Thanks to his credit card and SunPass, a UCF student has been reunited with his stolen vehicle.
KnightNews.com reported the story when Sandeep Bala discovered his car had been stolen from The Edge apartments in the early morning hours of Jan. 30.
Bala had left several personal items in the vehicle, a 2012 Honda Civic, including a credit card, SunPass and longboard.
Shortly after reporting the car stolen, Bala discovered a charge on his credit card from the suspect in Kissimmee.
“The suspect used the victim’s credit card to fuel up the car, and then buy a Mountain Dew and Newport cigarettes from a Circle K on Buenaventure Blvd. in Kissimmee,” said Jane Watrel, Public Information Officer with the Orange County Sherriff’s Office.
A security camera at the convenience store captured an image of the suspect.
Bala then turned to his SunPass activity to learn about the suspect’s whereabouts.
“I was able to keep the detectives updated on the pattern of activity of the thief,” Bala said.
Around 3 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 6, the suspect was seen speeding in the stolen vehicle, and the police pursued, according to Bala.
“A cop tried to pull him over, but instead of slowing down, the thief continued to speed and went into a hotel parking lot. He then got out of the car and ran. By the time the cop got to the car, the thief had already escaped,” Bala said.
Police told Bala that the suspect had other stolen wallets, licenses and credit cards in the vehicle.
The suspect had removed Bala’s fraternity letters from the vehicle to make it harder to identify, but left on the UCF decal and plate, according to Bala.
“He’d sold some of the stuff I had in the car, like my longboard, and thrown out the rest. It looked like he was stealing consistently around the Orlando area and was moving between hotels,” Bala said.
The only damage to the vehicle was a new dent, a cigarette burn on the seat and the strong smell of cigarette smoke, according to Bala.
The suspect is still at large, according to Bala.
Bala’s final words for the suspect: “Keep your eyes open for this guy around UCF – I’m sure he’ll be back. I’d love to see this guy in jail for a good number of years.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).
