State
of Florida
Office of the State Attorney
16th Judicial Circuit
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Office of the State Attorney 16th Judicial Circuit
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Criminal Justice System Overview Employment Opportunities |
Key West Hotel Burglar Gets 15 Years FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 17, 2006 A Montana outlaw responsible for a string of burglaries in high-end Key West hotels last year was sentenced Thursday, January 12 to fifteen years behind bars. Circuit Judge Mark Jones handed down the tough sentence after Timothy Bryan O’Neil, 23, pleaded guilty to five counts of burglary, four counts of felony theft, dealing in stolen property, check forgery, uttering a forged check and criminal mischief. O’Neil also pleaded guilty to escaping from police custody – and not for the first time. O’Neil’s escape from a Montana correctional institution in March 2005 allowed him to come to Key West in the first place. As a “prison releasee reoffender” O’Neil will serve his entire 15-year sentence without the possibility of parole for good behavior, according Val Winter who prosecuted the case for State Attorney Mark Kohl’s office. In March, 2005, O’Neil showed up in Key West after, in his words, “walking away” from a Great Falls detention facility and the six years left of a twelve-year sentence he was serving for burglary and robbery. He checked into a South Street youth hostel. Shortly after his arrival, the Key West Police Department began receiving reports of room burglaries from two tony Key West resorts. The M. O. was the same: The thief entered hotel rooms by lifting sliding glass doors out of their tracks. He struck during the dinner hour when guests were likely to be out eating. His preferred plunder was designer clothing and portable electronics including CD players, digital cameras and laptop computers. He regularly cracked open the room’s minibar where his tastes also ran high: In one instance he stole a bottle of Moët et Chandon Champagne and a bottle of Stolichnaya vodka, but left other items, according to police reports. But on the evening of March 26, O’Neil took something from a room that led to his undoing: a guest’s checkbook. O’Neil went to the CVS pharmacy on Truman Avenue that night. Included on his shopping list were two magazines, a beach towel, shower gel and a two-pack of Bic lighters. He forged a signature on the stolen check to pay for his purchases. KWPD Officer Brenda Sellers and CVS manager Dan Black were able to determine precisely when O’Neil made his purchases from cash register data and to cue the store’s video surveillance cameras to produce an image of the suspect’s face which was distributed to the force. On April 5, 2005, Detective Diane Lipinsky recognized O’Neil in Malory Square. In full uniform, she confronted him. He bolted, but was apprehended a short time later on Peacon Lane. At the time of his arrest, he was wearing clothing that matched the description of apparel stolen in a hotel burglary. A search of his room in the youth hostel revealed a veritable warehouse of stolen goods. The police also found a CVS shopping bag still containing all of his ill-fated purchases made weeks earlier. While confined in the Monroe County Detention Center, O’Neil complained of an ankle injury. On a doctor’s advice, O’Neil attended a May 31 docket sounding in a wheelchair. After the court proceedings, a sheriff’s deputy wheeled O’Neil to a vehicle waiting to take him back to jail. Once outside, O’Neil leapt from the chair and ran. He was found by KWPD officers a short time later hiding in a dumpster near the intersection of Thomas and Petronia Streets, according to police reports. After serving his 15-year sentence in Florida, O’Neil will be returned to Montana to face escape charges and to serve out the six years remaining on his original charge. Val Winter prosecuted O’Neil’s case for State Attorney Mark Kohl. “I hope this sentence sends the message that our office and our law enforcement community look out for the welfare of everyone in Key West – tourist and resident alike.” |
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Last modified:
10/23/07
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