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Letter to the editor

Victim of break-in isn't waiting for crack in case

By NICK JOHNSON
Published June 24, 2007

When Michael Reichard's house was burglarized earlier this month, he did what anybody else might do and called the police.

He even got a security system for his home and bought a huge safe that he bolted to the floor so he and his wife wouldn't have to worry about it happening again. But he still didn't feel that was enough.

"He took it really hard, " Reichard's wife, Jetti Strain, said. "He's lived in this house for 30 years and for somebody to do something like that ... "

While the police were investigating, Reichard thought more needed to be done. The burglar had taken his wife's jewelry and two of his guns, - together valued at almost $15, 000.

He wanted their things back and he wanted whoever was responsible caught.

Reichard said the detective on the case told him he had the same chances of winning the lottery.

So that Saturday, three days after his house had been broken into, he made a sign and put it in his front yard along 70th Avenue N and 14th Street in St. Petersburg.

He's offering a reward for information, $350 if it leads to an arrest, $500 if his property is returned and $1, 500 if it's returned and the suspects are "extracted."

"I get calls for my sign a lot and there's a lot of people in the neighborhood who have been robbed, " Reichard said. "When I first put the sign out there, I got three or four calls a day."

Reichard says he thought the sign would be a good way to attract some attention and maybe get some information about the break-in. So far he has gotten several tips from his neighbors, and he thinks he knows who did it.

Now he plans to investigate the crime along with the police.

"I'm going to do some investigating; the police are going to do some investigating, " he said. "I'm going to follow these guys. I'm going to find out where they go and who they know."

St. Petersburg police Detective Diane Miller, who has been working on Reichard's case, said that she had tried to talk him out of doing anything dangerous.

"I've tried to calm down the vigilante aspect, " she said.

Miller said that although it wasn't very common for people to put a sign up offering a reward, it wasn't unheard of.

"In one case, it was more of a distraction than anything. In another case, it got the property recovered, " Miller said.

Mike Mendez was one of the neighbors who called Reichard when he saw the sign. Although he didn't know anything about the burglary, he wanted to help if he could.

"I called him just to let him know that I'll keep an eye out for him, " Mendez said.

Reichard manages to be pretty jovial when he talks about his plans to track down the suspects.

He said he isn't angry with the police response, just frustrated that they have to jump through hoops before they can take action.

"They're just limited to what they can do, " he said. "Unfortunately, part of their job is to protect the criminal's rights."

Nick Johnson can be reached at nickjohnson@sptimes.com or 893-8361.

[Last modified June 24, 2007, 00:12:23]