Bartender Gives Police Tip in Arson Case After Recognizing Suspects Who Didn't Leave a Tip
Key West Police Department
Florida police attempting to find two men who set fire to a Christmas tree and damaged a beloved landmark early New Year's morning received help from an unlikely source: a local bartender who recognized the suspects after they didn't leave a tip.
Around 3 a.m. on Jan. 1, two men in Key West lit a Christmas tree on fire in front of the Southernmost Buoy, a famous local landmark that marks the southernmost point in the continental United States, according to the Key West Police Department.
The flames badly damaged the large concrete bouy, and police quickly posted a picture of it on social media to see if the community could help find the suspects.
"[Police and firefighters] arrived to find the charred embers of the Christmas tree. The fire left a burned scar on the Southernmost Buoy that was about three feet wide and seven feet tall," the department said in a statement.
But what the two vandals didn't know was their act was caught on multiple cameras (there's even a 24-hour webcam pointed at the buoy that can be viewed any time online).
"The two suspects were caught on multiple cameras," the department said. "Footage, some of which quickly spread on social media, shows one man dragging the tree to the location. They hid when a car drove by, then took several pictures on their phones of each other in front of the tree and buoy."
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"Then, while one man checked the surroundings, the other lit the tree, and a fire raged. One man took one last photo of the blazing tree before the two ran out of camera range," they added.
But the police would get a lead on their suspects with the help of a local bar, Irish Kevin's, when a bartender there recognized one of the men for not leaving a tip after ordering drinks earlier that night.
"I knew immediately that I had served him and that he had used a card, so his name would be on the slips," bartender Cameron Briody told the Miami Herald.
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Daylin Starks, Irish Kevin's general manager, found security footage that reportedly showed the suspects at the bar.
"We could follow them the whole time, in and out of the bar," she said. "We could see them getting rejected from all the girls they were trying to hit on."
Police later identified the suspects as David B. Perkins, Jr., 21, of Leesburg, Florida, and Skylar Rae Jacobson, 21, of Henrietta, Texas.
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The city began repairs to the famous buoy on the same day as the fire, and the damage is estimated to be over $5,000.
"This is a great example of the partnership the Key West Police Department shares with the community," Key West Police Chief Sean Brandenburg told PEOPLE. "Between the people who provided the video, the officers and detectives who worked quickly to identify the suspects, and the tip by Mr. Briody, this highlights community policing at its best."
The Herald reported that the men each face a felony charge of criminal mischief with more than $1,000 in damage.
Starks said she hopes the men can learn from the incident.
"We've all been that age and made dumb mistakes and we just learn from them," she told the Associated Press. "So I hope that's what they do is learn from the mistake."
