Trespassing reported at Colony units

More unwanted visitors checked out the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort this week.

Longboat Key police met with Colony Beach & Tennis Resort Association-hired Manager Larry Stritzel at 7:51 a.m. June 26, after Stritzel found several doors ajar, according to a police report.

The units that were broken into were the old Michael Saunders & Co. office and the Beachcombers, Castaways and Vagabond units owned by longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber.

“They didn’t take anything that I know of, but they were just drinking a lot of beer and champagne on the beach,” Klauber said.

Around 9 p.m. the night prior to the break-ins, the Key experienced storms, so Klauber suspects the trespassers were on the beach earlier in the evening.

Police checked each building but found no one on the property.

The police report states that it appears the person who entered the properties had a key because none of the locks was broken.

Break-ins have been a frequent occurrence at the shuttered resort since it closed in August 2010.

The last string of incidents occurred in late March and early April, when unknown individuals repeatedly vandalized the property by breaking windows, kicking in doors and ripping out light poles.

In those incidents, nothing valuable was missing from the units, although the culprits had clearly entered them.

The Colony Beach & Tennis Association fenced off the walkway decks and front entrance of the property last week, as requested by the town to help secure the property.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].