String of burglaries results in Brandon man's arrest

BRANDON - Over the span of more than two months, Hillsborough sheriff's deputies say, a Brandon man and two accomplices looted three construction sites, a storage facility and model home office, causing thousands of dollars in damage and stealing thousands more worth of property.

William Milan Hurtak of 1407 Scotch Pine Drive (pictured) was arrested Thursday during a traffic stop, where, deputies said, they found some of the stolen items and robbery tools. According to arrest affidavits, officials are still looking for Steven Hall and another man, whose full name isn't know, in connection with the burglaries.

Deputies say the first burglary happened sometime between Aug. 29 and Sept. 2 at the Skanska Building Inc. site at 9891 Delany Creek Blvd. Hurtak smashed an office trailer window open with a crowbar and took three computer monitors, a television, three printers, a laptop, a microwave and power tools valued at about $6,500, the affidavits state.

Between Sept. 3 and 4, deputies say, Hurtak took two laptops, two desktop computers and power tools from Coastal Construction, 9672 Progress Blvd., gaining entrance the same way.

According to the affidavits, Hurtak broke into the Public Storage at 1010 Lumsden Road W around 2:45 a.m. Thursday. Deputies say he smashed the windows of a 2005 Hummer, a 2006 Lincoln Town Car limousine, a 2007 Chrysler 300 limousine, a 2005 Ford Excursion limousine, a 1998 GMC work truck, a 2000 Rexhall RV, a 2007 Four Winds International RV, a 2007 Turtle Top bus and a 1991 Ford Econoline RV. They say he stole four GPS units, a $150 nylon cable and a pair of binoculars.

Around 4:20 a.m. Thursday, deputies said, Hurtak broke into the Avelar Creek-Taylor Morrison Inc. townhome model center and took audio/video cables and a 50-inch TV. Deputies stopped Hurtak at the intersection of Bloomingdale Avenue and Lithia Pinecrest Road at nearly 5 a.m. and found a TV and a crowbar.

Hurtak faces 13 counts of burglary, four counts of grand theft, two counts of criminal mischief, one count of trespassing and one count of possessing burglary tools. He was taken to the Hillsborough County Jail, where he remains on $40,250 bail.

Kim Wilmath, Times Staff Writer

*