Guard Busted For Allegedly Breaking Into N. Lauderdale Homes

NORTH LAUDERDALE (CBS4) - A security guard is accused of breaking into more than a dozen homes in North Lauderdale.

Broward Sheriff's detectives arrested Craig Weaver on Wednesday after an alert neighbor saw Weaver walking out of a home with two expensive guitars, including one signed by Eric Clapton.

That neighbor called 911 and gave the operator a description of Weaver and the license plate on his car before Weaver drove off.

"When I first saw it happening, it was kind of like surreal," Bob Tamkins told CBS 4's Carey Codd. "Is somebody that stupid that they're gonna rob a house in the middle of the day? Well, yeah."

Hours later, Weaver was under arrest and charged with breaking into at least 13 homes since February. Investigative reports indicate Weaver confessed to at least two of the break-ins.

When asked why he stole items and pawned them, Weaver told detectives "he was desperate for money."

Chris Netwick is the owner of the guitars. He's pleased Weaver is locked up.

"You work hard for the things you want to buy," Netwick said. "To come home and see somebody took that away from you makes you upset."

Netwick said he plans to retrieve his stolen items from detectives on Friday.

Anthony Yanniello is another of the victims. Yanniello said he came home on March 7th to find his front door slightly ajar. He soon found his TV, camera, laptop computer and other items were stolen.

"Just the thought of somebody in your home and you have a child it's very uncomfortable,' Yanniello said.

Worst of all, the laptop contained all of the baby photos of Anthony's 13-month-old son. Yanniello hopes detectives will be able to recover the computer.

Yanniello said the thief scaled his tall fence and broke open two sets of doors to get inside his home. After the break-in, Yanniello installed an alarm system and reinforced his doors.

Two BSO reports list Weaver's employer as "Avalon Security" in Hollywood. CBS4 News was unable to find a number for the company to find out how long Weaver worked for them and which type of security work he did.