Officer's suspicions lead to theft charges

CLEARWATER -- A veteran police office with a good eye for the out-of-place arrested a man whom police suspect in several burglaries from vehicles at day care centers. Clearwater Officer Brett Ward, a 16-year department veteran, had taken one of several reports on a recent string of burglaries from vehicles in east Clearwater.

All the burglaries seemed to be at or around day care centers.

In the report Ward took, a witness saw a man leaving a parking lot near a day care center after an attempted burglary.

The witness said the man left the area in a white pickup.

Ward was dispatched to another auto burglary call Friday morning at Countryside Village child care center.

As he arrived, he saw a white 1993 Ford Ranger pickup truck parked on a street behind the day care center.

Ward became more suspicious when he saw a man inside the truck. Ward approached the man and started to talk to him.

The officer noticed a purse behind the seat and then found more purses along with pieces of jewelry, police spokesman Wayne Shelor said.

The suspected burglar, Palm Harbor resident Thomas Smith, 46, later admitted to police that he had committed several recent burglaries from vehicles in Clearwater, Shelor said.

"It was a very astute catch by Officer Ward," Shelor said. "It just seemed out of place."

Shelor said much of the property recovered in Smith's truck was being returned to victims Friday.

Smith was charged with six counts of auto burglary and was booked into Pinellas County Jail.

Bail was set at $60,000.

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