The Tampa Police Department in Tampa, Florida, posted a video to their Facebook page that shows exactly why residents should lock their cars at night. Sometimes, thieves won’t give up at just one locked vehicle.
On July 13 at about 11: 25 pm, four minors were found searching for unlocked cars to steal from. Fortunately, a police helicopter happened to capture the juveniles as they committed the crime, leading police directly to them.
What’s really interesting about the video is how nonchalantly the juveniles were in stealing from the vehicle. It’s as though they truly had no idea of the advances in technology that police officers possess nowadays.
Fortunately, it looks like the four of them surrendered to the officers who stopped them on the street without incident. It also appears that no one was injured as a result of the incident.
One Unlocked Car Was All They Needed
Please give the following video a moment to load.
We reposted the video to the Guessing Headlights YouTube channel, where we condensed the content for easier viewing. In the video, the four juveniles can be seen approaching cars and checking their doors to see if they were unlocked. Fortunately for the thieves, one car was unlocked.
Three of the minors had backpacks on and were likely putting the things that they found in there. As the helicopter continued to follow the juveniles through the streets near the 1200 block of E. Emma Street, one of them checked other car doors to see if they would get lucky a second time.
At one point, the four turned and looked up directly at the helicopter, likely hearing it somehow. It’s a good thing that it had already been following them for a while, or else the minors might have actually gotten away with it.
Fortunately, it looks like the juveniles surrendered to the police when they pulled up in their cruisers without incident. Their names were not revealed, likely because of their age.
Commenters Couldn’t Believe They Never Looked Up
The overwhelming majority of commenters sided with the sheriff’s office, with many expressing disbelief that anyone would launch fireworks from a moving vehicle while a police helicopter was nearby.
One commenter asked, “Did they not notice a police helicopter hovering above? 🤨” Another explained that the helicopter was actually about a mile away, noting that “Those cameras have very powerful zoom,” which likely made it much harder for the occupants to realize they were being recorded.
Others focused on accountability. One person simply wrote, “Show their faces,” while several others applauded deputies with comments like “Good job guys,” “Great Job 👏🏼,” and “GREAT JOB 🚩❓.”