Police: Pair charged with burglary after attempting to steal TV

FORT PIERCE, Fla. - A security guard called 911 after he saw two men break into an apartment early Monday, according to arrest affidavits.

The intruders were still inside the apartment in the Sands of St. Lucie when a police officer and his K9 arrived and took custody of the men as they were handling a flat-screen television, the affidavits state. Gabriel Cotto, 34, and Hector Luis Garcia, 45, who also live in the Sands, were charged with burglary of a structure, larceny and criminal mischief. Cotto was also charged with possession of burglary tools.

The security guard said he noticed the men approached the apartment in the 700 block of Grand Club Boulevard, and were acting suspiciously about 1:30 a.m. Monday. He heard the sound of cracking wood and called 911.

The K9 bit Cotto on the leg inside the apartment, the affidavit states. He was treated at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute in Fort Pierce before he was booked at the St. Lucie County Jail, where he remained Tuesday in lieu of $45,500 bail. Garcia was being held in lieu of $30,500 bail.

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