Sun Sentinel
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — An alarm technician was in custody and faces over 100 charges after authorities said he stole fire alarm equipment from condominiums throughout Broward County.
Hollywood police arrested Michael Lance Moser, 38, on Jan. 10.
He faces more than 100 counts including grand theft less than $10,000, unarmed burglary, possession of burglary tools, petit theft, and preventing or obstructing extinguishment of fire, jail records show.
Broward Judge John “Jay” Hurley said during court Tuesday that the state fire marshal has probable cause to believe that from July 2013 through December 2014, Moser went to condominiums and apartment complexes and removed fire equipment and alarm control panels. The panels notify residents of an emergency and summon fire departments to a property.
The gear was sold to a dealer, who paid Moser by check, Hurley said.
“It is alleged that your activity disabled the fire notification network, causing a fire and life safety issue by rendering the complexes and residents without a fire notification system,” Hurley said. “This allegedly happened throughout many condominium complexes.”
The judge said some of the equipment cost between $2,000 and $6,000.
Moser’s bond was set at $169,100. As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, he remained in custody, records showed.
Hurley said one of the cities where the thefts happened is Coral Springs.
Coral Springs Fire Department Division Chief Mike Moser said there were 20 panels stolen in that city.
Moser, who has no relation to the suspect, called the panels “the brains of an alarm system. If somebody steals the fire alarm panel from a community, that sense of security that they have by having an alarm to notify them in case of a fire is now gone.”
He stressed the key role of the equipment with saving lives.
“The panel would receive a signal from a smoke or water flow detector, sound an audible alarm and more importantly, notify the fire department,” Moser said.
Residents in five other Broward cities – Margate, Tamarac, Sunrise, North Lauderdale and Dania Beach – reported thefts of the panels during 2014. It was unknown if those losses were related to the arrest investigation.
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