A Leesburg woman was arrested on warrant for attempting to break into a residence using a hidden key and taking it when unsuccessful.
On the morning of Sept. 6, an officer with the Leesburg Police Department responded to an undisclosed Lake County residence concerning the homeowner finding security footage of 23-year-old Sally Sanchez on his property at about 1:30 a.m., according to an affidavit of probable cause out of Lake County.
Upon arrival, the officer met with the homeowner, or the victim. He explained that when he awoke for the day, he checked his cellphone and noticed several notifications from his Ring security cameras. He inspected the Ring app and found several recordings captured at about 1:30 a.m. of a woman, later identified as Sanchez, near the side entrance door of his residence, the affidavit said.
The victim noticed Sanchez found the hide-a-key stored in a multi-colored tea kettle near the garage door, just adjacent to the door leading to the residence. She picked up the kettle and took out the hidden key. She then tried to open the door leading to the residence, but the key did not work with the lock. It only unlocked the door leading into the garage, the affidavit said.
Sanchez continued to stand near the door while moving about. She next walked out of camera range only to return a few moments later. She was in camera range for about 20 minutes before leaving the area. When she left, she took the key with her and went through the open gate, the affidavit said.
The victim described Sanchez as wearing a white shirt and dark-colored pants but not wearing shoes. He could not give the officer a copy of the security footage, so the officer recorded it with his body cam. He also took five photos of the incident location, the affidavit said.
Additionally, the victim stated he heard the doorbell ring at about 2 a.m. but did not get out of bed to check if anyone was there. He had a locksmith on scene to change the lock on the garage door because Sanchez took the key with her. The locksmith charged about $50 to change the lock, the affidavit said.
On Sept 9, a detective with the LPD contacted the victim to discuss the case with him. Shortly after, the victim gave him 12 videos of the incident captured by his Ring security cameras. Per the video time stamps, Sanchez was on-scene for about 47 minutes between 1:34 and 2:21 a.m. on Sept. 6, the affidavit said.
The detective noticed that Sanchez’ white shirt depicted the Yamaha logo and brand name in red on the left side of the chest and across the back of the shirt. Using still images taken from the security footage, an “Attempt to Identify Bulletin” was created and sent out internally to surrounding law enforcement agencies on Sept. 13, the affidavit said.
That same day, three officers identified Sanchez. Two of them approached her on Sept 6 at about 2:59 a.m. around South 12th Street and Bonaire Drive, near the incident location. She was wearing the same clothes as pictured in the bulletin and advised that she lived at 904 Kolb Street, the affidavit said.
Although she appeared to be heavier-set in the photograph, a check of Sanchez’ driver’s license picture confirmed she was the subject seen in the security camera footage and the body-worn camera footage. She also appeared to be wearing the same or identical clothing worn during the burglary at the time of contact, the affidavit said.
Sanchez was ultimately arrested Friday morning by the LPD on a warrant charging her with attempted burglary occupied dwelling no forced entry and petit theft. The California native was transported to Lake County Jail and released after posting $3,000 bond.