Burglar Busted For Breaking Into Home — But What He Found Inside Was The Real Crime

A burglar in Lauderhill, Florida, in the suburbs of Miami, had the bad fortune to get arrested after breaking into a home there last year. But when the crook, whose name has not been released for reasons that will soon become very clear, started squawking to police, he told them about what he found inside the home — something much bigger than his little break-in attempt.

The cops didn’t take the man seriously at first, but after a couple of days, they went to the home that their suspect had victimized to see if the burglar’s story checked out. That was back on December 15. What they found led to a pair of arrests and two more suspects appearing in court just this week, to plead not guilty.

But it wasn’t just the burglar’s story that led to the much bigger bust. Eric Jermaine Spivey, 27, and Chenequa Austin, 38, (pictured above) may never have been caught if not for the fact that they were completely careless when it came to covering up evidence of their alleged crimes, even when the police were in their house.

What did the burglar stumble across? According to police and prosecutors, Spivey and Austin were running a massive identity theft operation, also engaging in credit card fraud and, in Spivey’s case, even attempted murder.

When police showed up at the home shared by Austin and Spivey, they told Austin who answered the door that they were there simply to investigate the break-in — but perhaps the woman should have been tipped off by the presence not only of a Lauderhill police detective, but a United States Secret Service agent, as well.

The Secret Service, of course, is part of the Treasury Department and as such, is responsible for investigating cases of counterfeiting, including the illegal production of fake and fraudulent credit cards.

“Chenequa Austin brought me through the residence to identify the path of the burglar,” said Secret Service Agent Jason Lanfersiek, according to court records.

“While inside the home, I immediately noticed, in plain view, numerous gift cards, debit cards, credit cards, and prepaid stored value cards readily apparent in various locations in the residence.”

If only Austin had just cleaned up behind herself, she and Spivey may still be at large today.

Lanfersiek’s discoveries led the Secret Service to get a search warrant. When they came back to the house, they found, court documents say, a whopping total of 314 fake credit cards, gift cards, and pre-paid gift cards — all counterfeit — along with a machine that programs the data on the magnetic stripes that make such cards work.

They also, the court records say, found a Glock 19 that tied Spivey to an attempted murder that police were already investigating.

Austin claimed the alleged fraud operation was all Spivey’s idea, and that before he moved in with her three months ago, she wasn’t involved with anything like the crimes she is now accused of. She was released on $35,000 bond while Spivey, who denies the charges, is being held without bond. No word on what happened to the helpful burglar.

[Image: Broward County Sheriff’s Office]