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Seffner Burglary Suspects Arrested After Car Chase

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By MIKE WELLS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 26, 2007

Updated: 10/26/2007 05:39 pm

News Channel 8 Video

SEFFNER - A Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office detective had a gut feeling something was suspicious when he spotted a dirty Mitsubishi Galant in the driveway of a home on Running Horse Lane.

The veteran property crimes detective was patrolling the Hickory Hills subdivision about 11:30 a.m. today, alert after a string of daytime burglaries in the area, sheriff's spokeswoman J.D. Callaway said.

He parked near the house and watched two men come out. They saw him and sped away, Callaway said. Deputies followed the men in a low-speed chase through the subdivision.

The Galant crashed about two miles away, at U.S. 82 and Pine Street. The driver hit a pole, deputies said.

The driver, James Edward Flanning Jr., 24, was arrested at the scene. The passenger, 22-year-old Thomas Davis, ran into nearby woods and was spotted by a sheriff's helicopter crew.

Deputies and a sheriff's canine took Davis into custody. No one was injured.

Detectives do not think anything was taken from the home on Running Horse Lane; however, they found a flat-screen television, a computer and printer in the Galant. They say they also found a ski mask.

Some of the items in the vehicle were linked to an Oct. 16 burglary in Tampa, the sheriff's office said.
During the chase, witnesses told deputies they saw the suspects throw an object out of the Galant's window. When deputies searched the area, they found two handguns that were tossed out of the Galant during the pursuit, the sheriff's office said.

Both men were charged Friday with burglary of a residence, auto theft and fleeing and eluding law enforcement officers.

The sheriff's office and the Tampa Police Department are investigating whether Flanning and Davis are linked to other burglaries in the area, Callaway said.

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