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Victims Can View Goods In 'Lunchtime Bandit' Case

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By LISA A. DAVIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 17, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - On graduation day in 1993 at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Wendy Spriggs was bestowed two things she thought she would hold onto forever: her bachelor's degree and a specially engraved class ring from her father.

When her father died from cancer within a year of that special moment, she cherished the ring even more.

Then, in the fall of 2005, an intruder broke in to her home and stole her father's gift, devastating her, husband Steve Spriggs, 59, said Tuesday.

But last week with the help of detectives, Wendy Spriggs, 53, was reunited with that ring, recovered from the home of a woman who some have dubbed "The Lunchtime Bandit."

"She just teared up and just had this beautiful, glowing smile on her face and she held it up and clutched it," her husband recalled. "You had to have seen it; it was beautiful."

Detectives are hoping to reunite more owners with their stolen goods, beginning Wednesday, when they will display a 200-page catalog of some of the items they say were recovered from the home of Lisa Anne Williams, 28, of Land O' Lakes.

Pinellas County deputies arrested Williams, of 1734 Tinsmith Circle, on June 3 after conducting surveillance in an Oldsmar neighborhood after getting a tip a few days before from a resident who caught a woman breaking in to his house while he napped. He got a partial license plate number and gave deputies a description of the gray PT Cruiser. Deputies spotted it without a license plate and pulled over Williams, who according to deputies had in her car a large screwdriver and prescription drugs from previous burglaries.

Williams is being held in the Pinellas County Jail and is facing numerous felony burglary and drug-related charges. Bail is set at $161,750.

Authorities say that during lunch breaks from her job in sales, clad in business attire, Williams would visit nearby neighborhoods and randomly select homes to burglarize. Detectives found hundreds if not thousands of items they think Williams stole from homes mostly in Land O' Lakes and Oldsmar.

"I have traced some of these burglaries … as far back as 2005," said Pasco County sheriff's Detective Steve Greiner.

The Spriggs' home in Land O' Lakes was hit twice, according to Steve Spriggs: once in 2005 when the USF ring was taken along with his grandmother's pocket watch, and again in 2007 when his late father's service revolver from his time as a police chief in Kansas was swiped. Other jewelry, including a topaz and diamond necklace he gave his wife in celebration of their 10th wedding anniversary nearly 25 years ago, also went missing.

Greiner said he thinks most of the burglaries Williams did in Pasco County were during the day but not necessarily during her lunch hour.

For two weeks, he has cataloged and carefully marked photographs of what they think are stolen goods found at Williams' home and put them in a black, three-ring binder.

"There's dozens of pieces of jewelry in here we just can't identify," Greiner said, thumbing through the catalog.

With engravings, like on the Spriggs' jewelry, and on other items such as watches with the name "Vivian Gayle" and "Donna" on them, there are hints to who is missing the loot.

Detectives found everything from numerous prescription drugs, jewelry boxes, watches, necklaces, digital cameras and computers stashed inside Williams' closets and stuffed under beds, Greiner said.

"She liked to hoard things," he said.

Exactly what she planned to do with the booty and why she stole it is being investigated, Greiner said.

"She did have a drug habit," he said. "There are some other personal reasons I won't get into."

He doesn't think she was looking for fast cash.

"I've done pawn searches, and I have nothing at pawn shops," he said.

Greiner thinks, however, that Williams began selling stolen items on eBay in March, if not before. He's in the process of subpoenaing those records.

Now, his main goal is to get word out to the public that if you have an unsolved burglary case, you might want to check out the catalog to see if any of the goods belong to you.

Beginning Wednesday they'll be available for review by the public for one month at the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Call Detective Pete Eigo for details at (727) 582-6975. It also will be available at Pasco sheriff's District II Office at 36409 State Road 52, Dade City from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. In Pasco, appointments are recommended and can be scheduled by calling (352) 518-5000.

If victims recognize something as being theirs, they'll be required to fill out a form. Detectives will verify if the items belong to those who claim them. Nothing will be released before the end of the monthlong review period.

The Spriggs will be visiting the Pasco sheriff's District II office Wednesday, hoping to bring back some of their beloved jewels.

"If out of all of them, I can recover that 10-year anniversary necklace," Steve Spriggs said, "that would be great. All the rest can be replaced."

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

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