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Men charged in $500,000 burglary of home

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By JOSH POLTILOVE

jpoltilove@tampatrib.com

Published: September 25, 2009

Updated: 09/25/2009 07:29 pm

TAMPA - Several men stole $504,000 in items from a safe in a Forest Hills Estates home, Hillsborough County deputies say.

While work was being done at the home July 26, the men pried open a wood panel, exposing an entrance to the garage. They went inside the home and took electronics and a 5-foot safe that contained $504,000 in items, including two firearms, savings bonds, jewelry and cash, an arrest report states.

This morning in Riverview, deputies arrested 18-year-old Cody Holmes of Tampa and 18-year-old Pete Berry, whose address is unknown. They were each charged with armed burglary of a dwelling, grand theft of $100,000 or more and two counts of grand theft firearm.

Joshua White, 21, of Tampa, was arrested on the same charges Sept. 16. A judge set White's bail at $519,000. White was caught because his fingerprints were on a Coke bottle he moved while taking a computer from the home, according to the home's owner.

Another man is listed as a co-defendant on Holmes' arrest report, but charges against him don't currently appear on the jail Web site.

The home's owner had previously offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and $20,000 for the return of major property.

Along with the safe, two computers and a television were taken from the home. Reached today by phone, the homeowner said that so far only a television had been returned to him.

"I guess I feel like one of those people who went to a game show to win a million dollars and walked away with a box of Rice-a-Roni," he said.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

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