Five suspected thieves were arrested in an attempted distraction heist at Sam’s Club in Lady Lake.
A Lady Lake Police Department detective was at the store at 12:30 p.m. Monday on an unrelated matter when a store employee found two men at a restricted, fenced-in area of the store where electronics are stored. One had scaled the fence and was inside and the other was acting as a lookout. When the employee approached the pair – later identified as 19-year-old Bruno Nistor and 19-year-old Andrei Padeanu – the two fled and got into a mini-van.
The mini-van circled back around and picked up 18-year-old Constanta Calin as well as a 16-year-old girl and 13-year-old male, according to arrest reports.
Lady Lake police stopped the mini-van in the parking lot of Home Depot.
During the traffic stop, police learned that the five individuals were also being sought by the Ocala Police Department and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office in similar-type incidents.
The group’s method of operation involved Calin and the two younger teens creating a distraction which opened an opportunity for the two men to steal items.
The five, who were all born in Romania but now live in Orlando, were booked at the Lake County Jail on burglary charges.
Calin faces an additional charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
