Two men charged in auto burglaries

Two Fort Lauderdale men, who authorities said may have been involved in a number of vehicle burglaries in the Naples area, were arrested Wednesday after leading Collier County sheriff’s deputies on a chase.

Deputies arrested Deavon Morgan, 25, and Dayle Shaffer, 35, at the intersection of Pine Ridge Road and Shirley Street at about 2 p.m. Both men were charged with three counts of burglary after deputies found items from three vehicles that had been burglarized earlier in the day inside the Chevrolet Malibu that Morgan was driving.

Due to similarities with previous car burglaries in the area, Morgan and Shaffer will be considered as possible suspects and their fingerprints will be compared with any prints obtained from earlier burglaries.

“We’ve had a huge problem with a lot of smash-and-grabs where they smash the windows and grab stuff out of plain view,” said Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kristin Adams. “If these two have been involved in others, maybe we’ve been able to stop that series for a while.”

The pursuit of Morgan and Shaffer began when the Sheriff’s Office received a call at about 12:25 p.m. Wednesday from a witness who saw a man smash out the rear passenger side window of her car, which was parked at 75 Vineyards Blvd. in North Naples, a Sheriff’s Office report said. The witness told deputies that the man took a $100 DVD player out of the car and left in a silver Chevy Malibu with dark tinted windows.

At 1:19 p.m. a deputy located the Malibu in the area of the North Naples Industrial Park, the report said. The deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but the driver refused to stop.

A chase ensued and for a while the Malibu traveled against traffic at a high rate of speed on Naples Boulevard. The Malibu ran several vehicles off the road. At one point the Malibu even crashed into a marked patrol car, authorities said.

When the chase reached the 1600 block of Pine Ridge Road a deputy noticed a black purse thrown from the Malibu, which was later retrieved.

The chase ended at a 7-Eleven convenience store when a civilian vehicle blocked the Malibu. A deputy ordered Morgan out of the vehicle at gunpoint, the report said.

The witness who initially reported the burglary was able to identify the DVD player to the point of telling a deputy the movie that would be found inside, the report said. Deputies also found an iPod in the car that belonged to Alexandra Wallace, whose car had been burglarized earlier in the day at Gymnastic World of Naples, 2187 Trade Center Way, the report said.

The black purse belonged to Paige Dengel, 25, who had the back window of her Jeep smashed in the Gymnastic World of Naples parking lot. Dengel said she was at work when she found out about the burglary.

“It’s very scary to me that somebody could do something like that,” Dengel said. “I’m thankful I didn’t catch them in the act. I’m thankful nothing happened to me and it was something replaceable.”

Both Morgan and Shaffer were arrested and transported to the Naples Jail Center, where deputies requested their bond be set by a judge.

In addition to the burglary charges, both men were charged with three counts of possessing burglary tools, two counts of petty theft and grand theft. Morgan was charged with fleeing and eluding, driving while license is suspended or revoked-habitual offender, leaving the scene of a crash, and possessing marijuana.

Authorities say it’s common for criminals who live in Lee or Miami-Dade counties to target people in Collier County.

“If they think there’s an opportunity here, they’ll come here,” Adams said. “They go to where the victims are, unfortunately. This time we had someone who was very aware who was able to give us a good description and we were able to find them.”