Feb. 2, 2009 — V.I. National Park rangers arrested a man in a sting operation after they caught him stealing three backpacks from Waterlemon Beach at Leinster Bay, St. John.
"The guy was going after cash," said the park's acting chief ranger, Jeff Mihan, on Monday.
Frank Gutschow, arrested Jan. 23, is "in his 50s," Mihan said. Gutschow pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court and is serving a six-month sentence in a South Carolina federal penitentiary.
He was arrested by the park's law-enforcement rangers after they saw him steal the backpacks. The surveillance operation was in response to a series of backpack thefts from the beach.
Gutschow's thefts started out as a crime of opportunity because the backpacks were left hanging in the trees by the beach , according to Mihan.
"It became too easy," Mihan said.
Mihan declined to describe the details of the operation in case park rangers need to use them again.
Rangers saw Gutschow scanning the beach through a pair of binoculars from the cover of some ruins located at Windy Hill. They later saw him walking up a path where recently stolen items were located, and ultimately taking three bags from the beach area where the owners had just snorkeled out to the reef. Gutschow was apprehended by rangers without incident, and he cooperated with the investigation by confessing to the thefts, Mihan said.
Rangers recovered 10 backpacks and most of the personal property reported stolen. Wallets and other items were still in the backpacks, minus cash, Mihan said.
Gutschow also sent a written letter of apology to the victims for stealing their belongings and disclosed the locations of both his illegal camp and some of the stolen property. Although he had been on St. John for about a year, Mihan said he was camping at Brown Bay, located near Leinster Bay, for only about a week.
Mihan advised beachgoers not to bring valuables to the beach. If they're going to the beach at Leinster Bay, he advised them to park in the Annaberg Plantation parking lot. It gets a lot of traffic, which discourages thieves from taking items out of cars.
There are only a few parking spots located about midway on the path from Annaberg to Waterlemon Cay Beach, so parking at Annaberg is usually the only option, Mihan said.
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