Two South Florida men are facing charges in connection with a large-scale burglary ring that authorities said targeted construction sites and other locations in multiple counties causing hundreds of dollars in damages and property loss.
Tremayne Bates, 50, and Garrett Andre Smith, 58, were both arrested Wednesday on multiple counts of grand theft, burglary and criminal mischief, records showed.
Bates, of Plantation, is facing charges in at least six cases, while Smith, of Miami, is charged in at least three.
According to arrest reports, the cases are from multiple counties including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Orange and involve around $200,000 in theft or damages.
In one case, a contractor had over $41,000 worth of tools stolen from a construction site and in another, about 100 feet of copper wire, around $30,000 worth, was stolen from the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections office, the reports said.
A Florida Power and Light substation was targeted twice, in May and June, with over $87,000 worth of construction equipment, copper wire and hand tools stolen from a storage container in the first incident and another $45,000 worth stolen the second time, the reports said.
Another incident happened in June at a construction lot attached to Baptist Hospital when the suspects tried to break into a plumbing van and caused $3,450 in damages, the reports said.
The most recent incident happened at Miami Executive Airport where a vehicle was forced open and equipment worth over $21,000 was stolen, the reports said.
Bates and Smith were both booked into jail. Attorney information wasn’t available.