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Over the years the "Rock Burglar" has taken on the status of a folk hero like "Robin Hood",
but he still is nothing more than a common criminal who robs people.
The first problem I have with this arrest is that the "Rock Burglar" is a common criminal, not a terrorist or freedom fighter from a county America has invaded. But the money to hunt him down and arrest him came from the "Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center", the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FBI and other agencies. As other articles have pointed out it sure seems like all the Federal money is not being used against "terrorists" as Congress told us it would be, but rather against common criminals. So that "war on terrorism" is really a war on the American people. Just because the "Rock Burglar" is a criminal that doesn't give the police to violate his Constitutional rights. I suspect that the alleged "Rock Burglar" was illegally stopped and illegally arrested by the police without the required "probable cause" and illegally searched - "During the surveillance, Neese approached one of the homes. Detectives stopped Neese, found that he possessed the kind of gloves used by the Rock Burglar as well as a set of burglary tools - the possession of which is a crime - and arrested him. They also served a personal search warrant and took DNA from Neese" In no way am I condoning the crimes of the alleged "rock burglar", he is a bad guy. But the crimes of the "rock burglar" don't justify the police committing crimes and violating the civil rights of any person they suspect to be the "rock burglar". Last it would be a shame to have the "rock burglars" arrest thrown out because the cops violated his civil rights. The cops could have waited a little bit longer for him to break into the home and legally arrested him then, but they didn't.
Sheriff's Office: Suspected 'rock burglar' arrested in Phoenix by William Hermann - May. 28, 2011 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic The notorious "Rock Burglar" who victimized the Valley for 17 years was methodical and patient, and a Maricopa County sheriff's lieutenant said Friday it was that consistency that led detectives to a suspect. Sheriff Joe Arpaio put Lt. Dave Munley, Sgt. Marty Overton and Detective Jason Benzel in charge of finding the infamous burglar, who since 1993 had pulled hundreds of break-ins and snagged about $10 million in cash, watches, jewelry and silverware. A recent string of more than 60 burglaries in Fountain Hills, which MCSO covers, had many of the earmarks of the Rock Burglar, who is believed to have committed 327 burglaries from 1993 to 2006. "When Dave came to me and said he was sure his people had found the Rock Burglar, I asked him if he'd stake his rank on it," Arpaio said Friday, after announcing the arrest of Robert James Neese, 58. "The lieutenant said to me he'd do better than that; he said if he was wrong, he'd jump out our 19th-floor window." Munley has some good company in his certainty that Neese is the man responsible for the Rock Burglar thefts. Scottsdale and Paradise Valley detectives expended thousands of hours looking for the Rock Burglar. Scottsdale Assistant Chief John Cocca and Paradise Valley Cmdr. Alan Laitsch have had a chance to review the evidence against Neese. "This is the guy," Laitsch said. Many of the break-ins were at high-end Paradise Valley estates, including former Vice President Dan Quayle's and the homes of baseball stars Steve Finley and Mark Grace, and in larger homes in Scottsdale, Phoenix and Carefree. For years, the burglar's signature was heaving a large rock through a living-room or bedroom picture window and, if no alarm sounded, entering through the hole. If an alarm went off, he fled. "He knew what to take, knew the good jewelry from the fake, knew what he could easily fence, and he would get out quickly," Munley said. The Rock Burglar struck again and again from 1993 to 2006, and then his work seemed to stop. But when in 2007 extensive burglary activity began in Fountain Hills, detectives thought they were seeing an old acquaintance at work. "He didn't use rocks anymore, but a pry bar to force open doors," Munley said. "But there were many telling similarities." Munley said the similarities between the Fountain Hills and Rock Burglar thefts included: - The homes that were burglarized were always occupied, not left vacant for months by winter visitors. - The burglar wore typical lawn worker's cloth gloves with raised rubber bumps to help with the gripping of objects - and those bumps left behind a distinguishable pattern. - The homes had been staked out carefully enough that the burglar knew who was on vacation or who made a day trip away from home. - Once inside, the burglar went through belongings in the same way as the Rock Burglar and chose the same kinds of items to steal. - The burglaries were occurring during the same times of day and days of the week. - The burglar used a pillowcase taken from the home to take away his loot. Munley said detectives took information on hundreds of burglaries to computer experts at the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center, a joint effort among the Arizona Department of Public Safety, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FBI and other agencies. "The computer analysis gave us the kinds of homes most likely to be hit and we already had an idea of the most likely hours of the day and days of the week," Munley said. He said police set up surveillance on three likely homes in Fountain Hills between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. May 14 and 15. During the surveillance, Neese approached one of the homes. Detectives stopped Neese, found that he possessed the kind of gloves used by the Rock Burglar as well as a set of burglary tools - the possession of which is a crime - and arrested him. They also served a personal search warrant and took DNA from Neese. He was released from jail on his own recognizance but kept under constant surveillance. Arpaio said "the DNA told the story." "We've tied him with DNA to crimes done years ago by the Rock Burglar," Arpaio said. Also, he said, glove prints, shoe prints and finger prints link Neese to recent burglaries as well as those going back more than 10 years. Arpaio said Neese would be booked into a Maricopa County jail Friday night on charges of theft and burglary. "Can we tie him to every crime committed by the Rock Burglar right now? No," Arpaio said. "Can we tie him to many of them? Yes." Munley said Neese, who lives in Mayer, "isn't talking" but said investigators will try to determine if some of the burglaries may have involved more than one person. "We have a lot of work to do," Munley said. "But the evidence we have on Robert Neese is very strong, and we are starting from a strong place."
Police arrest man accused of being Rock Burglar Posted: Friday, May 27, 2011 4:26 pm | Updated: 5:49 pm, Fri May 27, 2011. Police arrest man accused of being Rock Burglar Associated Press Authorities said Friday that they have arrested a man believed to be the elusive "Rock Burglar" who broke into nearly 400 houses in affluent Phoenix suburbs over the last 17 years. Robert James Neese, 58, was arrested Friday at a south Phoenix restaurant after DNA evidence connected him to some of the burglaries, police said. Authorities say the Rock Burglar's victims included former Vice President Dan Quayle and former Arizona Diamondbacks players Steve Finley and Mark Grace. "I actually worried that someday I'd wind up retiring without this guy going to jail," said Paradise Valley police Cmdr. Alan Laitsch, who first noticed the trend in the break-ins dating back to 1993. The Associated Press has requested an interview with Neese, who was being held in jail. It was unclear whether he has a lawyer. Investigators say the Rock Burglar used rocks to break into homes through master bedroom or bathroom windows while the owners were away and never left the master suite. Most people keep their expensive jewelry in the bedroom and don't use motion-activated alarms there to avoid tripping the alarms themselves. Around 2005, the burglar changed locations from Paradise Valley and Scottsdale and concentrated on Fountain Hills, beginning to break into homes by prying open their doors and leaving with loot stuffed in pillow cases, said Maricopa County sheriff's Lt. Dave Munley. The sheriff's office provides police services for Fountain Hills. In all, the Rock Burglar made off with $10 million in jewelry, cash and other loot over the years, investigators said. Neese was charged with possession of burglary tools May 15, and after he was released from jail on that charge, police say DNA evidence was used to link Neese to the Rock Burglar's crimes. It was not immediately known whether Neese has been charged with breaking into the homes of the former vice president and the ex-baseball players. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, whose office will prosecute Neese, said DNA evidence linked Neese to seven or eight burglaries that were part of a "John Doe" indictment that was handed down in 2005 when the burglar's identity wasn't known. "We have the evidence to say that this suspect is the person that we indicted in that Joe Doe case," Montgomery said. Munley said investigators hope to determine whether other people were working with Neese in committing the burglaries.
Court documents: DNA in 'Rock Burglar' case dates to 1994 by Ofelia Madrid - Jun. 2, 2011 10:18 AM The Arizona Republic Investigators have DNA evidence linking a man suspected of being the Northeast Valley "Rock Burglar" to crimes dating to 1994, according to court documents. Robert James Neese, 58, is being held on $1.8 million bond. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said last week Neese is being held on suspicion of being the "Rock Burglar," who got away with about $10 million in loot over a 17-year span by breaking into luxury homes in Paradise Valley, Scottsdale and other parts of the Northeast Valley. Neese is scheduled for a grand jury arraignment on Monday. He is charged with a total of 15 felony counts including one count of first-degree burglary and seven counts of second-degree burglary. Neese was arrested May 27 in Phoenix, but lives in Spring Valley, which is about 70 miles north of downtown Phoenix. Neese is unemployed, according to the court documents. The Rock Burglar gained notoriety for a criminal streak, dating to 1993, whose calling card came from heaving a large rock through the master bathroom window in the homes of affluent victims. Once inside, the thief would use a pillowcase to quickly grab whatever cash and jewelry was lying around. The Rock Burglar confounded investigators for the lack of pattern. The culprit would go months without striking, then hit two separate communities two weekends in a row. But it was the burglar's consistency in the way the home was burglarized that led detectives to the suspect. According to the court documents, investigators began collecting DNA and tied the thief to 11 cases over a 10-year span. The Rock Burglar is believed to have committed 327 burglaries from 1993 to 2006 in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Carefree, Phoenix and Carefree. In 2005, a DNA profile that was forensically linked to many of the burglaries was used to issue a grand jury warrant for the arrest of John Doe. In February, Scottsdale police and the MCSO began a joint investigation into a series of residential burglaries in Scottsdale and Fountain Hills. "The similarities with this series and the Rock Burglar series became apparent," according to the documents. A DNA swab taken from Neese's mouth matched the DNA from the Rock Burglar's DNA profile from 2005, according to the documents.
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