HOLMES BEACH, Fla -- We place security cameras on our homes and businesses, but sometimes the crimes they help solve happen to someone else.
Security video helped make an arrest in the burglary and beating of a 71-year-old woman.
But what if police knew where those cameras are located before a crime happens?
“We have a picture of the suspect. We have a picture of the car. We have his mannerism in the way he walks someone is going to recognize this person and they’re going to call us,” said Holmes Police Chief Bill Tokajer on Tuesday as he pointed to a surveillance video clip on his computer.
The video came from a home surveillance camera across the street from a burglary victim’s home on 75th Street. It shows a silver Nissan Maxima 2001-03 model pull into the victim’s neighbor’s driveway then back up and park on the street. Then the suspect is seen walking towards her home wearing a hat, t-shirt, shorts and a backpack.
Tokajer said when he left the home 20 minutes later he was carrying four bags filled with stolen property and had left the homeowner severely beaten. She had walked in on him during the burglary last week and confronted him.
“It’s a violent crime that shouldn’t have happened," Tokajer said. "If he’s going to beat a 70-year-old woman, he needs to be put away locked him up as quickly as possible.”
Tuesday night, the suspect in the video, Mark Snyder, 55, of Holmes Beach was arrested after police received a tip, Tokajer said.
Police said he confessed to the burglary and the beating, and they're working to recover the stolen items.
The chief, however, says detectives lost precious time by spending four days tracking down the video. During that time, he said, “Somebody else could have been a victim and we don’t want that.”
Tokajer’s solution is called Project RASCEL -- it stands for Register All Security Camera Equipment Locations. The chief asks residents and businesses to register the number and location of their security cameras with the police department.
“If there’s a crime that occurs in an area, we know who’s got video surveillance in that area. It’ll stop us from having to go door-to-door to see who’s got video. We’ll have this database, it saves time,” said Tokajer.
A Shell gas station in Holmes Beach has eight cameras monitoring what’s happening inside and outside the convenience store. The owners say they will register their cameras.
Tokajer hopes others will too.
He said, “This could have been your mom your grandmother wouldn’t you want someone to step up if they had video to help us?”
The chief says the Project RASCEL's information is confidential and does not fall under the state’s public records guidelines. It’s information they do not have to share.
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