Two of the alleged culprit's victims help police nab him

By LINDSAY OLIVIER
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State troopers and Coventry police apprehended a Jamestown man early Sunday morning they say is responsible for a string of breaking and entering incidents and larcenies from businesses in Exeter and North Kingstown.

Police arrested 28-year-old Kurt Breneiser of 33 Frigate St., Jamestown, at 12:37 a.m. Easter Sunday in the Wal-Mart parking lot at the Center of New England in Coventry. Breneiser faces four counts of breaking and entering a business, one count of larceny over $500 and three counts of larceny under $500.

The charges stem from incidents as far back as January and as recent as last weekend.

But it wasn’t the police that found him, it was one of his victims.  

Police said Breneiser confessed to two breaking and enterings that occurred at 3:30 a.m. Saturday in Exeter where he drove his minivan through the front of Effie Filippou’s Twisted Pizza and Yellow River Chinese Restaurant in Oak Harbour Village on Route 2. The two restaurants are situated side-by-side.

Police said Breneiser also confessed to breaking into the same two businesses at 5:30 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. For those offenses, Breneiser used a rock to break the glass doors. He took approximately $200 from Yellow River and $1,500 from Filippou’s.

“Since January we updated and got extra security for the business because we didn’t catch the person and if it happened again, we’d get them,” said pizzeria owner Effie Filippou.

Filippou felt he targeted the same businesses again because he knew Yellow River had an inactive alarm system.  

Due to the impact, a piece of the van’s molding was found on the ground so Filippou knew what color the van was and security cameras caught the type of vehicle it was.

“It was an awkward color green, not the usual color. So with the molding and knowing that this van would have scratches and other damage, my fiancé and I went out looking. We went looking at any place he could spend money, bars and restaurants,” she said.

Filippou also made up flyers with still pictures of Breneiser from the images her security cameras captured and passed them out around town as well as posting them inside the restaurant.

Around midnight on Saturday, Filippou and her fiancé Anthony went to the Wal-Mart in Coventry to get a last minute Easter basket.

“At that time of night, there wasn’t much traffic and we saw three vans and I said what the heck lets drive over and check them out. And to our luck, there was the van, with a missing molding piece and numerous scratches and dents. We drove away so we wouldn’t scare him off and called Coventry police and the Wickford state police,” she said.

Both watched Breneiser get arrested and observed him to be in the same clothing that he was in when he committed the breaking and entering. They also found out that the same pink gloves he used in the robbery were in the vehicle.   

The North Kingstown police department also has charges pending against Breneiser stemming from a breaking and entering at Bert and Peg’s Flowers on Boston Neck Road, when he drove his car into the front of the business, in which he confessed to doing.

According to the police report, at 3:36 a.m. on Jan. 10, while on routine patrol, police discovered heavy damage to the front doors of the business and police said the damage was caused by a car hitting the building. The two front doors were broken open and the right half of the front wall was pushed back approximately six inches from the impact. The cash box was taken.

He also took responsibility for the breaking and entering of Mulzer’s Car Care, also on Boston Neck Road, where he smashed a window.

“Due to the similarities of what occurred in Exeter, our detectives interviewed him and he took responsibility for the crimes in North Kingstown,” Capt. Thomas Mulligan said.   

Breneiser was arraigned on April 13 in district court in South Kingstown and was held without bail on a bail violation. He was processed and held overnight pending morning arraignment and further investigation.