This week St. Petersburg Police officers charged Brian Rinda, 28, with stealing the flushing handles and pipes from toilets in numerous park and restaurant restrooms.
Rinda would remove the parts, causing up to $1000.00 in damage, and trade the brass valve and piping at the County Recycling center located at 5601 Haines Rd., for $36 to $40.
Police say Rinda hit several St. Petersburg restrooms at local Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Burger King, Publix, Subway, Cracker Barrel, Bob Evans, and Albert Whitted Park. You can see him entering and exiting a Subway, bag in hand, below.
When police started receiving the reports, detectives checked with the recycling center records and matched the ID to the surveillance videos of Rinda leaving the restaurants. Anyone recycling scrap metal must provide identification.
Rinda is charged with 8 counts grand theft and 1 count petit theft. Authorities are also looking into more possible cases in the County.
