WINTER HAVEN, FLA. — A victim outsmarted a theft suspect through technology on Sunday to recover his $600 Bluetooth speaker after the man stole it from his truck, Winter Haven police officials said.
At about 7:30 p.m., Winter Haven Police Department (WHPD) officers responded to a Lakeside Landings Boulevard home after the victim reported his Bluetooth speaker missing from his work truck.
The man told police he was at a construction site along Lucerne Park Road where he had the speaker, valued at $630, on the back of his work truck.
Believing the construction area was safe, the victim left for a short time. When he returned, the speaker was gone.
So, the victim noticed a neighborhood in the area and started driving through the area to see if his speaker would connect to his phone.
It did.
The speaker connected in front of the Lakeside Landings home of 19-year-old Jesus Luciano Velazquez.
The victim stopped in front of the home and started playing music to the connected speaker from his phone. He immediately heard the music coming from inside.
Velazquez was standing outside of the home. When he saw the victim in the truck, he went inside.
That’s when the victim called WHPD.
When Velazquez came back out to walk his dog, the victim confronted him.
Denying any knowledge of the missing speaker, Velazquez offered the victim a drink and offered to help the man find the device, police officials said.
When officers arrived, they met Velazquez who denied any wrongdoing.
But when officers told Velazquez that they could get video footage from the construction yard to see who took the speaker, he admitted to taking the device, a police report stated.
Velazquez had thought the victim had a tracking device in the speaker and began taking it apart.
But there was no tracking device.
When officers brought out the speaker, the victim was able to connect it to show officers it belonged to him.
Velazquez caused about $200 in damage to the speaker trying to take it apart, officials said.
He was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with burglary of an unoccupied vehicle, criminal mischief and petit theft.
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