Canada couple watches Lee Co. home burglary via Web cam
From the comfort of their Canadian home 2,300 miles away, a couple watched as a man burglarized their other home Saturday on Fort Myers Beach.
A copy of a video showing the break-in sent by the couple to The Lee County Sheriff's Office led to the arrest Sunday of the suspect, Thomas Hinton, 45, of North Fort Myers. Hinton was also a suspect in several other area burglaries.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office said the couple, who have a home in Ontario, Canada, reported the break-in shortly after 11 p.m. after seeing the man moving about their home on a surveillance camera they had set up inside the Seaside Harbor Court dwelling.
The couple told deputies that saw a skinny man wearing a tank top and jean shorts and carrying a backpack. They said they watched as he looked around a bedroom and kitchen area and took their daughter's purse and a $700 television.
The couple said the man entered the home twice Saturday night. When deputies arrived they found pry marks on a front and rear door and the suspect gone.
The sheriff's office later received information that the suspect in the burglary, Hinton, could be the same one sought for a string of other Fort Myers Beach burglaries.
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On Sunday, a deputy stopped a man driving a gray Ford Explorer who failed to stop at an intersection. The deputy said he recognized the driver, Hinton, as the suspect from the burglaries and arrested him.
Hinton, charged with burglary and grand theft, is being held on $160,000 bond. A hearing is scheduled Oct. 5.
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