Thefts during Hurricane Charley few but costly

With Hurricane Charley bearing down on Central Florida with winds gusting to 100 mph, Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said he was amazed that thieves could ply their trade during the height of the storm.

Amazed, but not surprised.

That’s because Eslinger remembers how crooks took advantage of the situation in 1979, when Hurricane David threatened Central Florida and the storms spawned by it wreaked havoc on electrical service.

It was no different with Hurricane Charley, as crooks broke into businesses where alarms were silenced by power or telephone outages. But most law-enforcement agencies said Wednesday that, this time, crime overall was lower than on a typical weekend.

In at least one case, a burglar struck “right smack dab during the storm,” Eslinger said. A deputy sheriff checked on Scuba World near Oviedo just minutes before seeking refuge from the storm. When he resumed his patrols, he discovered the business had been burglarized.

While storm-related crimes were few in number, some of them were significant in the value of items taken.

In Orlando, two businesses reported losses of more than $25,000 each during the weekend. Zales Jewelers said $29,614 in jewelry was taken from its Orlando Fashion Square mall store, while Inspirational Living Fine Art Gallery at Millenia Plaza, across from Mall at Millenia, reported that someone smashed a plate-glass window Friday evening and took art worth $28,000.

Casselberry police said someone rammed a vehicle through the back door of Shoot Straight II on U.S. Highway 17-92. The burglar alarm wasn’t working because of a power outage. An undetermined number of guns were taken.

In Longwood, used band instruments worth $25,000 were stolen from Dr. Wind’s Music on State Road 434. In this case, the power was on but the storm had knocked out telephone service, so the alarm failed to send a signal to authorities.

Thieves took mowing equipment worth more than $38,000 from along the Central Florida GreeneWay in Seminole County, where it had been parked behind trees for protection from the storm.

Cpl. Carlos Torres, an Orange County sheriff’s spokesman, attributed the low crime to an increased presence of law enforcement on the streets after the storm and the message that looters weren’t going to be tolerated.

“At the same time, people -- including criminals -- they kind of cease and desist because of the tragedy,” Torres said. “For the most part, people are still trying to get re-established.”

“We weren’t that busy,” said Officer Jason Batura, an Orlando police spokesman. “It wasn’t anything extremely out of the ordinary.”

Eslinger said his agency had seven thefts or burglaries during and after the hurricane. On a typical weekend, it has about a dozen.

But dealing with Hurricane Charley has been much more of a challenge than when deadly tornadoes ripped through Central Florida in 1998, he said. Then, damage was confined to specific areas and access could be controlled. With Charley, damage is everywhere.

Pedro Ruz Gutierrez, Patricia Xavier and Alicia Caldwell of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Gary Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@orlandosentinel.com or 407-324-7293.