When Tampa Mayor Jane Castor saw a bicyclist acting suspicious, she called police.

TAMPA – Mayor Jane Castor proved the saying that once a police officer, always a police officer is true.

Castor, a former Tampa police chief, saw a suspicious person repeatedly circling the block on a bicycle. The man, later identified as Jesse Don Hickman, appeared to be casing houses.

Castor kept an eye on him and called Tampa police dispatch while her driver, retired Detective Mike Victor, followed and used his police radio to keep responding officers up to date.

With the detailed description of the subject provided by Castor, officers said they were able to find Hickman riding his bicycle westbound in the 1100 block of W Hiawatha Street.

Police said Hickman ran through a stop sign so officers made a traffic stop. Police noted that he was riding a white bicycle with orange forks and remembered an alert that had been placed regarding a suspect,
seen on bicycle, who had been committing burglaries to residential sheds in the area.

The officer retrieved investigatory details and noted that the suspect description matched Hickman. Security video from an Oct. 20 attempted burglary was reviewed and the description of the suspect matched Hickman and his bicycle.

Hickman was taken into custody and during a search after his arrest, the same baseball cap and unique tennis shoes that the suspect wore on the video were found in Hickman’s backpack, police said.

Detectives said Hickman admitted to the burglary.

Hickman, 44, of Tampa, was arrested and charged with one count each of Burglary of an Unoccupied Structure, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Tampa Police | Crime | Burglary | Arrests | Tampabay News | News Tampa

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