Florida man brags about burglary on Facebook, lands him in jail

By Melissa Fares

(Reuters) – A Florida burglar who posted a Facebook video bragging about a $500,000 jewelry haul has landed himself and one of his accomplices in jail, police said on Thursday.

Officers from Pinecrest, Florida said they arrested Raderius Glenn Collins, 18, after he uploaded the video to Facebook on May 27. His friend, Marcus Terrell Parker, 27, was arrested after another burglary on June 9, police said.

They are still searching for a third suspect, who is seen in the video in the passenger seat of the car flashing $100 bills to the camera.

The video, which runs more than seven minutes long and has over 3,000 views, showed the men bragging about their illegal earnings, exclaiming: “We got a safe” and “Can someone say check please?”

The man in the driver’s seat makes sure the traffic light is still red and proceeds to proudly reveal his bag of cash to the camera while the other two men cheer.

The burglars stole a safe from a home with jewelry valued at more than $500,000. Police say Collins and Parker later burglarized a second home and stole jewelry valued at more than $10,000 and a screwdriver that would later tie one of the arrested men to the burglary.

One of the arrested subjects told police that he and the other two subjects sold the stolen jewelry to a jewelry and watch shop and received $1,300 each in return.

Michelle Hammontree, communications director for Pinecrest, told Reuters that the Facebook video helped police establish a link between the burglary and the jewelry store, where the suspects pawned their ill-gotten goods. The bag featured in the video is the same one given to the suspects at the store.

“It was just one dumb decision after another,” Hammontree said.

Police said that while they are seeking a third suspect in the May 27 burglary, it is unclear whether he had involvement in the second break-in.

The Facebook video can be viewed here: (http://bit.ly/28QfTTi)

(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Alan Crosby)