(April 26, 2024) — On April 24, 2024, Jacob Michael Schismenos (DOB 09/25/1991) was arrested on 31 counts of Dealing in Stolen Property, 31 counts of Fraud, and 31 counts of Larceny.\
On April 5, 2024, officers with the Cape Coral Police Department were called to 817 Miramar Street (Madison Square Apartments, a seniors community) in reference to a theft. The caller said an employee, Jacob Michael Schismenos, was fired for stealing from the business. The property manager for the business told officers Schismenos was their maintenance worker, and he and herself were the only two employees who worked at the property. She said on January 10, 2024, she started noticing items missing from the complex, such as an air mover, a backpack leaf blower, a portable AC unit, a hand truck, a ladder, a carpet shampooer, a wet vac, and a Oreck vacuum. She said she confronted Schismenos and he told her the items were lost or stolen. After confronting the suspect, she said the items reappeared.
On March 27, 2024, the property manager for the business said she noticed some of the same items going missing again. She checked the security camera system and said she saw Schismenos leaving the building with the items in the bed of his truck, then returning to the location with the items in his truck later that night. She found this odd, and decided to call a local pawn shop. She was able to determine that the items were being pawned. She said the total cost of the items taken to the pawnshop was $3,620.87. She said all of the items belonged to the company and Schismenos never had permission to take them off property, sell or pawn them. Other items were still missing and unaccounted for.
An in-depth investigation by Cape Coral Police Department Detectives and Patrol Officers revealed Schismenos took the items to three pawnshops in Cape Coral. Schismenos made a total of 31 pawn transactions that detectives could confirm were property that belonged to the business. These transactions were made on different days at different times, and sometimes returned to the business and then re-pawned. This demonstrates 31 separate thefts. While employed for the business, Schismenos took various items without permission, pawned them to local pawnshops, and signed the pawnbroker transaction statements, swearing he was the legal owner. He pawned the stolen property and collected money from the transactions.
On April 24, 2024, Schismenos was taken to the Lee County Jail on the following charges:
–31 counts in violation of F.S.S. 812.014(2e) – Petit Theft of First Degree, First Degree Misdemeanor
–31 counts in violation of F.S.S. 539.001(8b)(8a) – False Verification of Ownership or False Identification to Pawnbroker, Third Degree Felony
–31 counts in violation of F.S.S. 812.019(1) – Dealing in Stolen Property, Second Degree Felony
