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Web cam nabs neighbor in Clearwater burglary

 
Published Jan. 24, 2012

CLEARWATER — It started with a missing change jar.

On Saturday, 58-year-old John McCarthy noticed the jar missing from inside his apartment at 611 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

Not quite sure if it was stolen or just misplaced, he didn't report it. Instead, he set up his own surveillance.

He hooked up his web cam and set it to start recording when it detected motion.

On Monday, it spotted McCarthy's next door neighbor, 31-year-old James Adcock, climbing in through the apartment's front window, police said.

McCarthy handed the video over to police and they took Adcock into custody.

He admitted to burglarizing McCarthy's apartment, stealing a Milwaukee Sawzall saw and pawning it for money.

Adcock was booked into the Pinellas County Jail Monday night on charges of burglary, dealing in stolen property and probation violations.