Caught on camera: Beer-drinking Pine Island woman nabbed in apartment burglary spree

PINE ISLAND, Fla. — During a beautiful Sunday on Pine Island, Tracy Ailant was sipping on a Michelob Light beer — and feeling a bit risky.

While wandering around the barrier island on September 24, an apartment complex particularly caught her eye. Ailant, beer and all, causally trudged her way toward one of the residences.

The 51-year-old woman began exploring the outside of the home and came across a shed, which she quickly entered. After wasting little time, Ailant came back out of the shed with a Starlink electronic satellite system and a bucket filled with ready-to-eat meals — perhaps to satisfy her “drunk munchies”.

But just one shed was not enough loot for Ailant. She walked toward another residence and helped herself to an Arlo security camera — quite the theft due to cameras already capturing her every move.

According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the scene for a reported burglary and theft. The victims were both home during the burglaries and were able to provide deputies with video footage of Ailant pacing around the outside of their home and stealing their missing items while drinking a cold one. One of the residents was awoken by security alert notifications on his phone and quickly went outside… only to hear someone leaving the area in the distance.

That same day, a deputy near the Capt’n Con’s Fish House restaurant in Bokeelia saw a vehicle that was known to be driven by Ailant. When the deputy approached her vehicle, he saw a blue box with the Starlink logo. The box was labeled with one of the victim’s addresses and inside was the stolen Arlo security camera. In the back trailer of the vehicle, deputies found the bucket of meals along with clothes matching what the thief was wearing in the video footage.

The recovered items were confirmed by the victims to be stolen from them.

In the end, one of Ailant’s brews didn’t help her “case” either. A Michelob Light beer can that she had been seen drinking in the video footage was also found in her trailer and submitted as evidence for DNA testing.

Ailant was arrested and charged with grand theft from property and occupied burglary unarmed. She was taken to the Lee County Jail.