Man stalks store customer to home, breaks inside and steals clothes, Florida cops say

A man surreptitiously followed a store customer home, slipped inside as the family slept and stole a single piece of clothing, according to investigators in the Florida Panhandle

It happened before sunrise Saturday, March 1, in Port St. Joe and a foreign national has been arrested, the Port St. Joe Police Department said in a March 2 news release.

“The victim had woken up and realized there had been a intruder in the home while the family slept,” police said.

“With the help of the victims’ (and) neighbors’ security cameras and FLOCK cameras a suspect was developed. ... The suspect confessed to stalking the victim from a local store to the residence.”

Once the family went to sleep, the man found an unlocked window, cut the screen off and slipped inside to rummage through the home, police said.

In one instance, he entered a room “with a sleeping victim” and took a piece of the victim’s clothing, officials said.

Investigators did not disclose what the man is accused of taking, or where he was captured.

He is charged with stalking and burglary of an occupied dwelling, police said. He is also being held for deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials said.

Port St. Joe is on the state’s Gulf Coast, about a 105-mile drive southeast from Tallahassee.

This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 4:37 AM with the headline "Man stalks store customer to home, breaks inside and steals clothes, Florida cops say."