TAMPA, Fla. -- Tampa Mayor Jane Castor's police chief-instincts came in handy after she helped her former colleagues track down a burglary suspect.
According to the Tampa Police Department, Mayor Castor spotted a suspicious person who was reportedly circling the block on a bicycle and appeared to be casing houses.
Mayor Castor then kept an eye on the suspicious man as he rode his bicycle into a driveway. She then called TPD to alert officers about the suspect.
"I’ll be completely honest, it was very exciting," said Castor. "Got on the police radio and called for a unit in the area just to check this individual out."
As Mayor Castor and her driver followed the suspect and passed along the suspect's description to TPD, officers were eventually able to locate and apprehend the suspect, later identified as Jesse Hickman.
Back in October 20, a man who looked just like Hickman was seen in a security video from an attempted burglary. Hickman later confirmed to TPD that it was him in the video.
Hickman is charged with burglary of an unoccupied structure, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
"After preaching for 31 years to every citizen in the community when you see something suspicious, call us up so we can go check it out," said Castor. "Today was my opportunity, as a citizen, to call in that suspicious activity and TPD was right on the scene."
"Thanks to Mayor Castor's awareness, observation, and call for service, officers were dispatched quickly and able to apprehend Hickman before another crime could be committed," TPD said in a press release.
Mayor Castor had served as TPD Chief from 2009 to 2015.
