A property management company employee helped local law enforcement track down two individuals who were spotted on surveillance camera earlier this month having a mini vacation in a multi-million dollar home on Navarre Beach.
After a nearly week-long investigation, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office was able to track down the suspects, Regina Brickey, 45, and Lawrence Rieger, 39, both of Fort Walton Beach, and charged them with Burglary and Property Damage. They were placed behind bars last Thursday.
The report indicated that earlier this month, an employee with local property management company Resort Quest who was assigned with taking care of the home contacted local law enforcement after they noticed the locks on the home’s front doors had been changed out.
The individuals who own the home, located on Gulf Boulevard, live out of state according to the report.
Upon further investigation, the individual who reported the home burglary located bongs, bedding and a sheet of paper that gave some insight as to who might have burglarized the home. According to the report, on the paper was the name Regina Brickey, along with the individual’s social security number. Two hospital bands with the name Brandon Girod were also found at the home and taken into evidence.
The Resort Quest employee later did his own investigation and contacted Girod via Facebook who confirmed that Brickey was his mother. He also stated that his mother recently moved to Florida, according to the report.
The employee was later able to obtain video surveillance of the property, which showed a woman entering the home, later identified as Brickey. She was spotted on the surveillance video entering the home with another man, later identified as Rieger. The report noted that the woman in the footage had distinctive tattoos.
The property management company employee later located Brickey’s profile on Facebook after obtaining information from her son. On her account were several photos of her with the distinctive tattoos that were spotted on the woman in the surveillance video.
One of the tattoos, a Buddha, was distinctive enough to help the employee notify law enforcement that he was able to positively identify one of the suspects.
According to the report, the surveillance video showed that the suspects had been staying at the residence for nearly 2 weeks.
Deputies later made contact with Brickey at a location on U.S. Highway 98 in Navarre. With her was Rieger. The couple was later interviewed and both said they knew nothing about the break-in at the Navarre
Beach home.
Rieger and Brickey were later placed behind bars at Santa Rosa County Jail after their interview and were both later released after posting $7,500 bond each.