Suspicious activity by masked teens raising concerns among Deep Creek residents

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. —

Residents in the Deep Creek neighborhood near Nuremberg Boulevard and Padre Lane are alarmed as masked teens have been causing disturbances, including ding-dong ditching, banging on doors and attempting break-ins.

Kevin Cox, a resident of Deep Creek, expressed his concerns, saying, "They're going to get shot, you know, and someone's going to get hurt out of all this." He added, "It's scaring people, and people are in bed at that time."

Cox said what began as a late-night ding-dong-ditch prank a few weeks ago has escalated into more serious incidents. Cox said, "They're actually trying to break into people's homes, during the day, and hit the old people. I live in an older community," Cox said.

Cox noted that the teens have become bolder, now wearing ski masks. He recounted an incident involving a neighbor, a snowbird, saying, "Somebody left his water on for like 94 hours or whatever."

Initially, they thought it might have been a pool maintenance worker, but then they considered the possibility of the teens being involved.

Cox mentioned hearing noises at his door, initially attributing them to the wind. Just yesterday, a teen was caught on a doorbell camera pulling on a house's door handle on Nuremberg Boulevard near Padre Lane. Jerome Pittman said, "I ran to grab protection, and as I went outside, he was gone. So she checked the ring camera because it records videos, and he said some really weird things. I'm not going to say exactly what he said, but it wasn't nice."

Deputies searched the area with K-9 units on Monday but were unable to locate the teen. Cox said he saw the K-9 sniffing a backyard. "They were actually trying to break in, you know, the neighbor's garage and stuff during the day with their masks," said Cox.

The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office is now seeking the community's help in identifying him. Cox urged, "Kids will be kids; they just need to get back in school and quit playing this game."

"With everything that was going on yesterday with the K-9s, I think that they're, they're not going to be back for a little while," Cox said.

Residents are encouraged to register their doorbell cameras with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, which does not provide direct access to deputies but informs them of camera locations for potential evidence during investigations. You can do so by clicking here.

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