Jewel Thieves Used Collier Sheriff’s Patrol Car as Getaway Car
Naples, Florida - www.news-press.com
By Denes Husty III - 12/20/03
Call it a classic case of misidentification.
The two suspected jewel thieves – who may be linked to a rash of "dinner set" burglaries and thefts in Collier and other Florida counties during the past few years – ran out of a North Naples house with their loot Wednesday night and jumped into what they believed was their getaway car.
It wasn’t.
The vehicle happened to be Collier sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Maxfield’s patrol car.
The sergeant said he ran after them and caught the slower one, identified as Dale McClain, 45, of Davie.
McClain was being held Thursday in the Collier County Jail on $105,000 bail. He’s charged with grand theft and burglary.
The method of operation McClain and his partner are accused of using in breaking into Don Hill’s house in the upscale Pelican Marsh development "is consistent with the many ‘dinner set’ burglaries that have occurred in the luxury Collier County communities for the past several years, Maxfield said in his report.
Similar burglaries have also taken place in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the sergeant said.
McClain has been arrested before in Collier and other counties on charges of home burglary, car burglary, forced entry with a robbery, loitering and prowling, possessing stolen property, destroying evidence and marijuana possession.
According to Maxfield’s report, the events leading to McClain’s latest arrest began when thieves broke into the house between 5 p.m. and 8:20 p.m. Wednesday while Hill and his wife were away having dinner.
The alleged burglars got into the house by prying open the rear sliding glass door that leads to the master bedroom. They then took three pieces of jewelry worth $9,000 and left through the sliding glass doors.
When the Hills returned home, they noticed their house had been broken into and called police.
At 8:42 p.m., Maxfield was driving down a nearby street when McClain and his partner – both clad in black clothes – came running out of some bushes and jumped into his patrol car.
After nabbing McClain, Maxfield said he found a pair of cloth gloves, a cell phone and a small flashlight in McClain’s pockets and a large screwdriver that was lying on the ground. The jewelry wasn’t found.
"I have nothing to say," McClain said as he was being taken to jail, Maxfield said.