Over 100 Quiz Chief Lee on Cemetery Burglar
Key West Police Chief Donnie Lee updated a large gathering of concerned residents about the cemetery burglar and the forty burglaries in the Old Town and Meadows neighborhoods since September 12th. The best news he could give was, “Since December 15th, there have been only two burglaries, only one of which actually involved a theft.”
Chief Lee encouraged residents to call 911 if a burglary is or even may be in progress, or if someone spots the suspect caught in two videos which have been widely distributed: “Don’t worry about calling. It is not a burden.” Also, one resident worried about having his alarm triggered too often. Chief Lee assured him to keep it turned on, and that the law against false alarms would not apply.
Since the burglar targets cash and electronics, the complaint of Sandra Duffy drew much interest. She was burgled on the early morning of December 12th. When she called the police at 7:30, she had two issues with the officer who arrived. First of all, he said that since there was no hole in the roof, she must therefore have left her doors open. Ms Duffy says she has always been very sure about locking her doors and windows.
Second, and this was not well known by most in attendance or the police, Apple products have a “pinging” feature which allow owners to find out where their iPhone or iPad is by phoning it with another Apple device. In fact, the fellow with the multiple burglar alarms had done exactly that. When his iPad was stolen, he used his remaining iPhone to ping it. He told the police it was at a location at Poinciana housing. By the time the police arrived, it was no longer there. The gentleman said he then followed it himself to its next ping, on Sugarloaf. But by the time he got there, it had gone on again. “Probably to Miami and then out of the country,” he said.
Sandra Duffy said the police made no attempt to help her use this same feature. Another resident pointed out that Apple will tell law enforcement across the United States where a particular Apple device is, but only law enforcement agencies can ask for this. Chief Lee said he would pursue this avenue.
[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]
No Comment