This flashing sign on Amberly Dr. in Tampa Palms reminds residents to secure their valuables.

A flashing construction sign in the median along Amberly Dr. in Tampa Palms just before the Camden Live Oaks apartment complex warns residents to make sure their vehicles are locked and their valuables are hidden from sight.

Despite two arrests in connection with the recent burglaries at the 770-unit complex in Tampa Palms, it appears that the string of thefts is continuing to be an issue.

According to the Tampa Police Department (TPD), the most recent reported burglary occurred on April 10 at 15305 Plantation Oaks Dr. The report says that the suspects entered the apartment “via unknown means” without leaving traces of a definite route of entry. They stole a 20-inch TV and a surround sound receiver.

Another burglary occurred nearby in the complex on March 30 at 15415 Plantation Oaks Dr. inside Camden Live Oaks. While the renters were out, an unknown suspect dressed in black and wearing blue surgical gloves cut the screen on the ground floor unit of the apartment building and broke a window to get inside. TPD reports that a Sony Playstation and several games were stolen.

TPD made two arrests on March 3 in the complex, but the suspects were not charged with all of the reported burglaries that have occurred there in recent months.

TPD spokesperson Lisa Timmer says that the apartment complex conducted a “crime prevention safety meeting” on April 19 to help set up a Neighborhood Watch program in the community. She says that she and several TPD officers met with Camden staff on April 5 to discuss the recent crime outbreak and that the staff is eager to help.

Live Oaks is not the only complex where crime is occurring in the area, however.Just across Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. from Live Oaks, Bristol Place Apartments, also located on Amberly Dr. in Tampa Palms, also has recently fallen victim to similar crimes.

TPD reports that on April 8, between the hours of 12:30 a.m. and 4 a.m., a car in Bristol Place was burglarized, but nothing was taken from the inside of the vehicle.

According to the report, suspects jacked up a resident’s 2008 Nissan Altima in the parking lot of the apartment complex and stole all four wheels and tires from the vehicle, leaving it resting on landscaping stones.

 “The victim,” Timmer says, “had only lived in the complex for three days and indicated that it may have been someone that she knows.”

Although there is no video surveillance in the complex, TPD was able to get good quality palm prints off the hood of the car, but there are still no leads as of our press time. Bristol Place’s management declined to comment.