A black Mercedes pulled onto the swale near the rear cul-de-sac in Cypress Bend. Two young men got out of the car and disappeared through the hedge that lines Lakes Edge Trail. The driver stayed in the car.

Our Maintenance Manager saw this from the Community Center, got in his cart and headed down to the Mercedes. "What are you doing here?" he asked. The driver said he was having car trouble. When he got out to look under the hood, he was asked where the two young men had gone after they exited the Mercedes. The driver denied anyone else had been in his car. He then closed the hood, jumped in the car and sped off. Our pro-active Maintenance Manager called 911.

The two young men went through the back yards of several houses in the rear cul-de-sac and were spotted hiding in bushes talking on a cell phone (most likely to the lookout) by an alert owner. She too called 911. Four squad cars arrived in the area soon thereafter.

The two suspects fled Cypress Bend and were seen running toward Cain. They then crossed Cain and went through the hedges behind a house along Anchor Drive in Harbour Landing.

Meanwhile, the police spotted the black Mercedes on Yamato and forced it into the CVS complex on Yamato. The car was impounded and the driver, who was from Miami and was not the owner of the Mercedes, was held for what turned out to be an unproductive interrogation.

Despite yet another heads up call to 911 from a resident in Harbour Landing, the two suspects managed to elude police and exited our community at the eastern end of Lakes at Boca Raton Drive.

The police advised that in a situation like this, we should always look for a second vehicle, as turned out to be the case in Cypress Bend (it was a van). One is the lookout vehicle, and the other is to transport the burglars and loot away from the crime scene.

The crime season is upon us. Time to ratchet up our defenses for the holidays.