Florida man arrested for stealing thousands from laundromat coin machines

BREVARD COUNTY, Florida. – A Brevard County man was arrested after allegedly stealing thousands from coin machines at a local laundromat, according to the sheriff’s office.

In an affidavit, officers said they received a call shortly after 5 a.m. on June 17 about a break-in at the Laundromat of Port St. John on West Avenue.

The caller allegedly told officers that a man – later identified as 39-year-old Jeffrey Duffey – had broken into coin-operated machines in the “employee-only” offices.

But when officers arrived, Duffey was no longer at the company.

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However, MPs said they did Find evidence that Duffey entered the laundromat and used a crowbar to break open the locked “employees only” door.

That door led to a restricted crawl space that was normally used for repairs to the laundromat’s equipment, the affidavit states.

“Once in this restricted area, Duffey was able to gain access to the ceiling, traverse the rafters of the building, and climb down into the locked ’employee only’ office, behind which were the back doors to the coin-operated machines,” the affidavit states.

According to investigators, two coin machines were broken into and all the cash was stolen.

In addition, officials said Duffey is suspected of breaking into the same laundromat at least three times before – once on May 31, again on June 9 and a third time on June 12.

Just hours after the June 17 break-in, officers found Duffey near the Space Coast Flea Market and took him in for questioning.

Investigators said Duffey initially claimed he was home with his girlfriend at the time of the break-in and was already on probation for robbing a Chevron gas station down the street.

“(Duffey claims he didn’t commit the Chevron burglary for the money, but rather he had a personal feud with the company’s owners because he ‘hates those people,'” the affidavit states. “At one point he worked for the company and they cheated him out of money, so he robbed them in turn.”

When asked about the similarity and proximity of the Chevron break-in and the laundromat break-ins, Duffey reportedly told officers the modus operandi was “not unusual,” officers added.

Duffey then pointed to another break-in at a local “casino” at 672 West Avenue – a location near Chevron and the laundromat – that occurred in January, where investigators say the perpetrator used similar methods.

While Duffey suspected that the suspect arrested as part of this investigation could be linked to the burglaries at the laundromat, officers determined that Was There was no suspect in this case as it remained unsolved.

Duffey then went on a tirade about how he could have committed the crimes, becoming “cheerful and boastful,” lawmakers said.

“Duffey further boasted that had he committed these crimes, he would never have been caught on a security camera,” the affidavit states. “He further stated that he knew how to disable most surveillance systems and that he had tampered with the companies’ cameras since most are wireless.”

Officers also discovered that the laundromat’s Wi-Fi router had been compromised during the three previous break-ins.

He then asked officers to search his house, and they found a “large quantity” of $20 bills in his nightstand drawer.

According to the affidavit, Duffey’s girlfriend later told officers she hadn’t seen him home that morning, and surveillance footage showed Duffey at the laundromat.

In total, Duffey stole about $5,000 from the laundromat’s coin machines and severely damaged the machines, officials allege.

As a result, Duffey was arrested on Friday and charged with grand theft, three counts of burglary and two counts of possession of burglary tools with intent to use. He is being held on $77,500 bail.

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