SANTA ROSA COUNTY

SHERIFFS OFFICE

Sheriff Wendell Hall

Four Juveniles Arrested for String of Burglaries and Arsons

Four juveniles have been arrested for their participation in a string of burglaries and arsons that occurred during the months of October and November 2008. The seven offenses all occurred within a few week time period in the same geographical area. All of the incidents had several similar characteristics, including the fact that five of the seven offenses have a correlation to gasoline and fire. Similar graffiti was found at two of the scenes. After reviewing details from each offense, interviewing multiple individuals/residents, and obtaining multiple sworn statements, including several confessions, probable cause was obtained to support the fact that David J. L. Stroud (17 yrs old) and Richard W. Bingham (17 yrs old) were responsible for several of the offenses and were clearly the primary participants. It was also determined that Kyler Benton (14 yrs old) and his cousin David Underwood (12 yrs old) were involved in at least two of the offenses. The following is a summary of the offenses for which the juveniles were responsible.    

• (No Report On File) - “Billboard criminal mischief/attempted arson”
-----Sometime in Oct. or Nov. 2008, someone vandalized and attempted to burn the billboard on the property just north of 8603 Hwy 87 South.  Spray painted graffiti was present, 4 broken lights, and an obvious burn mark on the vinyl billboard was discovered.   

• (SRSO case #08010802) – “Boat criminal mischief”
-----On or around 10/20/08, someone used concrete cinder block pieces to smash 2 cockpit windows of a large boat that was being stored at 8603 Hwy 87 South (behind McNaughton Flooring building).  On 11/11/08 additional damage (4 more windows) occurred and there appeared to be axe type cuts in the glass.  On this same night, someone used what appeared to be an axe to chop up Mr. McNaughton's building's satellite dish.  The boat's fly-bridge stainless steel ladder was reported missing also but later recovered under a nearby billboard that had sustained damage.  The owner of the boat estimated $1200.00 in damage was done to his boat.  

• (SRSO case #08009986) - “Van criminal mischief/arson”
-----On Monday into Tuesday, (11-10-08 – 11-11-08), during the early morning hours, someone tossed two concrete cinder blocks through the windows of a van that was for sale in front of McNaughton Flooring, 8603 Hwy 87 South.  The suspect/suspects then set the van on fire; the fire department was called at 0108 hours.  The victim reported that the van was being sold for $1500.00 but after the fire it was only worth scrap metal.    

• (SRSO case #09002234 / SFM case #08-3789) - “Car burglary/arson”
-----On Wednesday, ( 11-26-08 ), during the early morning hours, a vehicle burglary/arson occurred at 4417 Gentry Farms Road .  East Milton Fire Department received the call at approximately 0210 hours.  By the time they arrived, the 1996 Toyota Camry that was parked at the residence was fully involved.  The vehicle owner estimated her loss to be approximately $3000.00.  It should be noted that there did not appear to be a clear motive for this crime.  A few items were removed from the car and found on the ground but nothing was reported stolen.  Typically, car burglars hit multiple cars in the same area, there were no other vehicle burglary, criminal mischiefs, or similar incidents reported on this night.  Detective Stephen M. Callahan, with the Florida State Fire Marshal's Office responded and completed SFM Offense Report #08003789.  At the time, there were no witnesses or possible suspects.

• (SRSO case #08010447 / SFM case #08-3811) – “McNaughton Flooring burglary/arson”
-----On Thursday (Thanksgiving) into Friday, ( 11-27-08 - 11-28-08 ), during the early morning hours, a burglary/arson occurred at McNaughton Flooring located at the corner of Hwy 87 South and South Lynn Road (8603 Hwy 87 S).  East Milton Fire Department, Sheriff's deputies, and Detective Stephen M. Callahan with the Florida State Fire Marshall's Office responded to the fire at approximately 0234 hours.  The investigation revealed that the building was broken into and eventually set fire with a gasoline accelerant.  Surprisingly, only a small JVC television was reported to be possibly missing from the burnt building.  There were several power tools and hand tools within the building however none appeared to have been taken.  A can of yellow “American's Finest” spray paint was removed from the building and used to spray paint graffiti on the back of the building.  It was also used to paint graffiti on the company's sign which was located in the front yard area of the property.  Approximately .4 miles south of the building location, several other pieces of graffiti were located in the same color yellow paint on the south side of Nichols Lake Road just east of Hwy 87 South.  The building was completely destroyed and it was estimated that it would cost approximately $75,000.00 to replace. The loss of tools, supplies, etc. was estimated to be approximately $30,000.00. 

• (SRSO case # 08010481) – “residential burglary/theft”
-----On Friday into Saturday, ( 11/28/08 – 11/29/08), during the early morning hours, a residential burglary/theft occurred at 8709 South Lynn Road .  The homeowners were all out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday.  A 9 mm semi-auto handgun, a .22 caliber revolver w/white bone grip handles, a Dell laptop computer, several articles of jewelry, and two female bra inserts were reported stolen from this residence.  A cardboard box of New Castle Brown Ale beer was removed from the refrigerator and left on the floor of the kitchen, the two remaining beers were gone. It appeared as if the suspect/suspects had no fear of the homeowner coming home due to the fact that the suspects were in the house long enough to completely ransack it.  Nearly every drawer, cabinet, and closet was ransacked. Note: On the evening of this residential burglary, the daughter of the homeowner reported that she received a cell phone call from a neighborhood juvenile named David Stroud (17 yrs old) at around 2053 hours.  David and the daughter had previously been neighborhood associates but she had not spoken to him in several weeks because they no longer were friends.  According to the daughter, the phone call was out of the ordinary, and especially appeared so when David asked if she was still out of town. 
      

• (SRSO case #08010511) – “B & D Feed business burglary/theft/attempted arson”
-----On Sunday into Monday, (11/30/08 – 12/01/08), during the early morning hours, a business burglary/theft occurred at B & D Feed located at the corner of Hwy 87 South and Fortune Road (8441 Hwy 87 S).  (Note: this location is approximately .4 mile south of the McNaughton Flooring property and the previously mentioned house burglary/theft.)  At approximately 0045 hours, the business' ADT side door alarm was activated.  The investigation revealed that the suspect/suspects slid a metal framing square into the crack of the door and lifted up a wedged 2 X 4 board in order to open the door, which then sounded the alarm.  The only thing reported missing was a metal electrical box that was used to store miscellaneous papers/pencils.  The owner of the Feed Store kept the box behind the counter.  The following day, the box and papers were recovered alone the north side of Fortune Road approximately .1 mile west of Hwy 87 South, which is in the direction of a frequently used trail leading north to Bright Oak Circle.

     (Note: The trail comes out on Bright Oak Circle directly across from David Stroud's house.)

     (Note: David Stroud had previously worked part-time at the Feed store over the summer.  After school started David showed up in shorts and crocs wanting to work but was asked to come back with proper work attire.  He never returned.) 

     (Note: Over the summer, the owner of the Feed store, the business owner used to keep a small amount of money in the electrical box.) 

     (Note: The business owner had installed the ADT Alarm System the day before because of the area's burglary and arson problems.  The business owner suspected the suspect/suspects would have burned his building also if the alarm hadn't scared them off.  He substantiated this theory based on the fact that a half full can of gasoline was found sitting directly next to the door that was compromised.  According to the business owner, this gas can belongs to him and had previously been located approximately 30 yards away from the building near a work table in the back yard.) 

All four of the suspects were arrested in relation to the above mentioned offenses. There information and charges are as follows. Mug shots are attached to this email.

SUSPECTS:

David Stroud, W/M, 17 years old

8700 Block of Bright Oak Circle , Milton FL

Charges:

Burglary, 6 counts

Felony Criminal Mischief, 2 counts

Petit Theft, 3 counts

Misdemeanor Criminal Mischief, 1 count

Grand Theft of a Firearm, 1 count

Arson, 3 counts

Richard Bingham, W/M, 17 years old

9500 Block of Permenter Road , Milton , FL

Charges:

Burglary, 5 counts

Felony Criminal Mischief, 1 count

Petit Theft, 1 count

Misdemeanor Criminal Mischief, 1 count

Grand Theft of a Firearm, 1 count

Grand Theft, 1 count

Arson, 3 counts

Kyler Benton, W/M, 14 years old

8600 Block of Riverstone Drive , Milton , FL

Charges:

Felony Criminal Mischief, 1 count

Grand Theft, 1 count

Arson, 1 count

Burglary, 1 count

David Underwood, W/M, 12 years old

8600 Block of Riverstone Road , Milton , FL

Charges:

Felony Criminal Mischief, 1 count

Grand Theft, 1 count

Arson, 1 count

Burglary, 1 count

Press Release By:

Sgt. Scott Haines

Media Relations Unit

(850) 981-2136 or shaines@srso.net