Martial Artists Thwart KONA Burglary

If you’re going to burglarize a business, make sure the martial arts studio next door is closed, first.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), just before 7:30 p.m. on May 7, David Robert Menzies, 30, of Tampa, parked a Jeep that he was test driving from the Ferman Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram Tampa dealership (located on S.R. 54 in Lutz) behind KONA, (located on S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel).  He had left his driver’s license with the dealer, who reported the Jeep stolen after Menzies went missing with the vehicle for several hours.

PCSO reports that the store was closed and unoccupied at the time of the burglary, so Menzies walked around to the front and broke a glass window with a cinder block, causing at least $1,000 damage to the store. Once he was inside, the arrest report says that Menzies gathered several triathlon bikes valued at a total of $15,000 and began loading them into the Jeep. 

While he was loading the bikes, the report says several witnesses (who had been attending a class at Hammerfist Krav Maga next door during the burglary) approached him. The witnesses, who were actually taking a Krav Maga (the Israeli Armed Forces self-defense system) class at the time of the burglary, were able to detain Menzies until PCSO deputies arrived a few minutes later.

“We were very surprised that someone would choose to burglarize us with the Hammerfist guys next door,” says KONA owner Bruce McCarthy. “Jason (Carrio, the co-owner of Hammerfist) actually was able to subdue (Menzies) until the cops showed up.”

McCarthy says that in the surveillance video, Menzies can be seen waiting in the Jeep for employees to leave, before he began trying to smash the window. 

Menzies actually had come by the store the day before with a friend, McCarthy explains. “He said that his buddy was thinking about getting a bike. (Menzies) just wandered around the store the whole time, apparently casing the place.”

McCarthy says that Menzies tried to load up to two Quintana Roo bikes, each valued at more than $5,000, into the truck before he was subdued by Carrio.

Following his arrest, the report says, Menzies confessed to the crimes. He was charged with grand theft of bicycles, business burglary with forced entry and grand theft auto. At our press time, he remained in the Land O’Lakes Detention Center in lieu of a $6,000 bond.