A Cape Coral teenager was charged in connection with a string of vehicle burglaries in a neighborhood off Del Prado Boulevard.
Michael Luke Malaise, 18, of 16 S.E. 16th Place, was charged with two counts of burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and two counts of larceny petit theft after admitting to detectives that he had been in the neighborhood going from car to car and stealing items from the vehicles, officials said Monday.
Most of the thefts occurred in the 1300 block of Northeast Van Loon Lane and Northeast 13th Place.
Malaise was arrested Wednesday and charged with felony battery, robbery by sudden snatching and obstruction of justice for reportedly attacking an individual who had been victimized earlier by an acquaintance of Malaise. He was in custody for one day after being granted a conditional pre-trial release Thursday.
On Friday, Cape police detained Malaise’s roommate on a probation violation. When asked about the vehicle burglaries in the area, the roommate implicated Malaise in the burglaries, officials said.
Cape Coral Police Detective Misty Torregrossa questioned the roommate, who reportedly stated that he had seen a suitcase in Malaise’s bedroom containing numerous stolen items. He said he believed that Malaise may have stolen them the night before.
While officers gathered information, Malaise drove past the residence slowly and then took off when he saw police at the home. He subsequently was stopped by officers and agreed to return to the residence. He indicated that he fled because he was staying at the home, which was in violation of the conditions of his pre-trial release, officials said.
During a search at the residence, a suitcase was found in Malaise’s bedroom. The suitcase contained two CD players and two iPods. Other items found in the bedroom included a Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox360, two gold rings, six car stereos, a Nintendo DS and a Samsung digital camera.
Post-Miranda, Malaise admitted to car hopping and stealing items from several vehicles, although he could not provide precise locations, officials said, adding property found in Malaise’s bedroom matched the description of property reported stolen in the neighborhood the night prior.