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Laptop thief's disguise: business casual

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published April 25, 2007

TAMPA - Eric Almly tried to blend in.

Before he walked into Outback Steakhouse's parent company, he slipped into a clean polo shirt and khakis, he told police.

He spent the day hanging out in common areas at OSI Restaurant Partners. When closing time came, he stayed behind. He told police he grabbed 11 company laptops from cubicles, then took them back to his oceanfront condo on Miami Beach.

There, he got online and sold the computers, he told police.

"He just figured that a corporation like Outback would just kind of write it off, absorb the loss and move on from there," said Tampa police Detective Larry Brass. "He walked in, posed as a visitor and just mingled."

That's what Almly told Tampa police when they showed up at his home Friday to arrest him on charges of theft.

Almly, 33, was held Tuesday in a Miami jail.

When police got word of the thefts, which occurred March 27 or 28, investigators wondered if it was the work of an insider. They found no sign of forced entry. The computers had been taken from the fifth floor of the corporate headquarters at 2202 West Shore Blvd.

[Last modified April 25, 2007, 01:02:12]