St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said in a news release Thursday that three Indian River County men have been arrested in connection with 19 recent vehicle burglaries.
Mascara said the burglaries occurred in the Lakewood Park neighborhood in northwest St. Lucie County.
According to the sheriff, on July 17 deputies responded to a reported vehicle burglary in the 6600 block of Pensacola Road in Lakewood Park.
Deputies spotted a man, identified as Alexander Parnell, 19, standing on the side of the road near the intersection of Pensacola Road and Eastwood Drive.
“Parnell was carrying a bag and when asked to look inside the bag to make sure there were no weapons, deputies located various items consistent with what was reported stolen,” Mascara said.
According to the sheriff, Parnell was questioned by detectives and admitted to “car hopping” with two friends.
“Car hopping is where an individual goes from car to car checking to see if any doors are unlocked and then pilfering through any that are open for items of value,” Mascara said.
Parnell later identified for detectives his two friends as Calius Judon, 18, and John Crankfield, 19, who are cousins and live with Parnell.
“Parnell stated to our detectives that Judon was in search of a gun and the others were simply looking for money or anything of value,” Mascara said. “Fortunately, he was unable to locate one, since it’s unclear exactly why he wanted a firearm.”
Judon and Crankfield were later arrested by the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.
Mascara said in each of these 19 cases, the vehicles were left unlocked.
Parnell is being held at the St. Lucie County Jail on a $215,000 bond. Judon and Crankfield were booked into the Indian River County Jail each on a $10,000 bond.