ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – More than two months after a string of burglaries in a north Orange County neighborhood, deputies made an arrest.
According to court documents, the burglaries happened between Sept. 7 and Sept. 8 in the Tangerine area, right off of North Orange Blossom Trail.
Investigators said four homes and four vehicles within a half-mile of each other were broken into within a 24 hour period.
"He was trying to break into that building," said Robert Christmas as he looked at surveillance video captured by one of the cameras mounted to his home.
The video showed a shadowy figure trying to open a door early in the morning on Sept. 8.
He said his son was on the other side of that door.
"You could see on the video that he was trying to break into the door, and it scared him," he said.
He said his son yelled, and the man could be seen driving off in a golf cart that Christmas said was stolen from his next-door neighbor.
According to court documents, one of Christmas' neighbors reported seeing a man crouching in his dining room at 3 a.m. that same morning.
Another neighbor reported her garage had been broken into, and an ice cream cake and champagne were taken from her refrigerator.
Christmas said he noticed the man in the video was only wearing one glove.
"Later on during the day, we decided to tell all the neighbors, and the neighbors put two and two together and found a glove sitting right there," he said. "They took it for the DNA."
Orange County sheriff's submitted the DNA to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory.
On Monday, the results matched 46-year-old James Harrison Jr.
Deputies arrested Harrison on Thursday, and they charged him with five counts of burglary of a dwelling, five counts of burglary of a conveyance, five counts of grand theft and one count of petit theft.
His bond was set at $30,300.
He is scheduled to face a judge on Saturday morning.
