LEE COUNTY, Fla. — A Fort Myers man is charged with stealing a woman’s SUV right out of her driveway and possibly up to three other cars.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said a woman reported her 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe stolen on Dec. 26. She last saw the vehicle the night before in her driveway.
LCSO said the vehicle was left unlocked with her keys and purse inside too.
Security footage showed someone walking up to her driveway around 7:00 p.m. and leaving before returning 30 minutes later to drive away in the Hyundai.
Investigators found the vehicle along Davis Road and returned it to the woman.
Two days later, a deputy noticed a Kia Sportage with a Pennsylvania license plate on McGregor Boulevard and suspected it was stolen.
The deputy continued to follow the vehicle into a 7-Eleven parking lot at 15021 McGregor Blvd.
There, he noticed 22-year-old James Comer Jr. get out of the vehicle and enter the store. After asking Comer a few questions about the vehicle, the deputy detained him.
Comer reportedly told the deputy, “I didn’t steal the car, though; I just found it.”
According to LCSO, the deputy found a Land Rover key fob, a Hyundai key fob and a Jeep Compass key fob during a search. Comer reportedly had the debit and credit cards of the woman who reported her Hyundai was stolen. Deputies said he also had someone else’s driver’s license.
Deputies discovered Comer’s license was revoked in January 2020.
Comer was arrested and charged with driving with a suspended or revoked license. He had two prior convictions for the same charge dating back to April 24 of this year and April 12, 2021.
Deputies took Comer to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
LCSO said Comer is a suspect in other grand theft auto cases between Dec. 15 and Dec. 26. According to LCSO, all three stolen vehicles, a white 2021 Jeep Compass, a black 2014 Land Rover and the Hyundai Santa Fe, were found at the same location on Davis Road.
Comer now faces additional charges for four counts of vehicle theft, unlawful possession of personal identification information and petit theft with two-plus prior convictions.