Kara Plocharsky charged in connection with damage and theft at 2 St. Armands Circle locations and 8 Ball Lounge on Webber Street
The day after a 31-year-old Sarasota woman was charged with three counts of burglary, family members filed a complaint with the 12th Judicial Circuit Court, formally requesting that a judge order her removal from the dwelling identified in law enforcement records as her residence, The Sarasota News Leader has learned.
Kara Jane Rose Plocharsky, 31, of 4011 Fleet Lane in Sarasota, was arrested on June 17 in Manatee County on charges related to two incidents on St. Armands Circle and a break-in at the 8 Ball Lounge on Webber Street, law enforcement news releases said.
The plaintiffs in the Circuit Court civil case are James and Amy Plocharsky, who have owned the home standing at 4011 Fleet Lane in Sarasota since September 2021, as noted in the records maintained by Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst and his staff.
All of the break-ins occurred in the early morning hours of June 4, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and the Sarasota Police Department reported.
One of the St. Armands businesses was The Met, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. On its website, The Met describes itself as “a luxury independent Fashion House,” noting that it features “men’s and women’s clothing, distinctive accessories, footwear, and an in-house fine jewelry couturier.”
Kara Plocharsky was held in the Manatee County jail from June 17 until Wednesday, June 24, the News Leader learned, at which time she was transferred to the Sarasota County Jail.
Plocharsky still was in the Sarasota detention center without bond as of June 25, the News Leader confirmed. Each felony count was Burglary of a Dwelling/Structure with damage of more than $1,000.
“In the early morning hours” of June 4, the Sheriff’s Office reported in its news release, “deputies responded to an active alarm at the 8 Ball Lounge, located at 3527 Webber [St.] … “ The alarm sounded just before 4 a.m., the release added.
“The first deputies on scene observed the glass front door had been shattered,” the release continued. “A perimeter was set up around the area while a K-9 team conducted a search of the building with no results,” it said.
“In reviewing the surveillance footage,” the release noted, detectives observed a woman wearing a motorcycle helmet as she shattered the front door and entered the establishment. “She made her way to the bar area,” it continued, “where she pushed dozens of liquor bottles off the top of the bar resulting in thousands of dollars in damage to the establishment.”
Google describes the 8 Ball Lounge as a “Neighborhood bar with drinks, pool tables, karaoke, darts, and shuffleboard in a casual setting.”
The Sheriff’s Office release then explained, “Through investigative means detectives were able to positively identify Plocharsky as the individual seen in the surveillance video.”
The release added that the Sarasota Police Department had two warrants for Plocharsky in connection with burglaries that occurred the same morning. Along with the incident at The Met, the release said, Plocharsky was identified as the suspect in a burglary at the Green Zebra Café.
A Police Department news release pointed out that both St. Armands businesses are located on Boulevard of the Presidents.
About 3:30 a.m. on June 4, the Police Department release said, “Plocharsky smashed the front door of one business and broke a window at another business. After entering one of the businesses, she stole several items and left.”
The Circuit Court case
A News Leader review of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court records on June 23 found that the June 5 complaint filed against Plocharsky by James and Amy Plocharsky said that on April 30, the couple had revoked their consent for Kara Plocharsky to be in possession of the Fleet Lane dwelling and had informed her of that action, demanding that she vacate the premises. Kara had been living there since July 20, 2024, the document added.
Other records maintained by the Clerk’s Office show that the Fleet Lane home is not the primary residence of James and Amy Plocharsky.
In accord with Florida Statute 82.04(1), the complaint noted, James and Amy Plocharsky are “entitled by [the] lawsuit to have [Kara Plocharsky] removed from possession of the premises …”
Attached to the complaint was a copy of a letter from James and Amy Plocharsky to Kara, which includes the revocation of consent for her to live in the dwelling and notification that she was to vacate the home.
“I wish you no ill will; but if you fail to remove yourself and your belongings … I will then be required to file suit against you for unlawful detainer in Sarasota County Court, Civil Division,” the letter says.
Although it indicates that it included a date by which they demanded she leave, that date is not cited in the letter.
The letter was marked “Hand Delivered.”
The News Leader also found in the case docket a copy of a legal summons for Kara Plocharsky, dated June 5, in connection with the filing of the case. It explained that she was “being sued” by James and Amy Plocharsky, whose names were written in by hand.
It added that a “written answer and defenses must be received by the clerk [of the Circuit Court] within 5 working days of service as the claim for possession of the premises.”
A form included with that document indicates that a deputy ended up serving the summons by attaching it to the Fleet Lane dwelling. That occurred on June 16 at 2:10 p.m., the form says.
A portion of that form had typed information saying that Kara Plocharsky was to be booked into the Sarasota County jail after her release from Centerstone.
As its website explains, Centerstone “is a nonprofit health system specializing in mental health and substance use disorder treatments for people of all ages.”
Further, the document included handwritten notes showing that a deputy had tried to serve the summons twice on June 11; the deputy had learned that Plocharsky still was not in the jail, and she was not at the Fleet Lane address.
On June 24, the News Leader learned, James Plocharsky filed a Motion for Default against Kara, since she had not responded to the summons.
Then, on June 25, court records show, the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court issued a Default notice to Kara Plocharsky, “for failure to serve or file any paper required by law.”
The 12th Judicial Circuit Court website explains the process that James and Amy Plocharsky pursued against Kara. Since she did not file a response within the five-day period, the website makes it clear that the process will end with a judge signing a Judgment for Possession of the Fleet Lane home for Amy and James Plocharsky. The Sheriff’s Office will be responsible for handling the formal removal of Kara Plocharsky from the residence, the website says.
During its review of 12th Judicial Circuit Court records, the only other cases the News Leader found linked to Kara Plocharsky were
four traffic infractions over the past 10 years: failure to stop for a red light in June 2016; lack of proof of vehicle insurance in January 2024; Unlawful Speed in a School Zone in January 2024; and Careless Driving in June of this year.