Yesterday morning, Saturday 8/17/19 at 0500, two vehicles parked on driveways were broken-into, they were not locked by the owners. This was in Mariana Villas in the Village Collier. Private home security camera video footage shows a small U-Haul truck with headlights off passing through while a person runs down the street and pulls on vehicle doors parked on driveways. The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office has investigated this event and they know that this group in the U-Haul hit 3 neighbors south of 466 yesterday morning.
There is an ongoing investigation and an investigating Deputy has asked any Villager observing a U-Haul or other strange vehicle passing through during the early morning hours to phone the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office using their Non-emergency number: (352) 569-1600.
Are you aware that the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office has Project Eagle Eye? From their Website:
Project Eagle Eye is a voluntary security camera registration program. The program is designed to create a partnership between the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and both citizens and businesses to help deter crime.
Project Eagle Eye is intended to let our deputies and detectives know where cameras exist in the event a crime occurs. It is not intended to be used for active surveillance, nor will the deputies have direct access to the cameras. If a crime occurs in an area where cameras are registered the Sheriff's Office will reach out to individuals with registered cameras to attempt to obtain video footage of the crime.
We encourage both businesses and residents to register their cameras by filling out this writable form(PDF) and emailing it to
bbowles@sumterso.org or contacting Billy Bowles at 352-569-1695.