Crime & Safety
1 Arrest, 24 Charges, Riverview Burglary Suspect Nabbed
Stolen car keys, $3, a flashlight, cigarettes and police equipment were found int the suspect's car in the South Pointe subdivision.
Add it up for suspected burglar Joseph Nicholas Kovacevic of Riverview, and the charges amount to 24, including six counts of falsely impersonating an officer and four counts of armed burglary of a dwelling, according to a report from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Suspected in the early morning hours theft of several vehicles and residences in Riverview's South Pointe subdivision, Kovacevic, 21, face charges also of petit theft (two counts), criminal mischief (four counts), armed burglary of a conveyance (five counts), grand theft of law enforcement equipment (one count), violation of probation and, on an out-of-county warrant, violation of probation for grand theft.
Kovacevic, of 13307 Beechberry Drive, reportedly used a knife to cut the screen of one residence he entered, from which he stole the victim's car keys and flashlight. According to the report, he also "attempted to enter several other residences as well by cutting screens on windows or porches, but did not remove any items."
Deputies reportedly discovered "several other unlocked vehicles within the same subdivision that had been burglarized." In most cases, nothing was reported stolen, "only the glove compartments were opened and one through."
"The suspect took $3 from one vehicle and cigarettes from another," the report notes.
What stopped him?
According to the report, "a neighbor called out to him," which caused Kovacevic to "hide behind a tree."
"When confronted by the neighbor, Kovacevic was wearing a ballistic vest with 'police' [written] on it and had handcuffs hanging from his belt," the report notes. "When asked by the neighbor to identify himself, Kovacevic responded, 'I am the police,' and then fled from the scene."
The neighbor reportedly called 911 and told deputies the direction in which Kovacevic had fled.
Patrol deputies reportedly caught up with Kovacevic in the area of Early Run Lane and Walker Vista Drive, "sitting in a Dodge Neon" with "the handcuffs on his belt." A search of the vehicle revealed "the stolen car keys, flashlight, cigarettes and police equipment."
The report further notes that one of the vehicles burglarized had been that of a Tampa Police office. No weapons were stolen, the report adds, "only equipment, which was all recovered at the scene."
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