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2 charged in 'pillowcase' burglaries; another suspect ID'd

Tampa Police Department

The Tampa Police Department says surveillance video shows two suspects using the victim's credit card.

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TBO.com

Published: October 16, 2009

Updated: 10/16/2009 12:01 pm

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Yesenia Sanchez

James Maymi

TAMPA - Two suspects were arrested today in a New Tampa home burglary in which an intruder used a pillowcase from a sleeping child's bed and filled it with stolen goods.

Police arrested James Wilson Maymi, 29, and Yesenia M. Sanchez, 22, both of 5606 Josephine Court, Apt. D. Police were still searching for Luis R. Rivera, 19, whose role in the case was unclear.

Maymi was charged with 10 counts of burglary of a dwelling and one count each of grand theft and grand theft of an automobile. He remained jailed today. Bail was set at $79,000.

Police said he broke into 10 screened enclosures the night of the Oct. 1 and tried getting into the homes but couldn't.

However, he did get into the home at 10218 Timberland Point at 3 a.m. and stole a Nintendo Wii, video games, "Star Wars" DVDs, a flat-screen television, credit cards, diapers and baby wipes, stuffing the items in a pillowcase taken from a child's room as the family of five slept, detectives said. He also stole the family's minivan, police Lt. Michael Baumaister said.

Sanchez was charged with six counts of fraudulent use of a credit card. She remained jailed this morning. Bail was set at $12,000.

Sanchez knew the credit cards were stolen and returned some of the clothes she bought after she was arrested, police said.

The value of the stolen property amounted to $2,000, not including the 2007 Honda Odyssey worth $28,000 that was recovered a few days later on West Hillsborough Avenue, police said.

Maymi told police most of the property was sold in West Tampa, investigators said.

Security cameras at two Tampa stores recorded Sanchez and Rivera using a credit card belonging to the victims the next day, Baumaister said. The pair and a child were recorded walking into Bealls and Ross stores on Hillsborough Avenue.

One video showed the couple talking for several minutes with a clerk as they bought hundreds of dollars worth of clothing with the victim's credit card, Detective Heather Bishop said.

A tip into Crime Stoppers led police to Maymi and Sanchez.

Records show Sanchez was also arrested Oct. 7, six days after the break-in. She was charged with driving with a suspended license as a habitual offender and was released after posting $2,000 bail.

Jail records list more than a dozen arrests for Maymi dating to 1998. They include a variety of charges, from burglary to driving on a suspended license to highway racing.

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