Police: Video catches Plum Island undies thief in the act

Published 12:14 pm Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A Plum Island, Massachusetts man’s decade-long infatuation with women’s underwear could lead to significant jail time after his arrest early Monday for allegedly breaking into a residence, according to court records. 

Patrick Donnelly, 25, was arraigned hours after being charged with breaking and entering nighttime for a felony and larceny from a building. He was released on $250 cash bail and is due back in court Jan. 26, for a pretrial hearing.

As part of his bail conditions, Donnelly must have no contact with his alleged victim.

Essex County prosecutor Maura Bailey says Donnelly will likely face significant jail time if convicted. 

According to a police report, Donnelly entered the house through the back door around 2 a.m. Sunday and proceeded to take DVDs and VHS tapes, ignoring more valuable items such as jewelry, a television and a wireless printer. 

Donnelly’s alleged activities were captured on a video recording device called a DropCam, which allows owners to monitor their homes by having images transmitted and recorded on to a smartphone or, in this case, an iPad. 

Footage from the video camera showed the suspect entering the house and rummaging through several drawers in the hallway near the front door.

“At several points in the footage the suspect is out of view. However, (he) can be heard rummaging through other drawers and things before appearing and moving around the house. The suspect continued to walk through the kitchen, bathroom and living room before at one point he notices the DropCam on top of the refrigerator and takes it,” reads the police report.

But by then, footage had been transmitted to the victim’s iPad, which prompted him to call police. While keeping in contact with the alleged victim, police searched the residence only to find it empty. 

Police reviewed the footage after gaining access to the victim’s DropCam account and was able to identify Donnelly, who has a long history of substance abuse issues and a record of breaking and entering. Soon after, police visited Donnelly’s house, where he surrendered to police without incident. 

During the booking process, Donnelly told police that he stole a DVD containing photos and two DVD tapes. He also offered to police that ever since age 12, he has been fascinated with going through drawers containing women’s underwear. 

“When asked if this is what he was doing in the residence, he nodded his head ‘yes’ while making poor eye contact with Deputy Chief Lucey,” the police report reads.

Dave Rogers writes for the Eagle-Tribune