A gate camera has played a key role in tracking down a car burglar in the Middleton family community in The Villages.
A Middelton woman returned home from a trip in June 2024 and parked at her home. The next day she drove to Publix and realized her purse, which contained two credit cards, $500 in cash and her driver’s license, had been stolen while her vehicle was parked at her home. In addition, her daughter’s backpack containing an Apple MacBook Air computer was stolen.
Before the woman had a chance to cancel her credit cards, there were several charges made, including $490 at Lowe’s in Leesburg, $358 at Advance Auto Parts in Leesburg, $78 at Mobil Mart in Okahumpka and $122 at a Circle K in Leesburg, according to an affidavit of probable cause from the Leesburg Police Department.
Leesburg and Wildwood police officers worked collaboratively on the case. They used gate surveillance from The Villages to determine the car burglar was driving a tan pickup and wearing a black visor when he entered the Middleton neighborhood. Surveillance from Lowe’s in Leesburg revealed images of the same man using the stolen credit card and wearing the same black visor.
Law enforcement determined that the suspect was 39-year-old Joseph Mitchell Preston and he was arrested earlier this month at his home in Leesburg.
He is facing charges of fraud and grand theft. He was booked at the Lake County Jail on $12,500 bond.
Preston was arrested in 2024 after a traffic stop near the Center for Advanced Healthcare at Brownwood in The Villages. Preston also had been arrested in 2018 after threatening a hotel clerk.