Malabar burglary suspects arrested

MALABAR, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Riding his Honda CRF 450R hasn't been the same, since Rod Vanderjagt had his stolen $7,000- bike returned.  "It's your best girlfriend, after she's been on a date with someone else."

Make that three others: Anthony Thayer, Nicholas Ayers and Casey Keith are all accused of stealing two of Vanderjagt's motocross bikes, and more than ten thousand dollars worth of stuff from his neighbors.

The Grant-Valkaria resident knows firsthand that thieves love the rural area of South Brevard, "because it's dark, it's quiet. you can hit the car, and get into the woods."

And then, it's onto the next home or car. Brevard County detectives say these accused thieves used a stolen ATV and a network of off-road trails at break-ins across South Brevard. They hit eight addresses in Malabar, six in Valkaria, and five in Grant.

The kicker is, the burglars lived in the neighborhood. Deputies found thousands of dollars of stolen GPS devices, radios and cell phones at a home on Marie street in Grant-Valkaria, which is a stone's throw away from all of their victims.

"They're kids. they don't have any neighborhood bond…even though they were close by, they're not in the neighborhood."

Brevard County detectives say the Thayer, Ayers, and Keith were arrested in early to mid November. But since that time, many more victims have come forward.  Detectives have charged the men with burglary, grand theft, and dealing in stolen property, but they've added dozens more charges.