| Published: | Jan 30, 2013 10:49 PM EST |
| Updated: | Jan 30, 2013 10:52 PM EST |
NAPLES, Fla - Three men from Miami are behind bars after a Naples woman used her crime fighting intuition to help bust a burglary in progress.
Naples police say the men drive over from the east coast, target random neighborhoods and knock on doors. If no one answers, they break-in.
Tuesday, Moorings Park was the target of a random crime, but thanks to Linda Black's quick thinking, the burglaries turned into a bust. "My little dog barked and I went to the door and I said, can I help you? He said he was looking for David. I said David who?"
Linda, a graduate of the Naples Citizen Police Academy, noticed the man wouldn't make eye contact. "My antenna was up and I thought, it didn't feel right," says Linda. "It just didn't feel right."
She got a good description of the vehicle and called the non-emergency number number for Naples Police. "I went into the house and echoing in my ears are Officer Bill Gonsalves," says Linda. Officer Gonsalves works as a crime prevention officer in the Moorings Park Neighborhood. He told Linda and other residents, if they ever see anything suspicious to call. "Call the non-emergency number. Let us do our job," Linda recalls being told. "I thought, bingo, so I called."
Her intuition was right on. Naples police swarmed the neighborhood and within minutes found the car and these three men just down the road in the process of burglarizing a home. Linda's husband Duane says, "thank God she called police when she did because there's no question that's what triggered the arrest of those men."
Linda admits a year ago she may have ignored her gut feeling to call, but knows waiting would have changed the outcome. "I would have said oh, don't bother, but it's true, if you wait too long they're gone," says Linda.
Police found a weapon on Felix Lazaro Rivera, 36, of Hialeah. He's charged with three felonies including attempted burglary. Angel Laxo, 20, of Hialeah is also charged with attempted burglary. A third man, Luis Rodriguez, 46, of Opa Locka is charged with loitering and prowling.
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