February 26, 2008
Brandon Haught
Public Information Office

BURGLARY SUSPECTS LEAD DEPUTIES ACROSS THREE COUNTIES 

Four men accused of trying to break into a house near DeLand Tuesday morning picked the wrong time and the wrong place to commit their crime. With the neighborhood already under surveillance by Volusia County Sheriff's deputies investigating several recent break-ins, the suspects' vehicle was quickly spotted fleeing the area. Deputies first saw the car minutes after an alert, off-duty volunteer with the Sheriff's Office's Citizen Observer Program reported that a neighbor's home alarm was going off. It all ended when officers from five agencies cornered the men in Orange County, with Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson himself making one of the collars. Investigators suspect Tuesday's capture could solve the recent rash of residential burglaries in Northwest Volusia. 

Sheriff's deputies had been investigating a series of at least six home burglaries during the past few weeks in the neighborhood where Tuesday's attempted break-in occurred, 1300 Greenland Trace. An analysis of the crimes revealed a pattern that prompted deputies to put the area under close observation Tuesday morning. Proving that the crime analysis was right, an alarm went off at Greenland Trace, right behind COP Frank Krizon's house at approximately 10:22 a.m. He rushed over to the house in time to see a suspicious vehicle zooming away. In just a few minutes the vehicle description -- an older model, copper colored Crown Victoria or Grand Marquis -- went out over the radio and Chief Deputy Bill Lee spotted it at a stop sign. He attempted to get the suspects out of their car, but they swerved around him and fled. 

A Sheriff's Office helicopter was then brought in to track the fleeing vehicle and relay its location to deputies who were following a safe distance behind along its three-county escape route. The car traveled westbound, entered Lake County and eventually wound up in Orange County in a subdivision off of U.S. Highway 441. Agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Lake County Sheriff's Office joined in the hunt. The suspects turned off of U.S. 441 onto Willow Street near Zellwood. As they wound through the residential streets there, they ended up on a dead end dirt road and tried to do a fast u-turn. But their car stalled and all four men in the car bailed out and made a run for it. Orange County Sheriff's deputies and one of their helicopters then joined in the search. One by one, the men were captured, with the fourth one nabbed at about 12:13 p.m. 

Back at the original break-in location on Greenland Trace, deputies found that the front door had damage to it consistent with someone having tried to break it in, but the solid door withstood the attempt. A door in the rear of the house was busted in, but it only gave way to a patio bathroom and provided no access to the home's interior. The method of attempted entry was consistent with the other neighborhood burglaries where doors were kicked open. 

The defendant's have been identified as:

• Usarian Cuyler, 19, Eustis

• Kyle McFadden, 19, Tavares

• Jarvis Smith, 18, Zellwood

• Justin Smith, 18, Tavares

Volusia County Sheriff's investigators have charged all four defendants with burglary. The driver (Usarian Cuyler) faces an additional charge of fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer. All four defendants will be booked into jail in Orange County. Investigators expect to file additional burglary charges against at least three of the defendants.