MIAMI — A talented burglar known to police as Spider-Man has been apprehended, after police say he recently crawled up a building in Miami Beach and broke into five units at The Alexander Hotel All Suite Oceanfront Resort.
In January, Anthony Butler allegedly used remarkable acrobatic talent to steal from Jewish families, reportedly going from balcony to balcony and entering units through unlocked doors.
Miami Beach Police said that they caught him after he sold a gold watch that was reported stolen, and was observed driving away from the building and heading west on Interstate 95. Police used license plate readers and surveillance videos to track the suspect to his home and nab him.
After a resident of his house consented for them to search the home, they collected Butler’s brown Polo sandals, whose impression matched prints left on one of the balconies of the building.
The burglar used his “Spiderman” talents to quietly scale at least nine stories of the 18-floor resort, leaping from balconies and performing other stunts to burglarize unsuspecting visitors, many frum Jews.
Five units in total were burglarized.
“We didn’t hear a thing and I’m a light sleeper,” Chanie Brisk, whose jewelry was stolen, told Local10.
Mayer Greenbaum said he felt safe on the 9th floor, until his wallet and daughter’s and wife’s jewelry were stolen.
A different victim told Hamodia that she woke up around 7 a.m. and found a child’s birth certificate on the floor. She later found that cash and jewelry had been stolen from her pocketbook. Her sister had her pocketbook emptied, which had contained jewelry, a wallet, and identification.
Community activist Rabbi Mark Rosenberg says that unfortunately, such incidents aren’t too uncommon in Florida’s tourism-rich areas.
As reported by VINnews