A teenage trio's crime spree has come to an end after deputies arrested them for multiple grand thefts of automobiles, porch pirating and burglaries.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, deputies received multiple calls from areas across the county on April 19 reporting their vehicles were broken into or packages had been stolen from their property.
CCSO said three individuals reported their vehicles were stolen. Detectives believed the thefts and burglaries were committed by the same suspects.
Three 17-year-olds, Gabrial Tolbert, Qaadia Culbreath and Julio Tarango, were identified as persons of interest and are now facing felony charges.
According to the CCSO news release, on April 20, detectives learned Tolbert and Culbreath were possibly in one of the stolen vehicles in DeSoto County. CCSO said it contacted the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office, which found the vehicle.
The suspects in the car fled from DeSoto County and were later seen in Punta Gorda. While being pursued by CCSO, the suspects ditched the car before running on foot into a large, wooded area.
The vehicle was taken to CCSO's impound to be processed. According to CCSO, another vehicle was stolen that evening in that area, but was never recovered.
On April 21, the Sarasota Police Department contacted CCSO after officers recovered the vehicle that was stolen from Tuttle Elementary School in Punta Gorda.
Culbreath and Tolbert fled the vehicle and were later stopped by Sarasota police while riding bicycles in the area of the stolen vehicle. They were taken into custody for obstruction, CCSO said.
CCSO detectives spoke with the suspects. According to the report, Culbreath confessed to the vehicle theft and fleeing from law enforcement and said Tolbert was the passenger in the vehicle.
Investigators do not believe Tarango was involved in the vehicle thefts, but he is a suspect in the porch pirate case and one vehicle burglary, along with Culbreath and Tolbert.
Tarango is in custody with the Department of Juvenile Justice. Culbreath and Tolbert are in custody at the Juvenile Assessment Center in Bradenton.
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