Police Catch Arsonists After Bartender Recognized Them For Not Tipping

Published January 14, 2022

Considering how many annoying customers people working in retail and food service run into from day to day, it can be hard for them not to run together in workers' memories.

That's why unless a customer does something particularly weird to stand out, you tend to hear more about bad types of customers than you do specific people.

But of course, sometimes problem guests really do make a bad enough first impression to stand out. And whether that's because they made an impossible request or they were cruel even by the standards of your average entitled jerk, employees can still end up remembering them years later.

And that phenomenon turned out to be bad news for two tourists who thought they could get away with a criminally destructive act.

Shortly after the start of the new year, two men in Key West, Florida vandalized a concrete buoy that marks the southernmost point in the continental United States.

Facebook | Key West Police Department

According to People, they did this by dragging over a nearby Christmas tree and setting it on fire.

In addition to torching the tree, the resulting flames left a massive burn mark on the buoy that measured three feet in width and seven feet in height.

But while their stunt caused $5,000 in damage and scarred a locally beloved and world-famous landmark, it also made them easier to catch.

Facebook | Key West Police Department

That was because the buoy is always being watched by multiple cameras, so the pair could clearly be seen deliberately planning each step of this arson attempt and taking pictures of it with their phones.

And while that still meant they needed to be identified, it turned out that wasn't so hard as the video didn't mark the only negative impression they made on the community that night.

Indeed, police were able to get the lead they needed to catch the suspects thanks to a bartender who had served them at a local establishment called Irish Kevin's.

New Line Home Entertainment via YouTube

His name is Cameron Briody and he distinctly remembered one of the suspects because that person hadn't left a tip after ordering his drinks.

As Briody said, "I knew immediately that I had served him and that he had used a card, so his name would be on the slips."

And if that wasn't already damning and embarrassing enough for the rowdy arsonists, they ended up starring in the bar's security footage as well.

As the bar's general manager Daylin Starks put it, "We could follow them the whole time, in and out of the bar. We could see them getting rejected from all the girls they were trying to hit on."

City workers started repairing the buoy on the same day it was damaged and both 21-year-old David B. Perkins of Leesburg, Florida and 21-year-old Skylar Rae Jacobson of Henrietta, Texas face a felony charge of criminal mischief with more than $1,000 in damage.

h/t: People

Filed Under:

People & Society