Vero Beach man accused of burglarizing businesses

VERO BEACH, Fla. - A loitering suspect taken into custody Sunday has a similar description to the man who has committed several business burglaries in the last two months, police said in an arrest affidavit.

Jonathan Purter, 44, of the 3800 block of 26th Avenue, Vero Beach, was charged with possession of burglary tools, loitering and resisting arrest without violence. Purter is also on probation for burglary.

According to the Department of Corrections, Purter has about a dozen burglary convictions in St. Lucie County dating back to 1985. He had been released from prison in April.

A Vero Beach police officer said he had completed his shift at 2 a.m. Sunday but was flagged down by someone in the 1400 block of 20th Street. The man told him about a man acting suspiciously in the vicinity of several businesses. Officers later saw Purter, who took off running toward 19th Street and 14th Avenue, they said. The pursuit took officers to the railroad tracks near 20th Street, where they took Purter into custody.

Last week, police released a surveillance video of a suspect from a burglary at the Merle Norman Cosmetics in early August. The suspect had his back to the camera, but the video showed the burglar as a man with no hair and a muscular build.

The cosmetics store and several others were struck by a burglar using the same approach each time, police said. The suspect used a rock or a brick to break a glass door. Also, the suspect only targeted the cash registers once inside, the reports state.