Matthew Rivera {BSO}
By Kevin Deutsch
A 20-year-old man was arrested after a car owner caught him rummaging through his vehicle in Coconut Creek on Sunday, police said.
Matthew Rivera, of Coconut Creek, was charged with vehicle burglary in the incident at Woodlake Villas on Banks Road, according to an arrest affidavit.
The crime was reported around 10:30 p.m. after the male victim, who was in his residence getting ready to eat something, looked out his window and noticed a man rummaging through his unlocked car, according to Coconut Creek Police.
The victim gave 911 dispatchers a description of two suspects who fled north on Banks Road, one of them with a bicycle, records state. The descriptions were relayed to officers at the scene, who spotted the pair walking in the 1100 block of Banks Road, according to the affidavit.
After the two men were detained, the victim identified Rivera as the man he had seen rummaging through his car, records state.
The victim told police he had come outside and asked Rivera what he was doing searching through his car. Rivera claimed he was inside the car looking for his phone but could not explain to police why the device would be in the victim’s car, the affidavit states.
“Rivera later stated he should have known better [than] to go inside someone else’s vehicle,” police wrote.
The second man was not charged with any crime. Police said the victim did not wish to press charges against the man; a neighbor who was not in the burglarized car and did not know Rivera, the affidavit states.
Rivera was taken to the Broward County Jail and released on a $2,500 bond, records show.
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Author Profile
- Kevin Deutsch is an award-winning crime journalist and author. A graduate of Florida International University, Kevin has worked on staff at The Miami Herald, New York Daily News, and The Palm Beach Post.
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