Unique tattoos led to the arrest of a Lady Lake woman in connection with a burglary at a church.
A maintenance worker arrived early on the morning of June 9 at Morrison Methodist Church on Main Street in Leesburg and found the glass portion of an exterior door at one of the buildings on campus had been shattered. The maintenance worker also found a lobby in disarray.
Found missing from the church were an HP Elitebook 8470e laptop, $10 in cash, an HIK brand Vision 8 security system tower, Retevis brand handheld radio, Vanco brand card reader, Samsung tablet and various food items, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the Leesburg Police Department.
Security footage showed a man and woman breaking into the church, entering an office and rummaging through a desk. The footage went blank when they seized a portion of the video surveillance equipment.
“The footage was very clear and both subjects could be easily made out,” the warrant said.
A crime scene analyst with the Leesburg Police Department closely examined the footage and found unique tattoos on the woman, identifying her as 43-year-old Jana Lynn Turner, who lives at 215 Gibson St. in Lady Lake. She had been arrested last year on a charge of driving on an expired driver’s license. Her mugshot and photos of her tattoos were already on file at the Lake County Jail. She was taken into custody and booked at the jail on Thursday.
Her accomplice was identified as 29-year-old Alexander Tanel Smith of Leesburg. He was arrested earlier this year in Lady Lake after a brutal attack on the mother of his child.
Turner and Smith are both facing charges of burglary and grand theft. Both are being held on $12,000 bond.
