Two burglaries, surveillance cameras, and a Facebook page made a hammer-wielding burglar into an internet star—then landed him in front of a judge this week.
A 51-year-old man appeared before Judge Joseph Licari in Superior Court this week to answer to charges of burglary, criminal mischief, larceny, and possession of burglar’s tools. He was appointed a public defender, and his case was continued to June 6.
The charges stem from two March burglaries. Police say the man was caught on surveillance video smashing and grabbing at Caseus restaurant on Whitney Ave and at the Blossom Shop on Orange Street.
Here’s how the investigation unfolded, with the help of social media, according to an arrest warrant affidavit prepared by Detective David Zaweski:
File Photo
Caseus was burglarized on March 19. Someone smashed a $1,700 glass door and grabbed a cash drawer with $200 in it. Detective Zaweski (pictured) reviewed surveillance footage and saw a man with a hammer enter the restaurant and take the cash drawer.
It appeared to be the same man who was captured on video robbing the Blossom Shop on March 12. A woman who works there told Zaweski she had posted a picture from the video on Facebook and received a response from a friend who named the man. Zaweski looked up the name, got an address, and found the man had an arrest photo on file.
Meanwhile, Caseus owner Jason Sobocinski had posted another image of the burglar on Facebook, and gotten a strong response. Click here to read about that.
On March 21, police showed a probation supervisor a still from the Caseus robbery footage. The supervisor offered a possible ID — the same guy.
On March 23, Zaweski and Detective Wayne Bullock spoke with the man’s probation officer, who also ID’d the guy from the Caseus still. When the man showed up for an appointment with his probation officer, cops took him to the police station. He denied any involvement with the burglaries. He said he was home with his mother at the time of the crimes.
Zaweski and Bullock spoke with the man’s mom, who told them she has Alzheimer’s disease. She said her son had been with her on the nights of the burglaries. The man’s brother also said the man wasn’t involved with the burglaries.
Those denials weren’t enough to stop a judge from signing the arrest warrant on May 16.
Maintenance Man Beaten
In other police news, a maintenance man was jumped this week after he told a kid to stop littering. At least, that was his side of the story.
It went down at a building that has been known as a crime magnet. A lot goes on in the building.
Here’s what happened, according to a report prepared by Officer James Carter:
At noon on Friday, May 18, Officer Carter responded to a report of an assault at 1523 Chapel St. He found a 56-year-old man being treated by emergency personnel. The man’s brother said the man is a maintenance worker at the building. The brother said that at 5 p.m. the previous day he and his brother had been picking up trash in the grass out front of 1523 Chapel St. when the 9‑year-old son a woman who lives there threw trash on the ground. The maintenance man tried to speak to the mom about it, but she started yelling, swearing at, and arguing with him. The maintenance man walked away as she continued to yell.
Then, according to the brother, at 9 a.m. on Friday, the maintenance man was walking in front of the building when the woman again confronted him. She swore and yelled at him, then pushed and slapped him. Two men, her son and her ex-boyfriend, came out of a car and started beating the maintenance man up.
Officer Carter went to the hospital and found the maintenance man with a broken nose, oral and nasal bleeding, loosened teeth and a swollen face. He confirmed his brother’s story, but said he hadn’t seen who attacked him.
Officer Carter then met the woman in front of the building. She said she had been talking with the maintenance man about repair work in her apartment when he started to “get an attitude” and then slapped her. Her son and her ex-boyfriend jumped in to stop the maintenance man. She told the cop that her son hit the maintenance man only once and her ex-boyfriend had hit him twice. She told him that her son never littered and she had not argued with the maintenance man.
Carter met at police headquarters with the ex-boyfriend, who told him that he saw the maintenance man slap the woman. He and the woman’s son had defended her. As for the maintenance man’s swollen face and broken jaw, the ex-boyfriend said that sometimes he can be “heavy-handed.”
Carter arrested the ex-boyfriend. The woman said she would have her son turn himself in.
The "crime magnet" building should be shut down and placed under new management if the owners can't get the policing costs of it under control. Absentee landlords are killing this city and reaping millions to support their lavish Florida yacht lifestyles.