Crime & Safety

Police Following Clues to Catch Gooseberry Beach Burglar who Cut Out Safe Mounted to Wall

Suspect didn't bring any burglary tools for this crime, stealing everything needed: a hammer, a screwdriver, even the gloves, swiped from a first-aid kit.

Newport Detectives are on the trail of a burglar who didn't bother bringing any tools for a heist at the Gooseberry Beach clubhouse last week because he knew where he could find them, along with $7,500 in cash and checks and an electronic safe that was cut out of the wall, leaving a mess of sheetrock and bare studs in a manager's office.

Police said a manager contacted police on June 27 and said someone had broken in and removed the wall-mounted safe in addition to rifling through locked file cabinets.

Busted drywall and dust covered a desk and surrounding area in the managers office that the suspect reportedly got inside by using a screwdriver to pry open the door. 

That screwdriver came from a nearby maintenance shop that the suspect got inside by kicking down a different door, police said.

In the shed, detectives noticed a first aid kit that was hanging open with a missing void that police discovered had held sanitary gloves. They were apparently swiped along with a hammer and the screwdriver to continue on with the crime.

Police said the suspect hammered away at the drywall to remove the safe along with prying open the locked file cabinets, pilfering cash from two cash drawers and taking an envelope filled with thousands in cash and checks.

All told, the suspect made off with $5,723 in cash and $2,040 in checks.

$300 of the cash was in a cash drawer for that day's operations. Another $38 was in a box held for petty cash. The remainder of the cash was stored in an envelope.

Detectives spent their morning collecting evidence at the scene left behind by the suspect and the investigation is ongoing, police said. Clues suggest that the thief had knowledge of the inner workings of the clubhouse but police would not elaborate much on whether they had any suspects. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.