Tampa police noticing trend in pool equipment thefts

Linnie Supall
·1 min read
12

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Tampa Police Department is reporting a pattern in pool equipment thefts where crooks are ripping large pieces of equipment from homes, then posing as installers by selling the entire unit to other homeowners.

A brazen move has become the focal point of an investigation.

Detectives are zeroing in on two suspects that have been spotted in surveillance video at a home on W. Palmira Avenue in South Tampa.

The video shows the pair pulling away from the house with a large pool heat pump before driving away from the neighborhood.

“Filters and heaters are some of the equipment,” Sgt. Scott Savitt said. “They’re large. They look like big condensers from the outside, like an air conditioning unit. Some are like $5,000.”

Savitt says thieves are nabbing the equipment as families prepare their pools for the summer.

Many of the crooks are using tools to cut the equipment from the house.

“It’s just the worst feeling,” Savitt said. “You’ve come home, your property is missing, and you feel violated.”

The Tampa Police Department is sharing ways to protect your home from pool equipment thefts:

  • Don’t leave materials/equipment in plain sight

  • Hide a GPS/AirTag

  • Install cameras

  • Regularly check what’s left on-site

Anyone with information is asked to call 813-231-6130 or Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 800-873-TIPS.

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