Erik Edelstein, Boca man, burglarized while mourning friend killed in crash

BOCA RATON, Fla. - While Erik Edelstein was out paying his respects to a close friend killed in a weekend motorcycle crash on Tuesday, acquaintance Kalein Gahira Taylor was ransacking his bedroom and stealing his $1,750 watch, wallet and $200 in cash, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Edelstein, 20, of west Boca Raton, told deputies he returned home from visiting the nearby site where his close friend Jean DaSilva died Saturday afternoon in a motorcycle crash.

DaSilva, 18, was traveling west on Palmetto Park Road west of Powerline Road when he attempted a "wheelie." He was thrown from the bike, a 2010 Yamaha that had been reported stolen, deputies said. He was pronounced dead at Delray Medical Center.

Returning to his Sierra Terrace West home just before 4 a.m. on Tuesday, Edelstein saw Taylor, 20, running from his house and jumping the fence, deputies said. Taylor allegedly ran toward a blue Jaguar, which sped off. Edelstein went inside to find his room in chaos, with all of his drawers open and clothes scattered all over the place.

It did not take long for deputies to track down Taylor at her residence in the 1800 block of Southwest 65th Avenue.

When deputies confronted her, she told them that yes, she was in fact inside Edelstein's home, according to an arrest report.

But she said she did not steal anything. Instead, Taylor told the deputies that she was merely "running around naked" in a bid to entertain two friends who were also there. She also claimed it was probably one of those two friends who burglarized Edelstein's room, the report stated.

Taylor was arrested and charged with one felony count of burglary.

She was booked in at the Palm Beach County jail and remained in custody Wednesday.