Gouge tracks lead to Cape Coral robbery suspects

Dragged safe left trail, Cape Coral police say

News-Press.com

JL Watson 

March 7, 2009

Police had some help tracking down two burglary suspects this week.

Wayne Blanks, 19, of Fort Myers and Jarvis B. Bowens, 23, of Cape Coral were arrested after police followed a trail of gouges in the pavement left by a stolen safe. The safe had been dragged by a truck from a burglarized home and across several vacant lots to a residence at 2921 NW 27th St., according to Connie Barron, Cape Coral police spokeswoman. Police said Bowens lives at that address.

Bowens and Blanks were charged with armed burglary, motor vehicle theft, 15 counts of grand theft of a firearm and criminal mischief for stealing a large gun safe containing several firearms from a home at NW 26th Terrrace on Tuesday, police said.

A Yamaha dirt bike, flat screen television, laptop computer and a 2005 Ford SUV were also missing from the home, which is owned by Kenneth Staples, according the Lee County Property Appraiser. Staples could not be reached for comment.

Other items were also missing and possibly transported from the location, police said. Police recovered the SUV Friday in a wooded area in the 2900 block of NW 28th Avenue. Blanks and Bowens remain in custody at the Lee County jail.

"While our detectives are really great at what they do, the methods the suspects employed made our job easier," Barron said. She said detectives can't comment further because the investigation is ongoing.

According to reports, Bowens said that Blanks showed up at his home Tuesday dragging the safe behind the Ford SUV, according to police reports. Bowens said he helped unload stolen items from the SUV and placed them in his home.

Blanks initially said he found the SUV loaded with the stolen property in the road near the burglarized residence, with the key in the ignition. Blanks said he abandoned the SUV because he did not want to be caught with a stolen vehicle. He and Bowens broke open the safe and found that it contained several firearms, reports state.

Blanks then asked police if he could revise his statement. He said he acted as lookout during the burglary of the home, and that a third party was involved. Bowens then confirmed that another person was present at his home.

During the investigation, police found large scrape marks that led from the yard of the burglarized residence. The marks appeared to have been caused by dragging the safe from the home to Bowens' address. An independent witness later told detectives that the stolen safe was in the garage of Bowens' residence, police said.

Cape detectives are trying to determine if any other parties were involved.

 Wayne Blanks

Jarvis B. Bowens