Ring Camera Catches Something In Dark Of Night … Community Still Has No Agreement With PBSO For Traffic Patrol … Fifth Car Theft Since May.
BY: 24/7 CRIME DESK | BocaNewsNow.com
DELRAY BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A 2022 BMW was snatched from a driveway of a home in the gated community of Seven Bridges in the middle of the night — raising new questions about why Seven Bridges remains one of the few communities in South Palm Beach County that does not have an agreement in place with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for routine traffic patrol.
According to a police report obtained by BocaNewsNow.com , a homeowner on Cabernet Drive woke up Saturday morning to find her BMW was gone. Her husband was not home, but confirmed to police that he did not have the vehicle. Several Ring doorbell cams in the area apparently captured video of a man in a hoodie and long pants walking up to a car in a driveway nearby, then walking towards the car that was ultimately stolen. It all happened around 3 a.m. The car was tracked by law enforcement cameras to the area of Margate Blvd. and U.S. 441 which is in Broward County. It then vanished. SunPass has apparently not been used. BMW was unable to obtain a signal from the vehicle’s theft deterrent system.
When asked about keys to the car, the owner apparently told police that while they had one key, neither she nor her husband knew where their second key fob was. This is a continued problem in Seven Bridges and across South Palm Beach County — people leaving keys or key fobs in vehicles, believing that gates and roving security provide protection for unlocked cars. They don’t. The problem is so bad in South Palm Beach County that Boca Raton Police — an agency unrelated to the incidents in Seven Bridges — created a campaign known as WTF, or “Where’s The Fob?!”
Meantime, officials tell BocaNewsNow.com that Seven Bridges initiated — then stopped — completing a “Traffic Enforcement Agreement” with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office that could have dramatically increased a police presence in the community. A TEA permits Deputies to issue traffic citations in a gated community. In Florida, an agreement is needed as gated communities are technically private property and somewhat — although not completely — immune from routine traffic stops. Communities with TEAs tend to report lower crime rates and a dramatic reduction in speeding — as deputies tend to spend time where they are permitted to write tickets. It was not clear why the Seven Bridges community stopped the process. At least five cars have been stolen from the gated community since May.
