Florida man allegedly ran to police for help after failed burglary attempt

Background: J.V. Conte Detention Facility in Broward County. Broward County Sheriff’s Office website. Inset: Terry Jennings booking photo, Coconut Creek Police Department.

Usually right after committing a crime, burglars run away from police — but this week in Florida , an accused burglar ran right to one sitting at a stoplight before he allegedly brazenly asked for help.

Terry Jennings of Pompano Beach, Florida, was arrested on April 29 according to a statement from the Coconut Creek Police Department.

Arrest records are short on details about what unfolded in the alleged exchange with the officer but police said that the 24-year-old man saw the parked squad car after fleeing the scene of his own crime and “came running up to him wanting help.”

“The officer quickly determined the man was running away from a resident after the resident found him trying to break into his home in South Creek,” the department said Wednesday.

“It’s a rare case of when a suspected thief runs to, instead away from, a police officer,” the statement also said.

An arrest affidavit alleges that Jennings also entered an unlocked car on April 29 in a gated community and “removed a wallet from the center console.”

The wallet had just $20 cash, the victim’s driver’s license and an “association ID,” police said.

“Terry was later found in the backyard of a resident and to have the victim’s driver’s license and $20 bill in his pocket after being detained by police,” the arresting officer wrote.

Jennings was unable to explain to police why he had those items in his possession, the department said.

Police said they were helped in part by a woman who told police she had spotted Jennings on a home surveillance camera trying to break into her car but it was locked.

Publicly available jail records show Jennings was charged with four felony charges including unarmed burglary of an unoccupied dwelling or structure and attempted burglary.

Jennings remains in detention at the Broward County Jail’s Joseph Conte facility on a bond of $6,000. It is unclear if he has retained an attorney.

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