5 Arrested In Best Buy Burglaries

Police: Suspects Stole, Sold Items To Fund Rap Music Careers.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville police have charged five men in connection with serial burglaries at Best Buy stores around northeast Florida.

William Alonzo, James Beal, Jeffery Platts and Demarco Varnes-Appling are among the five arrested. The fifth man’s name was not yet released. Police said they were looking for one more suspect.

Three of the men were arrested early Friday while trying to break into the Best Buy at Regency, police said.

Police said nearly a dozen Best Buy stores in Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Gainesville and Ocala have been burglarized since January. They said the attempted burglary at the Regency store was the second there this year.

Police said the stores have lost about $250,000 in merchandise.

In March, police said thieves stole 62 laptop computers from a Best Buy on Blanding Boulevard on the Westside valued at $77,000.

Investigators said the suspects would use sledgehammers to knock a hole in the wall at the back of the building and then get inside and rip off thousands of dollars in items.

Police said the arrests happened overnight Friday because the suspects had left just enough clues behind for undercover officers to watch their latest attempt. Investigators said the spotted a minivan in the area and followed it. They said the suspects took five hours of getting ready to break into the store.

Police arrested Beal in March after they said he was trying to sell nine of the computers at a flea market. Investigators said Beal admitted he knew the computers were stolen when he bought them for $1,000 from an unknown thief. Beal was charged with dealing in stolen property.

Police said the other computers were advertised for sale on Craigslist as being “still in the box.”

Police said the suspects sold the items at flea markets to fund their rap music careers.