BSO: Serial Burglar Arrested
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) - The Broward Sheriff's Office says they've arrested a serial burglar who preyed on more than two dozen businesses in Pompano Beach in less than two weeks.
James Fraulo, 41, faces 55 charges. A judge called him a "one man crime spree" during Fraulo's court hearing Monday.
BSO accused Fraulo of breaking into the Flower Cottage on Atlantic Boulevard twice in a span of a few days.
Steina Steingrimsdottir owns the store. She said the first time her store was burglarized she did not have security cameras.
The second time she did.
BSO says the man in the man prowling around the store -- looking through cabinets, eating a muffin out of a refrigerated case and stealing from the cash register -- is Fraulo.
"Every time now when I drive up to my shop I think, did somebody go in?" Steingrimsdottir said. "Makes me upset but I'm happy he's caught and hopefully he stays in (jail) for a while."
She said watching the man walking through her store and office, searching for valuables, made her furious.
"I got really mad," she said.
Steingrimsdottir said she only lost about $50 in the break-ins. But she estimates it will cost her close to $2,000 to install a security system in the store and replace a door the burglar broke in through.
Detectives say they became aware of a burglar breaking into businesses at the end of May. They reviewed surveillance video from businesses along with prior arrests and determined the suspect was Fraulo.
Then, on Tuesday morning a deputy spotted a man he recognized from Fraulo's wanted poster.
"(Fraulo) was covered in blood, had a fresh, deep cut on one of his hands," said BSO Detective Ronald Cusumano. "It turns out he just left doing a burglary about two blocks from where he was stopped."
Cusumano said he expects more charges to be filed against Fraulo. BSO said Fraulo usually used a screwdriver to pop out the glass from a window or door to get into a business.
Another business that was victimized is Appetue - a Tapas restaurant on Federal Highway. Owner Catina Hudson said someone broke into her store on back-to-back nights earlier this month. Fraulo is charged in those break-ins.
Hudson showed CBS 4 the padlock that the burglar broke through as well as the broken cash register the burglar slammed on the floor to open.
Hudson said in the first break-in the thief stole $170. The next night, the thief walked away with just a dollar and a quarter.
She feared for the safety of her employees.
"I have a lot of young kids that work here," Hudson told CBS 4's Carey Codd. "They're high school or college and I have to worry about them leaving here. What was he going to do next, if he wasn't caught?"
Hudson said she, too, spent hundreds of dollars to repair damage and upgrade security features.
In court Wednesday, prosecutors said Fraulo had just been released from jail in April. In the previous case, he was sentenced for burglary and cocaine charges.
Detective Cusumano said Fraulo told him he robbed the businesses to pay for his drug addiction.
Fraulo is being held in the Broward County Jail on $133,000 bond.
