PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Two teenagers were caught on video using a stolen credit card at a fast-food restaurant. The card they used was stolen out of Jennifer Watson's car.
"Monday morning, I went out to my car to go to a doctor's appointment and it was kind of a mess, which is not like my car," she said.
She said her glove compartment was open, contents were scattered across the passenger seat and she couldn't find her wallet.
"My daughter checked her car and found out that her car had some things thrown around in it and her wallet was also missing," she said. "So then we called the police."
They later came to find out that, in a four-day stretch, the Port St. Lucie Police Department received 15 reports of auto burglaries on the city's east side.
"The way it started, the suspects live in two parts of the city, east of the Turnpike area," Detective Christopher Capozzi said. "One of the suspects lived there and then branched out from their house. We believe they were on foot in that area, and then on a later date, they went over to the other suspect's house and started walking around, doing some stuff there."
He said the 15- and 16-year-old suspects may have been using a vehicle to get around.
They're alleged to have taken everything from loose change and phone chargers to a gun that disappeared from one vehicle. The firearm was later recovered in a pond.
It was Watson's credit card and surveillance video that was key to making arrests at the teens' homes.
"The parents were completely blindsided," Capozzi said. "They had no idea that their kids were even out at night."
Watson is thankful for the detectives' work.
"Amazed," she said.
Capozzi believes there could be more victims.
The teenagers are facing a slew of charges and were taken to juvenile detention.