Tuesday night, the guy who lives at 420 SW 18th Ave. in Fort Lauderdale couldn't sleep. He was put out of his house by a termite infestation and was staying elsewhere while exterminators draped a giant tent over his house and filled it with poison gas.
It was around 4 a.m. when he took out his smartphone to check a surveillance camera he'd installed in his living room -- and saw two dudes with shirts over their mouths rummaging around through his stuff.
He called police, who went to the house full of deadly gases to investigate but couldn't go inside because it was a house full of deadly gases. They called the exterminator to come and ventilate the house so they could get inside. They had no way of knowing that the burglars had already escaped.
Except an officer was tipped off that the men were on their way to the Swap Shop on Sunrise Boulevard to hock their pilfered jewelry -- so police found the car and arrested two men inside -- 20-year-old Darrin Green and 17-year-old Jamarion Lee -- on burglary charges and a third man on an unrelated warrant. It wasn't safe to enter the house until 1:30 yesterday afternoon.
"What kind of person does that?" said Fort Lauderdale Police spokesman Det. Travis Mandell. "What kind of person risks their life for a couple of pieces of property, going into a house with 'Danger! Do not enter! Poison!' signs all over it?"
Though Mandell said the gas was "definitely not for human consumption," the burglars didn't show any signs of injury.
"This gas is made to kill," he added "Anybody who risks their life for a couple of pieces of property does not make sense to me."
If you know anything else about the burglary, Fort Lauderdale Police ask you contact Detective Joseph Hannold at 954-828-5459. If you know anything else about how long these guys can hold their breath, just call me.
