Internet ad leads cops to stolen property

PATRICIO G. BALONA
May 12, 2009

DELAND -- An Internet ad for GPS units police say were stolen attracted more than customers for a DeBary man accused of burglarizing cars.

A DeLand detective checking out Web sites selling stolen merchandise tracked down the navigating systems, too.

But before DeLand police could pick up Timothy Mulroney for the 4 a.m. April 16 car burglaries, he was arrested by sheriff's deputies four days later for breaking into several mailboxes and a van in a DeBary neighborhood, according to a Sheriff's Office charging affidavit.

On Thursday, DeLand police interviewed the jailed Mulroney, 18, and charged him with burglary of a conveyance, dealing in stolen property and grand theft, DeLand police Sgt. John Anderson said.

On April 16, DeLand police responded to reports of three cars broken into in the neighborhood of Bent Oaks Boulevard. Three cars in the subdivision had the driver's side windows smashed and GPS instruments were removed from the cars, a DeLand police report states.

According to the report, a crime-scene analyst for DeLand police found an ad for the stolen satellite gadgets on craigslist.com. The person advertising left a number for a cell phone. Police called Mulroney and tried to set up an undercover purchase, but Mulroney did not call back.

And then, on April 20, deputies arrested Mulroney and two others, Jared Toledo, 20, and Majin Toledo, 22, addresses unknown, when a neighbor called to complain that someone had broken his mailbox.

Jared Toledo told deputies Mulroney kicked down about 10 mailboxes while driving through the Glen Abbey subdivision looking for cars to break into, a sheriff's charging affidavit states. The trio left after getting into an unlocked van and stealing a stereo, the affidavit states.

The Toledos and Mulroney were arrested and charged with felony unarmed burglary of an unoccupied structure/conveyance for the April 20 incident.

When DeLand police spoke to Mulroney in jail Thursday, he admitted committing the burglaries and assisted detectives in recovering the stolen goods, Anderson said. The GPS units were in a bedroom closet in the DeBary home of Mulroney's mother, the DeLand police report states.