3 Arrested in Palm Coast After ‘Smash-and-Grab’ Thefts at Racquet Club and E Section

The suspects are She’Maliz May, 26, Rickain Johnson, 23, and Laquada Davis, 27.

The incident began after sheriff’s deputies had received a be-on-the-lookout for a stolen tag (they were presumably using one of their scanning devices that allowed them to detect stolen vehicles and stolen tags). Deputies located the 2019 Ford Fusion in question in the Target shopping center’s parking lot just after 6:30 p.m.

A deputy, his gun in his right hand and behind his back, approached the driver’s side and spoke with May, who got out of the car and submitted to a pat down. As soon as the deputy began the pat down, Johnson, who was in the back seat on the passenger side, got out and fled. The deputy alerted the 911 center. Many deputies responded, among them Cpl. Fred Gimbel, with K-9 Holmes, a rookie.

Holmes got a sniff of the back seat where Johnson had been sitting and quickly got to work, leading Gimbel through the parking lot to Walgreens, where Johnson was spotted running again, but not far: another deputy caught Johnson at the nearby corner of State Road 100 and Belle Terre Parkway.

It was K-9 Holmes’s very first apprehension.

Around the same time, deputies also had determined that a third person had been in the car–Davis–and located her at Taco Bell. Around that time other dots began to connect: there’d been several “smash and grab” thefts reported to 911, one of them on involving a vehicle on Hampton Drive by the Cypress golf course, where a wallet and credit cards were stolen, another at Patricia Drive, near the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club, where a driver’s license and a Green Card (an immigration card) were stolen. Windows on the vehicles had been smashed for the burglars to gain access.

By then the credit cards had already been used in allegedly fraudulent transactions at Target and Walmart, deputies found. The amounts charged totaled close to $2,000–money used to buy gift cards, though several such attempts failed. They also bought a crock-pot

May, who agreed to speak with deputies, described how the trip had been driving down from Jacksonville when it decided to roam around Palm Coast, after stopping at McDonald’s. Johnson, she claimed, allegedly boasted that smashing into a Kia was “always a hit.” (She said she knew nothing of the stolen tag.)

Johnson gave a different story: he said the trio was coming back from Orlando, though that’s where all three live, and had exited in Palm Coast. He acknowledged going to Walmart–but only to use the rest room. Davis too said the trio was driving from Orlando and had gone to McDonald’s (just about the only detail all three agreed on) before going to Target–but not to buy anything.

When deputies searched the car, they found  camouflage back-pack, two spring-loaded window punches used to break glass, a flashlight and several gift cards. A pair of gloves had shards of glass on it. The Green Card was found, as was the driver’s license reported stolen. John’s Towing of Bunnell towed the vehicle.

The stolen property was returned to the victims.

May is charged with Driving While License Suspended- Habitual Traffic Violator, Felony Petit Theft and two counts of Accessory after the Fact for Burglary of an Unoccupied Conveyance. She is being held on no bond. Johnson is charged with two counts of Burglary of an Unoccupied Conveyance, two counts of Criminal Mischief, two counts of Petit Theft, two counts of Possession of a Stolen Credit Card and four counts of Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card over $100.00 and one count of Resisting Arrest without Violence. He is being held on no bond. Davis is charged with five (5) counts of Fraudulent use of a Credit Card over $100.00, two counts of Possession of a Stolen Credit Card and two counts of Accessory after the Fact for Burglary of an Unoccupied Conveyance. She is held on an $18,500 bond.

“This is another example of good police work, technology and K-9’s coming together to apprehend suspects that thought they could prey on our community,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “These three decided to make a pit stop after a busy night of breaking into vehicles and they found out the hard way that crime doesn’t pay and if you run from our deputies you will only go to jail tired. I am happy that we were able to return the stolen property to the owners. I want to congratulate Corporal Gimble and K-9 Holmes on their first successful track.”