehicles there were at least 3 purses taken, 1 wallet, 1 lap top computer, and a IPOD. The most serious thing taken out of the unlocked vehicles was a hand gun.

I have said it many times over I just do not understand why anyone would leave there vehicle unlocked. Please pass the word onto your neighbors and friends to please lock their vehicles and as a precaution never leave anything of value in your vehicle (locked or unlocked ) that you would like to still be there when you return.

If you do have to leave something in your vehicle at least try to secure it as best you can. Never leave anything of value in plain view.

12/21/09

First of all I would like to wish everyone a merry X-mas. Hopefully you will not have any problems opening this talk fusion video. If you have any questions e-mail me at walter.wolf@lcso.org and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Walter

12/14/09

Sorry that I have not sent out the first talk fusion video message, but I have been out of town for the past week and a half due to a family emergency out of state. I will be playing catch up for the next couple of days, but will try and get the first test video out this week.

In checking the service calls it looks like trailer thefts are still an issue. I will probably address this and show several types of trailer locks during the first test video.

One of the community crime watch coordinators sent me an e-mail regarding a possible problem when using your credit or debit cards. When using your card always check the receipt and make sure that if you have not asked for cash back that it has not somehow either accidently or on purpose been added to your charges. I have not been able to verify that this is happening on a wide scale, but better safe then not. It only takes a few minutes to check your receipt before leaving the checkout line.

Also if you have e-mailed me and I have not gotten back with you please re-email me. I once again had some computer problems just before going out of town. I now have a new computer with updated programs that I’m trying to get used to, so please bare with me while I learn some of the newer programs.

11/25/09

First of all I would like to wish everyone a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving Holiday. During the past month we have seen an increase in the theft of both vehicles and utility trailers from all areas of the county. For whatever reason we have seen an above higher then average number of the utility trailers that have been stolen are being taken from the north end of the county. We have also started seeing the typical holiday scams start to surface for this time of year. I would suggest that any time someone comes to your house trying to solicit for money or trying to sell you something I would ask them for a photo ID. I would also suggest writing down there name and date of birth along with any identifying ID number on the document. A driver’s license would be great. If they don’t want to show you any ID I would suggest just saying no to them. Any time that you don’t feel that everything is proper I would suggest you call law enforcement so that they can check them out.

Some good news regarding the talk fusion video e-mails that I have been talking about in past e-mails. I hopefully will be sending out the first video e-mail next week.

It may be necessary to add the following address to your e-mail address book so that the e-mails will not be treated as spam. Set your e-mail to allow the receipt of mail from Video EmailDelivery@talkfusion.com. You are authorized and requested to forward the e-mail to all persons that have an interest in obtaining the crime watch notifications. You may need to remind the recipient to also add the e-mail address just referenced so it does not go to spam.

This is an effort by our office to stay current with the latest technology using the best techniques to keep our citizens fully informed as to current methods to protect against crime and the many new scams that are occurring. It is well recognized that the better informed that our citizenry is, the easier our job is in protecting you and keeping you and your families safe and secure.

The videos will occasionally also include text attachments, so do not forget to check for that.

If you have any questions or concerns about our new advancement, or if you may become interested in the talk fusion program please feel free to contact me.

Once again Happy Thanksgiving.

11/9/09

Wanted to let everyone know that we are still seeing a lot of trailer thefts from all areas of the county. We are seeing a higher number in the Sorrento area then normally. We have also started seeing the theft of travel trailers. Take that extra precaution if you own a trailer and use a trailer lock of some sort.

I also wanted to let everyone know that in the very near future I hope to be using a new program called Talk Fusion. This program will allow me to send out video messages where I can actually show you any of the devices that I talk about. This is an effort by our office to stay current with the latest technology using the best techniques to keep our citizens fully informed as to current methods to protect against crime and the many new scams that are occurring. It is well recognized that the better informed our citizenry is, the easier our job is in protecting you and keeping you safe and secure.

Prior to us starting actual usage of the program I’ll send out an informational e-mail explaining it more in depth.

If you have any questions or concerns about our new advancement, please feel free to let me know.

10/24/09

Just wanted to advise everyone of a new scam that has recently surfaced. You will get an e-mail from someone portraying themselves as having an incurable disease and only have a few months to live. They go on to state that they have researched you threw various internet search methods. They go on to state that they are very wealthy and want to leave there estate to you when they die. They then advise you that you will have to contact there attorney and furnish them with certain information so that they can start setting up an estate account in your name. They then will give you a name and e-mail address so that you can contact there supposed attorney. Remember as I have said over and over no one is going to contact you and give you something for nothing, especially money. They are trying to get personal information so that they can commit ID theft.

We are still seeing a lot of trailer thefts from various locations from around the county. The other big thing that we are seeing is an increase in vandalism. With halloween and the holidays please be alert to what is going on in your neighborhoods and report suspicious activity or persons as soon as possible so that we hopefully can get to them before they get a chance to do anything.

9/27/09

Just wanted to re address a growing problem of frauds and scams. Don’t get stung; con artists are not always easy to spot. They are in some case’s smart, extremely persuasive, and aggressive, they invade your home through the telephone, computer, and the mail. They advertise in reputable newspapers and magazines, and come to your homes in person. Most people think that they’re too smart to fall for a scam. But con artists rob all kinds of people – from investment counselors and doctors to teenagers and the elderly of billions every year. It’s up to you to say no. Use common sense and learn about old and new scams. Don’t let greed overcome your common sense. Be wary of high pressure sales, demands for cash only, pressure for quick decisions, secret deals, and no risk high yield investments. Get a second opinion from someone you trust, and remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

We have seen several bank type scams that look like they have come from legitimate banks. They are e-mail that has what looks like the banks logo on them. They are usually addressed as (Dear NAME OF BANK member) this should be a warning because they do not have your name. Then they go on to say that some one else has logged onto your online banking account and they need to re-confirm your account information to them by a certain date. They even provide what appears to be a legitimate bank e-mail address for you to send the information to. It’s all a fraud to get your bank account information. If you ever get any unexpected correspondence from your bank always contact them in person for verification.

9/16/09

Last night in the Mt Plymouth/Sorrento area we had 18 vehicles burglarized and GUESS WHAT --- all 18 were unlocked. Need I say more?

11/21/08

Just wanted to report several things. As I have stated we are entering the time of year that we see more scams and frauds then normal. Please be cautious of any one that offers you a deal that sounds to good to be true. Trust me it will turn out not to be true.

We have received several reports from the 441 Mall area, and the 473 Bassville Park area of a couple of young men approaching homes and portraying themselves as working for Comcast. In a couple of incidents they engaged the home owner in conversation and requested entry into the residents so that the could check the Comcast equipment. One time they were reported as driving a older green car and in another they were driving a older dark blue car, and in yet another they were possibly in a white pick up. A check with Comcast reveled that Comcast does not send people out to solicit business and if they are in a neighborhood doing any type of repair work they will be in a marked Comcast vehicle. When in doubt call Law Enforcement and never let anyone into your home unless you have called for a certain type of service and are expecting them.

Also we are still seeing a rather high number of vehicles being burglarized especially in the Clermont, Clermont South areas. Vast majority of the vehicles are UNLOCKED.

If you suspect that someone has entered into your vehicle but can not find anything missing, just that your vehicle has been ransacked still call us for a report. This will give us a better idea as to what may be happening in certain neighborhoods.

Last year we had a rather high number of vandalism to Christmas decorations reported, I hope that it does not continue this year.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and have a happy and safe holiday.

11/14/08

Hello folks,

I had a call from Judi C. tonight and it's a bit disturbing. A condensed version is that yesterday she filled up her car and made note of the odometer reading. She estimates she drove about 16-20 miles thereafter and returned home. This morning when she went out to go to work her car's odometer was down and she estimates about 5 gallons of gas are unaccounted for. This has apparently happened once before to them. While not 100% positive she feels pretty certain her car was locked. She has the type of gas tank lid that you pop from inside the car so she called the dealer and he told her that they are certainly not full-proof and if someone had some knowledge it would be possible to get the lid opened.

She just wanted everyone to be aware of a possible situation going on in our own neighborhood. If this is happening the creepiest part is someone is roaming our neighborhood late into the night/early mornings. If you have a vehicle you have to leave out you might want to consider a "lock w/key" gas tank closure and they are available at the new parts store in town. Despite the security system and the locking of vehicles Judi figures they will now install motion lights out on the driveway. It's a sad situation we are experiencing but I guess we shouldn't be too surprised. Deputy Walter is constantly harping on just this type of thing. So heads up! Thanks, Susan (See additional info below)

11/15/08 (Related to above above Alert)

Hi everybody,

I just needed to clarify something. It wasn't my odometer ... we have a separate milage gauge in my car. When I fill the car, it tells me how many miles I can go on that particular tank of gas. Between 10:00 on Thursday night and 7:00 on Friday morning the gauge showed I had used approx. 90 miles that I really hadn't used. If I figure that out, it is approx. what a five gallon can would take. There was also dirt around my gas cap. The dirt part happened once before about a month ago, but I didn't figure it out really pay too much attention to it. What got my eye this time was the milage gauge. If Paul's car had been outside we never would have missed 5 gallons unless we were checking milage manually. He doesn't have a gauge.

This is just a wake-up so we all keep our eyes real wide open ........

Judi

11/5/08

Just wanted to remind everyone that as we enter into the holiday season its that time of the year that we see certain scams resurface . One in particular that we have already started seeing is the paving scams. If any one comes to your house trying to sell you a paving job (beware) Ask to see there solicitation permit. This permit is required in Lake County to solicit door to door. If they have not got a permit call Law Enforcement.

10/22/08

Just wanted to clarify a question that was asked of me recently. When a specialty law enforcement unit shows up in a certain community (i.e.-swat team, bomb squad, ect: ect:) I am in most cases not at liberty to pre warn any community of there pending arrival or in most cases what they are even doing there. In some cases even I am not aware of what is going on. If its something that is a threat to the community some one from law enforcement will alert the residents as to the emergency.

Good news Bad news-Bad news we are still seeing an awful lot of vehicles being broken into county wide (I'm not even going to tell you that they are being left unlocked). Good news is that in the Bassville Park area we are about to arrest four juveniles for braking into unlocked vehicles (over twenty). As I have said this type of crime is usually a crime of opportunity. Please don't help a good kid go bad lock your doors.

10/12/08

we are seeing a rather high number of vehicles in the Clermont area being broken into. Almost all were left unlocked and the few that were locked had things of value in plain view and a window was broken to gain access.

Several trailers taken from various locations around the county (None had any type of trailer locking device).

The hot spot for home break-ins is still the very south end of the county were they are targeting the vacation rental homes.

We are still seeing a rather high number of weapons being taken out of both homes and vehicles after they are broken into. Please if you do have weapons go that extra step to secure them or make it more difficult to find them if they do get into your home or vehicle. (Not being in plain view would help especially inside your homes).

Also just as a reminder to a previous alert I recently sent out. This is the time of year that we normally see an increase in various types of scams and frauds. Just be cautious a scam can be either in person, by mail, or e-mail.

10/6/08

Wanted to mention several items. We are still seeing trailers taken from various locations around the county. We are having unlocked vehicles still being broken into (also various areas of the county). I would like to ask all of you that have young children to periodically talk to them about not talking or approaching strangers. We may have had a case this past Friday were a elderly gentleman may have tried to lour a couple of young children to his vehicle in the Mount Dora area. We are not for sure of his true motives as there was also a elderly female also in the vehicle. Never less please make sure to talk to your young-ones about the dangers of someone trying to possibly pick them up. Also with Halloween approaching make sure to pick a save area to trick or treat (such as a school or church).

9/19/08

Just want to let everyone know that in the last couple of days we have had gas stolen out of a large number of boats and recreational vehicles that were parked at storage areas. So far the thefts have mainly been in the Clermont area of the County. In one storage area alone gas was taken from eight boats

9/8/08

Just wanted to let everyone know especially the very south end of the county that we are seeing a rather high number of homes being broken into and electronic equipment especially big screen TV's are being taken. So far most of the brake-ins have been mainly the vacation retail homes. We are still seeing lot of vehicles being broken into that are being left unlocked.

8/26/08

We have had several cars broken into in the area east of Clermont towards the county line. One vehicle was also stolen guess what all the cars were left unlocked and the vehicle that was stolen had the keys in the ignition. All the vehicles were parked in the driveways or on the street in front of the homes. As I have said over and over lock your doors, remember a lot of the vehicle and home break ins are crimes of opportunity. Take away the opportunity and you may not become a victim.

8/20/08

Just to let everyone know we have had multiple vehicle burglaries in the following areas. The 473 area, old 441 in the Tavares, Mount Dora areas, Howey in the Hills and Yalaha areas, Clermont South areas, and the HWY 27 and HWY 19 areas. Oh ya guess what ? 96% of the vehicles were left unsecured--(NOT LOCKED). Recently I had a crime watch meeting in the Sorrento area and prior to the meeting I road around the neighborhood as I usually do. This time I stopped at several different residents and checked 10 vehicles that were either parked in the driveway or on the road in front of the house. I found 4 of the 10 unlocked!!!!!!!!!!

We have had several homes in the HWY 27 South of Leesburg area buggerized.

We are still having trailer thefts from various locations around the county.

We have had two boats taken one in the Leesburg area and a boat and trailer in the Astor area.

8/5/08

I would like to ask all of you to do me a favor. Please pass the word around to your friends and neighbors to please lock their car doors when leaving it unattended no matter where it may be located at. I know that this sounds like a broken record on my part, but we are seeing a unusually high number of unlooked cars being broken into from various locations around the county. The scary thing is that several of these cars had firearms in them that were taken.

We are also seeing a higher then usual number of homes being broken into in the northeast part of the county.

7/25/08

Just want to remind everyone to please make sure to secure your vehicles at all times, and don't leave things of value in plain view. Also if you have a weapon in the vehicle always make sure to at least lock it in the trunk or glove compartment when leaving the vehicle, and never leave it in the vehicle overnight. We have had several vehicles that have had weapons taken out of them after being broken into. Also we have had several RV type vehicles broken into while parked at storage areas. If you have vehicles parked at storage areas you may want to occasionally check them to make sure that they are still secure.

6/16/08

Just wanted to alert everyone to a problem that we are starting to see mostly in the rural areas of the county. What is happing is that thieves are stealing the coils and copper tubing from outside home air conditioner units. Just be alert to what is going on around your neighbors homes.

We have had several home break-ins from various locations around the county but with no apparent pattern to them.

We have had several cars broken into in a couple of different neighborhoods in the very south end of the county. What they are doing is breaking out the windows to get items that are being left in plain view in locked cars.

We are having the same problem in the Sorrento area except they are breaking into unlocked cars. Please don't leave things of value in your cars and lock the doors.

We are seeing a higher then normal theft and attempted theft of coins from coin machines at launder mats from all areas of the county.

On a nicer note I have most of the photos from the awards at the Crime Watch BBQ. I will start this week getting them to you. It may take me awhile but I will get them all done (by the end of the year)--Just joking. One of the problems is that as I'm getting older I still recognize most of you, but putting a name to a face is getting harder and harder to do. I will also be delivering awards to several of you that I talked to and were not able to attend the BBQ. Just for everyone's information we had over 450 people at the BBQ with 125 award's being given.

5/09/08

Just wanted to remind every one for the _______time please lock your vehicles when parked at your homes. We have had several vehicles in the Montverde area broken into that were left unlocked. Another weapon is on the street because it was left in a unlocked vehicle. Please remind your neighbors and friends to lock there vehicles and never leave things of value in them especially overnight.

5/08/08

We are still seeing gas being taken from vehicles from various areas of the county(lock gas caps will help). We have had several trailers taken from the central part of the county(trailer locks will help).Once again we have had several homes broken into in the highway 27 area south of Leesburg and north of the turnpike. If you have home alarms I would suggest activating them when you leave for any length of time. Remember call us with any suspicious activity as soon as possible.