A Palm Bay man known as "Condo Joe" for his penchant for breaking into condominiums was arrested and charged Wednesday with breaking into a Cedar Hammock condo.
A woman reported that she saw Joseph G. Carbone, 60, standing beside her bed going through her table drawer and jewelry box inside of her home on Nov. 16. The woman was outside her lanai and ran back into the house and shouted at the burglar.
He ran to the front door, dropping her jewelry box before he got into his car and drove off. "Condo Joe," who is a seasoned, daytime lock pick burglar, is suspected in other Collier County condo burglaries earlier this year.
Those cases remain under investigation. Investigators issued a warrant for Carbone and he was located by the Palm Bay Police Department on Wednesday.
Indian River County also has a warrant for Carbone on burglary charges, where he is a suspect in other daytime high-end jewlery heists in Vero Beach.
Carbone is charged with burglary of a home in connection with the Cedar Hammock break-in and will be returned to Collier County.
His criminal history dates back to the 1970s and includes arrests on burglary, possession of burglary tools and larceny.
Carbone has seventeen felony convictions on burglary related charges, investigators say. His crimes were committed in Florida, New York, New Jersey and Virginia.
