A man suspected of burglarizing the South Peninsula Athletic & Recreation Center (SPARC) has been arrested.
Homer Police arrested 25-year-old Johnney Boy Newman on Jan. 6. He is charged with second degree burglary.
Daniel Zatz is one of the SPARC program coordinators. After a string of recent thefts at the newly-constructed building, he installed a surveillance camera with a live video feed.
Zatz called the Homer Police Department just after 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 6 to report a trespasser at the SPARC building. By the time Homer Police arrived on the scene, the trespasser was gone.
To enlist the community's help, Zatz posted a clip from the surveillance video on Facebook.
“The SPARC is a community effort and there are people throughout the community who have been and continue in a large way to contribute to it. I thought if I posted the images of what happened that we’d have a community effort to find the person who was on there,” said Zatz.
As of Dec. 10, the Facebook video had been viewed over 6000 times.
Staff at the Homer Library contacted the Homer Police Department just before 11 a.m. on Jan. 6 to report that the person in the video – Johnney Boy Newman – was at the library.
Police arrived at the library, where they questioned Newman. According to a sworn affidavit, he admitted he had gone into the building looking for items to steal, but left without taking anything.
Newman was arrested and transported to Homer Jail. He was arraigned on Jan. 7 at the Kenai Courthouse, where he was appointed a public defender.
Under Alaska State Law, second degree burglary is classified as a Class C Felony. If convicted, Newman faces up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
His next hearing is scheduling in Homer on Jan. 17.