WIMAUMA, Fla. — A 23-year-old man faces multiple charges after allegedly posing as an online buyer to steal a laptop from a couple before leading deputies on a search through a nearby neighborhood, authorities said.
Deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office responded around 5:38 p.m. Tuesday to a gas station at 16620 US Highway 301 in Wimauma.
Investigators said a couple had arranged to meet an interested buyer at the location to sell their laptop. During the exchange, the suspect grabbed the device and ran away.
While tracking the fleeing suspect, deputies discovered an open sliding glass door at a nearby townhome. Inside, law enforcement found the hoodie the suspect wore during the theft.
Ground units established a perimeter around the area while the sheriff’s office Aviation Unit searched from the air. Flight crew members spotted the man walking along Nebula Court and directed deputies on the ground to his exact location, where he was taken into custody without further incident.
Deputies identified the suspect as Jeremiah Carson Jr., 23.
Carson was arrested and booked on charges of grand theft in the third degree ($750 to $5,000), burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, and resisting an officer without violence.
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