A man was arrested early Monday after police say he broke into multiple vehicles in a residential Cape Coral neighborhood and later crashed a stolen car while trying to escape.
According to the Cape Coral Police Department, officers responded to a home on Southwest 44th Terrace around 2 a.m. after a report of a vehicle burglary in progress.
Surveillance video captured a man breaking into a vehicle in the driveway, and police later identified the suspect as Billie Michael Dyson, 20.
Shortly after the report, officers said they saw a man matching Dyson’s description getting into a white BMW near Southwest 46th Terrace and Southwest 18th Avenue and driving off.
The owner of the stolen BMW said her heartbreak goes far beyond the car.
"I want this kid to know, he took my mom's car," said Michelle Tecza.
Michelle Tecza is still shaken after learning her late mother's car was stolen right out of her driveway early Monday morning.
"The police came and they were banging on the door, and they were like, 'Do you have a BMW? I'm like, yeah. He said, 'Well, it's a must have been stolen.' I went, no, no, I came out the door, and I actually looked in the driveway. I'm like, oh my God, it's true," said Tecza.
Police attempted to stop the car, but the driver sped away. The BMW crashed into a concrete wall near Southwest 47th Terrace and Southwest 20th Place. Dyson ran from the scene but was tracked and arrested with the help of a K-9 unit.
"I don't know what, how much it's going to cost, but it's totaled. I haven't seen it yet, because I haven't had the heart to go look at it," said Tecza.
Michelle Tecza hopes her story gets people to lock their cars.
"I'm so angry. I feel violated, and I know he's 21, but it was my mother's car, and I'm pressing charges because this is a safe neighborhood. I just feel so violated. But I want everybody around here to please lock your doors now," said Tecza.
Detectives determined that Dyson had burglarized several vehicles in the area and took items, including a key fob. He also stole the BMW from a nearby driveway. Police said Dyson admitted knowing his driver’s license was suspended.
Dyson was taken to the Lee County Jail and faces multiple charges, including two counts of burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, grand theft of a motor vehicle, petit theft, driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of a crash, fleeing police and resisting arrest without violence.
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