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Sarasota News Leader November 23, 2012 FEMALE BURGLARY RING BUSTED BY SHERIFF'S OFFICE The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has bro- ken up a female crime ring suspected of com- mitting at least 20 burglaries at Sarasota-area homes over the previous two weeks, the office announced Nov. 16. Deputies say 19-year-olds Samantha Smith and Brandy Jean Kinney, 23-year-old Alyssa Conrad and 20-year-old Caroline Elaine Catar- zi had been breaking into homes in the South- gate area to steal jewelry, coins and cash. The suspects say they committed the crimes to fund their addiction to Oxycodone, according to the Sheriff's Office. A report identifies Catarzi as the leader of the alleged burglary ring. The Sheriff's Office has charged both Smith and Kinney with five counts of Burglary; Con- rad and Catarzi each are charged with five counts of Burglary, one count of Fraud for providing false information to a pawnbroker and one count of Dealing in Stolen Proper- ty. Additional charges are pending, the report says. Conrad was placed in jail under $33,120 bond. Catarzi's bond was set at $32,000, and Kinney and Smith both are under $30,000 bond. All of them are scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 14, according to information on the Sheriff's Office's website. The Sheriff's Office report says deputies found Smith, Kinney and Conrad in a vehicle depu- ties stopped about 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 15. The women had with them in the car "a plethora of jewelry," the report notes. Deputies also found several pieces of jewelry and an iPad in the home shared by three of the girls, and they were able to connect those items to a burglary case, the report adds. A separate report says Catarzi went to a lo- cal pawnshop on July 30 and pawned her fa- ther's television, which she allegedly had sto- len from his residence. The report adds that Catarzi texted her father afterwards about pawning the TV. The shop manager told the investigating of- ficer that Catarzi said she was selling the TV, which she claimed was hers, because she needed the money for a move to Orlando. The women are also suspects in numerous burglaries being investigated by the Sarasota Police Department, the report adds. Charges in those crimes are forthcoming, the report notes. Page 40 Alyssa Conrad/ Contributed Samantha Smith/ Contributed Caroline Catarzi/ Contributed Brandy Kinney/ Contributed