Two Juveniles Suspected in Spring Hill Plaza Burglary Spree, One Arrested

Surveillance footage captured two teenagers methodically cutting power to a Spring Hill shopping plaza before prying open businesses with crowbars in the early hours of March 28, netting just over $150 in cash while leaving behind roughly $1,000 in property damage.

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office identified the plaza at the intersection of Forest Oaks Boulevard and Deltona Boulevard as the scene of the burglary spree. Deputies responded that Saturday morning and reviewed security video showing the pair first accessing the plaza's electrical circuit breakers to kill power before working through the storefronts with pry tools, forcing entry into multiple stores and rummaging through drawers and registers.

Among the businesses hit was Joseph's Anytime Bail Bonds, where owner Joseph Mercado found a pried padlock and about $1,000 in structural damage. Mercado said he had just recently opened the business, calling the repair bill an "unexpected cost." A neighboring pizza shop also came up short, with staff counting about $160 missing from a register after the morning's break-ins.

Sheriff Al Nienhuis publicly identified the suspects as approximately 15 years old and described them as "young people with, maybe a little bit too much time on their hands." One juvenile had been arrested as of the sheriff's office's initial announcement; a second remained sought. Nienhuis was direct that the small dollar amounts taken did not reduce the gravity of felony burglary charges, which carry lasting consequences under Florida's juvenile justice system.

Investigators canvassed the surrounding area and gathered community tips to identify the pair. The sheriff's office said additional suspects might still be sought, and the cases were being prepared for referral to juvenile court, with prosecutors set to review the evidence and determine formal charges.

For a bail bondsman who had just unlocked his doors for the first time, a crowbar through his padlock and $1,000 in repairs was not a cost he had budgeted into opening week.