Police: Nights calm in cemetery neighborhoods

BY JOHN L. GUERRA

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

The seemingly unstoppable burglar or burglars who robbed dozens of homes around the Key West Cemetery seemed to have ended.

Unless they haven’t.

“We haven’t had any incidents since late March or early April–the last notice I sent out,” Key West Police spokeswoman Alyson Crean told Konk Life. She was responding to a reporter’s question on whether any new burglaries had been reported in the area.

The day after Crean said that, someone broke into a guest cottage and robbed tourists of cash and electronics, the same loot favored by the so-called Cemetery Burglar.

The victims, two visitors from Illinois, told police that an iPhone 5, iPhone Touch and about $100 in cash were taken from their rental cottage at 910 Elizabeth St. The renters had been out of the cottage at the time of the burglary, police reported.

Police have no suspects in that burglary, and Crean disagreed with a suggestion that the recent burglary is a continuation of the thefts that plagued residents around the cemetery.

“I’m not sure [detectives] are seeing this as connected,” Crean told Konk Life. “This was a guesthouse much closer to Duval Street than the cemetery. I think it would be early to suspect a burglary trend has begun, though.”

The more than 40 break-ins–some of which occurred while residents were in their homes before dawn–remain unsolved, Crean said.

“There’s nothing recovered that shows we have solved those burglaries,” she wrote in her email.

Police and residents will not soon forget the brazen thief, his consistency, or his ability to avoid arrest. Theories about the thefts were endless; for a time residents considered the burglar might be a woman.

Residents in the walled compounds and homes around the cemetery sometimes woke to find the perpetrator standing in their living room. One woman told police that the thief must have reached across her as she slept to grab her cell phone.

Two residents captured images of the suspect on security cameras and more than one resident chased the burglar off as he tried to pry a door or window to gain entrance. Residents often woke to find laptops, IPhones and other electronic devices missing and cash purloined from their wallets and purses.

Residents grew so weary of the home invasions that they petitioned Key West Police Chief Donie Lee and city commissioners for a public meeting.

“There are rumors flying around like crazy [about break-ins] that residents come out and see their gate is open and ask themselves, ‘Does that mean someone was trying to get in their house?’” local artist Judy Bradford told Konk Life in the days before the Jan. 8 meeting. She authored an online petition and wrote emails to commissioners, efforts that led to the town hall meeting.

“I felt it would be good if we all got in the same room at the same time and talked about what is happening,” Bradford said of her drive for a town hall meeting.

After the meeting, police increased their efforts, including patrolling the neighborhoods, sometimes on horseback. They also questioned anyone who seemed out of place in the neighborhood. Residents said undercover police waited in sheds and other hidden places, but police would not confirm that.

Crean said police aren’t prepared to say why the burglaries stopped.

“Perhaps the continued increased [police] patrolling has played a role, and perhaps the person or persons have moved out of the area.”

Something has made a difference, Crean said, even if it means homeowners are now locking their doors.

“It’s all speculation,” she said. “All I can say for sure is that I’ve monitored the reports daily to see if anything occurred in that zone, and nothing has.”

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