FORT MYERS, Fla.-- A rise in golf cart thefts in one North Fort Myers neighborhood has the Lee County Sheriff's Office cracking down in a sting operation.
18-year-old Austin Fickensen and 20-year-old Lukas Ivey are now facing multiple charges including grand theft auto. LCSO caught the pair stealing a golf cart from the parking lot of Laurel Lane Grocery in the Suncoast Estates Neighborhood.
Earlier the same day, LCSO dropped off a golf cart in the parking lot with 2 unopened beer cans and tobacco. The report said a deputy watched from a nearby street corner as Fickensen got in the cart, took it for a joyride and then went back to the store and picked up Ivey.
The two were booked in the Lee County jail.
Nearby Lazy Days Village said they have also experienced golf cart thefts in recent months. The woman in the sales office didn't want to go on camera, but said there's been a few golf carts reportedly taken in the community but all have been recovered.
LCSO plans to continue this same sting operation, at least as long as this crime persists.
