STRIPPER GIRLFRIEND HELPS FLORIDA CAR BURLAR UNLOCK HANDCUFFS, BUT ESCAPE WAS SHORT-LIVED

The couple appeared to be smooching in the back of a cop car as Jonathan Kokonitis first tried to unlock his handcuffs with one of Melissa Schneider’s earrings, but failing in that, he succeeded with an object out of her bra, only to be recaptured a short while later

That’s what happens when the cops are being nice. Letting the busted couple smooch in the back of a cop car gave her burglar boyfriend the opportunity to escape. Unfortunately for him, the cops were not nice enough to let him remain free.

A KISS, AN EARRING, AN ESCAPE ATTEMPT BY A HANDCUFFED BURGLARY SUSPECT
None of that worked. Jonathan Kokontis got away but was recaptured

By Rene Stutzman,

Orlando Sentinel
September 9, 2014

It was wild, daring and romantic: Two sweethearts handcuffed in the back of a patrol car shared a kiss, an earring and an escape attempt that led to a short-lived romp.

In the end, however, burglary suspect Jonathan Kokontis wound up trying to steal a car that wouldn't start and with a police dog's teeth clamped to his arm, according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.

Kokontis, 25, a two-time ex-convict from Winter Springs, is now in the Seminole County Jail on a long list of charges including burglary, escape and robbery.

His girlfriend, Melissa Elaine Schneider, 27, an entertainer at Dancers Royale, an adult nightclub in Orlando, was being held on $11,000 bail on a variety of charges, including providing contraband to a suspected felon.

The misadventure that landed the couple in jail began Saturday, the Seminole County Sheriff's Office reported, when residents called to complain about a string of four car burglaries near U.S. Highway 17-92 in Fern Park. Someone was rummaging through their vehicles.

The callers mentioned a suspicious man. Later in the day, a witness called back, saying she had spotted the man again and, this time, there was a woman in pink shorts with him.

Deputies found Schneider — who was wearing pink shorts — but Kokontis ran, the Sheriff's Office reported. He was found a short time later, hiding in a shed, and both suspects wound up handcuffed in the same patrol car.

Kokontis' hands were cuffed behind his back but he managed to wiggle around so that his hands were in front of him.

Schneider rubbed her head against Kokontis' chest, causing her earring to fall onto the car seat, according to an arrest report. He picked it up and spent several minutes trying to unlock his cuffs with it, the Sheriff's Office reported.

He failed, and Schneider then reached inside her bra, pulled out something that she slipped into her mouth then kissed Kokontis, passing the item — whatever it was — to him.

Deputies did not identify what it was. A short time later, a deputy saw that the pair was working to get free and pulled Kokontis out of the car to recuff him, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Kokontis then shoved the deputy and took off running, the Sheriff's Office reported, while Schneider yelled, "(expletive) run, Jonathan, (expletive) run" and laughed.

He "burst through a nearby fence" and went inside a home, where a man was sleeping on the couch, and demanded a set of car keys, according to his arrest report. The homeowner handed over his keys, but when Kokontis tried to start the vehicle, he discovered it would not start, so he ran to another home. But no one was there so he grabbed a pickax and refused to come out.

Deputies could hear Kokontis yell, "I'm dangerous," the Sheriff's Office reported. He apparently also was clumsy: He spilled a bucket of white paint while inside, according to his arrest report.

He was arrested after deputies sent in a police dog, which clamped down on his arm. Kokontis was then taken to a hospital,then to jail.

On Saturday, deputies uncuffed Schneider and released her, but she was arrested the next day, accused of beating a pregnant woman who had asked for a cigarette on Sept. 5 and after a deputy found a baggie of marijuana in Schneider's purse.

Kokontis also was accused of striking the pregnant woman on Sept. 5.

He is an ex-convict who's had two stints in state prison. His most recent was a three-year sentence for a string of crimes in Orange County, including aggravated assault, theft, burglary and trafficking in stolen property.

He also served a year in prison in 2008 for a pair of Orange County burglaries.

At the time of his arrest, he was on drug-offender probation in Seminole County. He was sentenced last month to five years of probation for credit card fraud, petty theft and giving a pawn broker false information.