Men Seeking Money Owed Charged With Theft From Bosses' Homes

Two Spring Hill men looking for money owed to them exacted their revenge by targeting their bosses at their homes, authorities say.

Both suspects made their move in broad daylight, the first on Friday at 10:30 a.m. when Jordan Slater was caught stealing lawn equipment from a trailer, a report states.

The equipment's owner told a deputy that he heard a knock on the door of his home on the 9300 block of Swiss Road, but didn't bother to answer. Five minutes later, he heard a vehicle pull up to the front of his house. He looked outside to find Slater and another suspect, Michael Erwin, removing a leaf blower and weed eater from his trailer, a report states.

The victim ordered the suspects to go inside his house and wait while he called the cops. Slater went inside; Erwin went back to his car with his 1-year-old son, a report shows. The victim identified Slater as a former employee and said he owed Slater money.

Both Slater, 18, of 12275 Ronald St., and Erwin, 20, of 7428 Wabash Trail, were charged with grand theft.

In a separate incident Sunday, around 1 p.m., the sheriff's office was notified that someone was kicking in the door of a home on the 10400 block of Bedford Road.

An arriving deputy found the door ajar and, with gun in hand, began searching the house. He spotted his suspect in the hallway and moved in to arrest him. As the handcuffs went around his wrists, Michael Jensen reportedly said, "This is my boss' house. He owes me money."

The deputy gathered shoe prints, a crowbar and fingerprints for evidence, then charged Jensen, 22, of 1258 Huntington Ave., with burglary. The victim was at a football game in Tampa at the time and identified the suspect over the phone as his employee, a report shows.