All of South Florida, including the Las Olas Isles neighborhoods and finger islands, have seen an increase in car thefts over the past few years. While thieves looking for a quick score once tried to break into homes to steal jewelry and electronics, today’s quick thefts of choice include high-end vehicles. Unfortunately, Seven Isles is not exempt from this criminal activity, even though we continue to have one of the lowest crime rates in the city.
In December, a Lamborghini was stolen from a construction site on Pelican Isle in broad daylight. Unfortunately, the car’s owner had left the fob in the vehicle and the car unlocked. In late January, there was an attempt to steal a Lamborghini on Aqua Vista, again during daytime hours. However, the fob was not in the car, so the thieves could not quickly escape with the vehicle, and they left fingerprints behind. Within a similar timeframe on the same day, a Porsche was stolen from Castilla Isle. The fob was inside the car.
When criminal activities occur, the Seven Isles Homeowners Association and our security company cooperate with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department to the fullest extent possible. Usually, this includes pulling valuable video camera footage from the guardhouse security cameras for use by police, as well as sharing observations from the security guards on duty at the time of the thefts. Since our security guards regularly report into a digital dashboard, important information can be gleaned to assist police investigations.
The HOA follows a protocol for when, who, and how our security video footage is accessed and other relevant information is shared with police. For example, after January’s car theft on Castilla Isle and in addition to the forementioned support, the HOA also assisted the Fort Lauderdale Rapid Offender Control (ROC) division by sending an email to all neighboring HOA members who have emails registered on our website, asking for any video footage from their own house cameras that might show the suspected getaway car and lend additional information to the investigation. The ROC division’s overarching goal is to break up thief rings that are perpetuating surrounding neighborhoods in east Ft Lauderdale.
In both the December and January car theft incidents in Seven Isles, our security company also conducted a retrospective review of how they responded to the incidents and cooperated with police to ensure protocols and communications are being exercised appropriately. They will be discussing these events as well as overall security measures at the HOA Annual Membership meeting on February 10 at 7pm. All interested HOA members are encouraged to attend. Information on the annual meeting is available on the home page of our HOA website at www.sevenisleshoa.com.