HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a COAST offender in connection to a series of burglaries in eastern Hillsborough County.
“COAST offenders have a history of offenses that presents a threat to the public,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “I am proud of our detectives for getting this man off the streets so he cannot victimize anymore people.”
Chad Leslie Clark, 50, is now facing 11 charges in connection with at least three burglaries.
In Seffner, during one of the burglaries Clark is suspected of committing, in Seffner, an elderly female victim awoke to find a male suspect inside her residence stealing her jewelry. Clark’s truck was captured on security cameras fleeing from the home.
Last week, detectives began to surveil Chad Clark and witnessed him casing several homes in the Plant City area. On November 6, 2020, around 11 a.m., detectives observed Mr. Clark enter a Plant City residence and depart carrying pillowcases containing jewelry, an urn containing the ashes of the family’s deceased pet, and Halloween candy. Detectives followed Clark to a home on Sligh Avenue and arrested him without incident.
Detectives searched the residence and located stolen jewelry from another burglary, in which over $26,000 in jewelry was stolen.
Clark is considered a COAST offender. As of January 1, 2003, under the Florida Career Offender Registration Act, a select group of convicted felons, the “worst-of-the-worst”, are required to register their residences with law enforcement and a state registry maintained by FDLE, the Career Offender Application for Statewide Tracking (COAST).