From today's Leesburg Daily COmmercial:
Man takes care of lawn, jewelry
Published: Saturday, March 09, 2013
THE VILLAGES
MILLARD K. IVES | Staff Writer
millardives@dailycommercial.com
A Leesburg man is in jail after being accused of breaking into a home and stealing $5,000 in cash and jewelry -- the same home where he was performing lawn maintenance.
Matthew John Kalarovich II, 25, was charged with burglary and grand theft, and initially placed in the Sumter County jail in lieu of $7,000 bail. According to jail officials, a judge raised his bail to $17,000 in light of his criminal history.
Lt. Bobby Caruthers, spokesman for the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, said Kalarovich was conducting lawn maintenance at a home in The Villages on Tuesday when the homeowners left for Plant City sometime around noon.
Kalarovich allegedly entered the home through an unlocked door and stole the items. Sheriff's spokesman Capt. Kevin Hofecker said on Friday that some of the stolen property has been recovered after it was discovered that Kalarovich sold some of the jewelry to a second-hand gold dealer in Leesburg.
It is not clear how long Kalarovich has been employed with the unidentified lawn maintenace company, but Caruthers said the homeowners reported that it had been different employees who had worked on their lawn before.
Caruthers said the sheriff's office would determine if Kalarovich could be linked to any other burglaries in Sumter County. According to the Lake County jail website, Kalarovich has been arrested at least three times since 2006 on burglary charges, including more than a dozen counts during a February 2012 arrest.
In a press release on the arrest, Sheriff Bill Farmer offered the following safety tips in securing your home.
n Never allow maintenance workers unsupervised inside your home;
n Always lock and secure your residence when away;
n Secure all valuables and important documents in a safety deposit box at your financial institution;
n If you have a home safe, make sure it is properly secured to the floor and kept locked; and
n Do not share codes and lock combinations with anyone.
If anyone would like more information on how to better secure their home, the Sumter County Sheriff's Office offers free home security surveys where a deputy -- certified in home protection -- will inspect the residence and offer suggestions on better protection. To schedule an appointment, residents in The Villages can call the Sheriff's Village Annex at 352-689-4600; and other residents can call the sheriff's office in Bushnell at 352-569-1600.