NORFOLK, Va. — Police are asking for help tracking down a man accused of breaking into homes in the Ghent community.
Rick Yarow owns several properties in the Ghent area. On November 5, he arrived at one of the homes on Pembroke Avenue to find someone stealing his belongings.
“There was a man who was wheeling my power washer down the driveway," said Yarow.
While face-to-face with the burglar, Yarow took a photo of the man.
The burglar got away before Yarow and his maintenance worker called police.
“And I go to my shed and the guy had basically wiped out all the tools from my shed,” said Yarow.
Yarow shared the photo online and quickly learned other Ghent residents claimed they, too, were victims of the same burglar.
Norfolk police are now looking for 37-year-old John Rust, who is charged with two counts of breaking and entering and two counts of petit larceny. He is also wanted for preexisting charges that are unrelated to either of these incidents, according to the Norfolk Police Department.
Officials said Rust is wanted in connection to at least two burglaries in the Ghent neighborhood.
The first took place in 1300 block of Graydon Avenue on November 5, and then another in the 600 block of Redgate Avenue.
Joseph Grabert, who lives on Redgate, caught the burglar on camera inside his home two weeks ago.
Grabert says the man stole tools from his basement.
"It's unreal to me that in such a small community, everybody seems to know everybody, that they can't seem to find this guy."
Yarow claims police told him they didn't have any officers available at the time of the incident, and he decided to take matters into this own hands.
“I drove around and found the guy within ten minutes he was walking down Colonial with my wheelbarrow filled with all my tools," he said.
Yarow said he confronted the burglar, who he says was armed with a knife, and demanded his belongings.
The man eventually conceded Yarow's tools.
Meanwhile, Grabert's possessions are still missing.
Both men hope the suspected burglar is caught soon.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.