Police in Altamonte Springs, Florida, have arrested a 29-year-old man in connection with a series of computer thefts that has left the city library four workstations and a laser printer shy since mid-February. The suspect, Eddie L. Pittman, of Tarboro, North Carolina, was detained during an break-in at the library in the early morning hours of March 19, at which time he was allegedly carrying a firearm and burglary tools.
"From what we understand, [Pittman] could have been responsible for stealing computers from the Apopka and East Orange library branches of Orange County," Director Richard Miller told the Orlando Sentinel March 24.
Pittman was nabbed during an after-hours stakeout of the library, which law-enforcement officers deemed necessary when a new security system installed after the first theft failed to stop further burglaries. Two Altamonte Springs library computers were subsequently recovered from the suspect's apartment.
Posted April 6, 1998.