According to St. Petersburg Police, 28-year old Brian Rinda admits he has a drug problem, and admitted being responsible for an odd rash of toilet flush valve thefts.
Victims include a Cracker Barrel, a Denny's, a Hooters and a Publix, among others.
In many cases, more than one valve was taken.
"He worked very fast within a matter of minutes," police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez told FOX 13 News. "Many of the managers at the restaurants were telling us, well they had just walked out of the restroom and gone back in a few minutes later, and he had taken the flush valves."
The City of St. Petersburg was also a victim, with valves stolen at Sawgrass Lake Park and Albert Whitted Park.
"At Albert Whitted Park, he stole three flush valves and when our city employees went in to replace them, they replaced two of them and took a break. And when they came back, he'd hit again and taken the two new ones," Fernandez said.
Most of the commercial victims have security cameras, so a detective had a good image of the suspect entering and leaving one crime scene.
Scrap metal yards are now required to keep records of sellers, and Rinda's multiple trips to County Recycling on Haines Road is well documented.
Pointing to a computer screen, owner James Roberto said "that was the item, and there's the picture ID, his picture, his fingerprint."
Roberto said that particular transaction for 20 pounds of brass rewarded Rinda with $32.
The cost of replacement parts and plumbing services adds up to hundreds of dollars in each case, resulting in multiple counts of grand theft against Rinda.
The detective also caught another lucky break: Rinda was arrested for retail theft a few months ago and was the subject of a warrant for failure to appear in court. He turned himself in Saturday and was still in jail when the detective identified his suspect and started looking for him.
source: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/26814183/man-accused-of-stealing-toilet-parts
by Steve Nichols
http://www.thisoldtoilet.com
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