Deltona, FL - The Volusia County Sheriff's Office announce they have solved 14 home burglaries with the arrest of a 21-year-old woman and her boyfriend.
Gabriella Soto was arrested Monday (December 11th), charged with 13 counts of burglary to a dwelling, one count of armed burglary, 12 counts of grand theft, grand theft firearm and one count of child neglect.
VCSO also says more charges are also likely.
21-year-old Desmond Watson, her boyfriend and the father of her child, was arrested in Seminole County for one burglary. However, VCSO says he will be extradited to Volusia County where he will face charges in the other burglaries.
Each burglary happened between November 1st and November 14th with the same modus operandi: They made their way in through forced entry at a rear window or sliding glass door, on weekdays during work hours.
Fifteen of them occurred during that two-week span within a two mile radius in Deltona.
One burglary victim chose not to press charges.
The common items stolen in these burglaries included TV's, firearms, cash and jewelry.
According to VCSO, within two hours of the burglaries, the suspects would drive to Orlando and pawn the items.
Through physical evidence, surveillance video and a witness who saw one of the burglaries in progress, detectives were able to identify and arrest Soto and secure a search warrant for Watson.
According to VCSO, in Deltona, the Sheriff’s Office has cleared 36% of burglaries in 2018, up from 24 percent two years ago.
“They’re keeping the heat up, identifying crime trends as they’re happening and exhausting every lead in every case, and we’re seeing the results of that today,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said. “I can’t say enough good things about the work our people are doing to solve every case they can, even if they’ve got little or nothing to go on from the start.”
The boyfriend's photo is currently not available.
