'Felony Lane' crimes on rise
" equals ""]By SAMANTHA GHOLAR
By SAMANTHA GHOLAR
sgholar@newssun.com
SEBRING -- An increase of burglary crimes all over South Florida have made their way into Central Florida, including Highlands County.
Highlands County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Nell Hays spoke Thursday morning describing what law enforcement officials have identified as the "Felony Lane Gang" crimes.
The crimes involve car burglaries specifically targeting women and their purses. According to Hays and law enforcement, the burglaries occur in public places where women often leave their purses and wallets seemingly safe in their vehicles while they briefly enter an establishment.
"We've had several cases the investigating detective feels fit that criteria," Hays said. "Victims' checks have been cashed in places other than in Highlands County."
Hays said at least five crimes that have occurred recently in the county fall under the Felony Lane umbrella. Criminals break into vehicles, steal checks and driver licenses or ID cards, then drive through banks' outer lanes and cash the checks.
The "Felony Lane" is the lane that is farthest from the bank window, which is usually the most difficult for tellers to make positive identification of the person doing banking, Hays said.
"Usually they will wear a wig or have someone who looks like the victim drive through the lane. They don't do it locally, so using the outer lane of the drive through it's difficult sometimes for the teller to see. They see it looks sort of like them so they unknowingly cash the fraudulent checks," Hays explained.
The Felony Lane crimes began in Miami and have quickly spread all over Florida. No arrests have been made locally, however Polk County officials have made several arrests centered around Felony Lane crimes.
"Certainly, car burglaries in Highlands County aren't all related, but we have some that fall under the umbrella. They break into the cars and they are just looking for the purses with the IDs and checks. The money is usually still there," Hays said.
These occurrences are happening in places where women usually feel somewhat safe about leaving their purses in the car for short periods of time. Hays said that the burglaries usually occur between five minutes to an hour of the victim leaving their vehicle.
"They are targeting places where women go in briefly and come out. Places like day cares, schools, churches and health clubs," Hays said.
"In Highlands County we have seen a rise in car burglaries recently especially at gyms and health clubs." Hays said. "I don't want to single out a single health club because I don't want to give people a false sense of security or insecurity."
With the fraudulent check cashing not occurring in other counties, it takes the crimes two to three weeks to show up on the radar.
"This is a gang. It's a network of people working throughout the state and even out of state. We have started the Phony Lane Initiative to help with this crime," Hays said.
The Phony Lane Initiative provides intelligence for establishments and asks that managers, employees and business owners began closely monitoring the activities of the parking lot to look for suspicious people, those who don't belong, or people who constantly are sitting and waiting.
Flyers will be handed out with tips and information to businesses in the area.
Hays and the HCSO urge women to not leave their purses and belongings in vehicles to avoid becoming another victim of the Felony Lane crimes.
"They're not even really safe in your trunks. Cars can be broken into very easily," Hays said. "If possible, take your purse in with you, even if you only expect to be gone for a moment."
Friday, October 05, 2012 - www.newssun.com/100512-sg-Felony-lane-crimes