A Boca Raton man’s choice of footwear may have been his downfall after police say he wore the same distinctive cowboy boots to a burglary, a pawn shop, and even during a police interview.
On January 22, Boca Raton Police (BRPD) launched an investigation into a construction burglary that occurred on January 9 at Pirtle Construction, near E Palmetto Park Rd and NE Mizner Blvd. The project manager reported that an unknown man had stolen six boxes of Kohler shower equipment, valued at $3,000, by prying open a plywood wall to gain access.
Surveillance footage captured the suspect, later identified as 61-year-old Rick Stornant, wearing a dark zip-up hoodie, jeans, gloves, and a distinctive pair of cowboy boots with buckles. This led police to begin investigating pawn transactions involving Kohler products. A search at American Pawn on N. Federal Hwy uncovered CCTV footage showing a man wearing similar cowboy boots completing a transaction that resembled the burglar.
Police also noticed that the boxes of Kohler products were marked with “M.B.,” which stood for “master bathroom,” as confirmed by the construction team.
The breakthrough came when Stornant was arrested for an unrelated traffic incident on his moped, with pawn shop footage showing him wearing the same pair of brown cowboy boots. During an interview with detectives, Stornant confirmed he visited the pawn shop but remained silent when shown footage of the burglary.
Stornant was subsequently arrested and booked on charges of burglary, larceny, dealing stolen property, and providing false identification.