Tyrone dragnet ends with arrest of three Tampa men

ST. PETERSBURG -- Around lunchtime the homeowner pulled into her driveway -- and three strange men walked out the front door of her Seminole home.

That sparked a brief car chase and a two-hour manhunt in the Tyrone area by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and the St. Petersburg Police Department. Deputies say the search ended late this afternoon with another break-in and the arrest of three Tampa men.

Now sheriff's detectives are exploring a possible link between the three men and a spate of similar burglaries in mid Pinellas, according to Sgt. Jim Bordner.

Deputies identified the three as Britton Arline, 21, of 8620 N 14th St., Demetrick Jenrette, 23, of 1416 Bougainvillea Avenue E, and Maurice Boyer, 24, of 5410 Temple Elm Lane. Each was arrested on two counts of burglary and one count of possession of burglary tools. Jenrette could be charged with grand theft auto, too, deputies said.

The three men are accused of knocking in the door of a Seminole home in the 13000 block of 76th Avenue N and ransacking it. Deputies say they made off with $3,000 in jewelry just as the owner arrived home before noon.

Here's what happened next, according to the Sheriff's Office:

As the homeowner called 911, the men fled in a silver 2006 Chevrolet Impala. A sheriff's cruiser pulled behind the Impala near Park and Seminole boulevards. But instead of pulling over, the men took off, leading the deputy on a brief pursuit through the Bay Pines area.

The men abandoned the Impala in a vacant lot near 41st Avenue and 85th Street N and ran away.

Deputies set up a perimeter and called in St. Petersburg police. A sheriff's helicopter searched overhead and two deputies patrolled the east shoreline of the Intracoastal Waterway in a sheriff's boat.

The three men were found hiding in the laundry room of an unoccupied home in the 8300 block of 41st Avenue N by St. Petersburg K-9 Officer Chris Ladd and his partner, Shaman.

The three were arrested for both alleged burglaries, but that may not be the end of their troubles. Deputies say they found what may be more stolen property inside the Impala: a computer, flat-panel TVs and a lot of jewelry. The Impala itself is stolen, deputies say, reported missing by Avis from Tampa International Airport on Sept. 24.

Two of the men face additional charges in their home county. Arline was arrested on an outstanding warrant on charges of grand theft and failure to appear in court (in an unrelated burglary case there). There was also a Hillsborough warrant for Jenrette, who was arrested on charges of burglary, armed burglary and grand theft from that county, too.

Jamal Thalji, Times staff writer

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