A Cutler Bay man was recently arrested after Palm Beach Police said he was one of two people who stole more than $16,000 worth of Cartier eyeglasses from a store on Worth Avenue.
The 31-year-old man was taken into custody on June 5 by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for the Palm Beach Police Department, records show. The man remained at the Palm Beach County Jail on June 9 on a $5,000 bond, according to jail records.
Palm Beach Police first went to Edward Beiner Eyewear in the 100 block of Worth Avenue on Jan. 15, 2024, after a manager called to report a theft, an arrest report said.
The manager told officers that a man and woman had come into the store about a half-hour before, then left for roughly 15 minutes before returning, the arrest report said.
When they came back, the man went to a display case and removed six pairs of eyeglasses worth $16,230, then walked out of the store without paying, the manager told officers. Surveillance video recorded the act, the arrest report said.
As the man walked out of the store, the woman stood in the manager’s way and began talking to her, the arrest report said. The manager told police that she suspected the woman did this to distract her and delay her from stopping the man.
After the woman left, the manager noticed that the glasses and the key to the display case, which was on the front counter, were missing, the arrest report said.
Palm Beach Police found that the man and woman had parked a silver Hyundai SUV on the south side of the 100 block of Worth Avenue. Town surveillance cameras showed the pair parking the car, then returning and driving west out of the town on the Royal Park Bridge, the arrest report said.
Police that same month tracked the car to a rental company, the arrest report said. Detectives talked with the person who rented the car, and she said that she had let the Cutler Bay man borrow the vehicle, according to the arrest report. She was not the person who was with the man when he stole the eyeglasses, police said in the report.
The woman who rented the car and another person both identified the man from Edward Beiner Eyewear surveillance footage, police said.
The woman who was with the man has not been identified, a police spokesman said.
The man faces a charge of grand theft, court records show.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Police: Man stole Cartier eyeglasses valued at $16K from Worth Ave. store
Reporting by Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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