By: Jen Russon
The neighborhood of Heathgate-Sunflower in Tamarac has been visited more than once by a woman who, by the looks of it on an ADT security camera, has stolen lawn and solar ornaments from just outside a resident’s front door.
Tamarac resident, Michelle Allin has lived at the 8000 block of NW 74th Avenue for 20 years, and this is the third time her home has been pilfered of its plants and garden accents.
“The first time it happened they took three potted plants, but that was years ago. It happened again on May 3, and then once again, right after I asked ADT to install a motion camera,” said Allin, who works nearby at University Hospital and Medical Center.
The nurse practitioner said the theft, which prompted her to install the security camera, happened on the first Friday in May while she and her best friend Kris Bradley were having dinner at Big Bear Brewery to celebrate Bradley’s birthday.
“When we came back to my house, Kris asked me, ‘what happened to your plants? Weren’t there two of them here’?” recalled Allin.
Just like the previous times she’s lost lawn items, a sense of “something is different here” began to sink in, and on that Friday evening, she realized two wrought iron pole planters and tiki torches had been taken.
Allin’s neighbor Matt Taylor, whose property is armed with security surveillance, said his camera showed a white minivan, much like a Dodge Caravan, parked on their street on the night of the May 3 theft. The same vehicle is seen from Allin’s video footage from just last week when the thief returned at approximately 3:30 a.m. – this time, to take every last solar ornament.
Although the total cost of items stolen was around $150, these were things Bradley purchased at art fairs. Allin filed a police report with Deputy Nicholas Sammarco, who said he will continue to check on her property during his night shift.
She has since relocated what she can from her front garden to the back of the house. “But I can’t move it all,” she added.
Both Allin and her neighbor, Taylor said they have driven around the Heathgate-Sunflower community on the lookout for a white van, and so far turned up nothing.
“We don’t think she lives around here. I just want to know why anybody would do this,” said Allin, wagering a guess that the perpetrator is stealing her lawn items and re-selling them.
“It hasn’t happened to anyone else in my neighborhood that I know of,” she said.
Tips leading to the person who has stolen Allin’s property should be reported the Broward Sheriff’s Office.