C.J. Gish
The man suspected of burglarizing a UF sorority earlier in the week was arrested on Friday afternoon.
According to a Gainesville Police Department (GPD) release, officers apprehended Eric Raymond Burns, 42, after an RTS bus driver spotted Burns at 3:18 p.m. and called 911.
Burns – who allegedly burglarized a sorority house near 1200 SW 9th Ave. on Monday night – was riding the same blue bike and had the blue thermos on his backpack that was seen in a surveillance video.
According to the GPD, Raymond admitted to being the person in the video after being read his Miranda rights. He was found in possession of cell phones in his backpack.
“We called the numbers and don’t know who they belong to,” said GPD spokesperson David Chudzik. “He claims he didn’t go into any of the bedrooms at the sorority house, so we don’t think they are from that place. He probably lifted them from someplace else and we’ll have to do some investigating into who they belong to.”
Chudzik added that the video that the GPD sent on Wednesday had more than 17,000 views, leading to the arrest.
“The bus driver saw the video, so the power of the media worked out,” he said. Burns was booked into the Alachua County Jail at 4:53 p.m. and was charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling.