Deputies: Drunk thief wanted to redecorate

After a night of drinking, a North Port man decided he wanted to redecorate his friend’s Siesta Key apartment, according to a Sarasota County Sheriff's Office report.

The sheriff’s office received a call at 4 a.m. this morning that patio furniture was stolen from a condo complex at 534 Beach Road.

As a deputy was responding the scene, he saw a Mustang car drive past him with a lounge chair on top of it. The car pulled into an apartment complex at 6006 Midnight Pass Road.

The deputy continued to the crime scene and saw that someone had broken into an exterior door and climbed through and air vent to reach the patio where the furniture was stolen.

The deputy then went back to where the Mustang was parked. The car’s owner lived there, and he told the deputy that his friend, Thomas Monfett, had been hitting the bars all night and was now asleep inside the apartment.

There was a damanged van parked near the Mustang and inside of it were two patio-furniture cushions. Monfett owned the van.

The deputy woke Monfett, who confessed to the theft. He said he was drunk, saw the patio furniture and “thought it would be cool for the apartment.”

He made several trips to deliver all the stolen furniture. On one of those trips, the van was damaged, so Monfett then took his friend’s Mustang to pick up the rest of the stuff. He also removed the condo’s security camera so he wouldn’t be caught.

The stolen furniture was worth $3,800 and the security camera was valued at $1,300.

Deputies say Monfett apologized. He’s in jail today, charged with burglary.

Contact Robin Roy at [email protected].