By Jake May
St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
TAMPA, Fla. — An observant firefighting crew and a quick-witted officer helped catch two people accused of burglarizing cars at two New Tampa health clubs.
Tampa police responded to Lifestyle Family Fitness, 15319 Amberly Drive, after witnesses reported seeing a man and a woman breaking into cars in the parking lot at about 11 a.m. Monday.
Two officers responded and broadcast a description of the suspects and their 1997 Buick, the report stated.
When Master Patrol Officer Michael Kidd heard the call, he headed to the New Tampa YMCA, 16221 Compton Drive, nearly two miles away.
The YMCA had been hit after thefts from the Lifestyles parking lot.
Police said the firefighters saw the couple and called authorities, who stopped their car on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard at Tampa Palms Boulevard.
Officers charged Richard Kannady, 23, of Lake City, and Donna Mengering, 22, of Waxhaw, N.C., with felony counts of auto burglary and grand theft.
Mengering also faces a misdemeanor charge of having an invalid driver’s license.
Authorities say that three cars were burglarized at Lifestyles and at the YMCA.
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