Two teens in Florida have been arrested and charged with a combined total of 46 felonies committed in one night.
According to deputies in Martin County, twenty reports of auto burglaries in the areas of MacArthur Boulevard and NE Plantation Drive were reported in one day.
Within days of the reports, detectives arrested 18-year-old Anthony Joseph Batista of Stuart and 14-year-old Joseph Fontana of Hobe Sound.
According to deputies, the pair used a window punch to break the windows of cars and trucks parked in private driveways, parking spaces, and beach parking areas. They stole anything of value, deputies say.
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If nothing was found inside the car, they left a wake of shattered glass and damage behind.
MCSO was able to locate exterior cameras, which showed images of what appeared to be a scooter traveling in the area when the crimes occurred.
Further surveillance and investigative methods, MCSO tracked the scooter to a parking spot on NE Edgewater Drive in Stuart. That ultimately led to the suspects.
The investigation revealed Batista was driving the scooter with Fontana riding on the back the night they committed the multiple burglaries.
Batista and Fontana have each been charged with 23 felonies, including thirteen burglaries, eight attempted burglaries, one count of grand theft, and one count of possession of burglary tools.
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Both suspects were booked into the Martin County Jail. Antony Batista has a $57,000 bond, and Joseph Fontana was transferred to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
“If you live in the area of MacArthur Boulevard or along NE Plantation Drive and you discovered that your car was burglarized the morning of March 8th but did not report it, please call the Martin County Sheriff’s Office,” said MCSO. “No one in Martin County should feel unsafe or uncomfortable parking their car in their own driveway at a park or the beach for fear of being burglarized. Please use this as a reminder to remove all valuables, especially firearms from your vehicles at night.”
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