JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An arrest warrant was released Tuesday regarding a U.S. Marine accused of orchestrating the burglary of a Jacksonville Sheriff's officer's home, resulting in the theft of her JSO vehicle.
The warrant says the suspect, Bruno J. Bego, 31, coordinated the crime as payback for his wife, a JSO officer, allegedly cheating on him.
"It’s devastating," said Italy McGriff, who lives next door to the home the couple shared, she said, for about five years. "It really is. It’s a devastating situation. I even personally told them that I was sad for them before I even knew that it was a real break-up when he was moving away."
McGriff is referring to when she said Bego left for assignment one to two months ago with the Marines at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina.
The Bego's estranged wife returned home Tuesday, Oct. 15, to find her Westside home burglarized and her police cruiser stolen, the warrant states. She also discovered three firearms and a flatscreen television were missing.
On Oct. 16, three suspects were arrested for their alleged involvement in the case, according to the warrant. After an interview with the police, it was revealed one of the suspects, Juan Anibal Otero, 20, was reportedly told by an acquaintance that Bego was upset because his wife cheated on him and that he wanted someone to burglarize her home and steal her car.
Days before the burglary, the acquaintance reportedly received a call from Bego on Oct. 12. Bego told the acquaintance that the victim would be out of town and that her home would be unsecured, according to the warrant.
The warrant says Bego also told the acquaintance that there would be firearms inside the victim's home and the keys to the JSO cruiser would be on the counter. The acquaintance then relayed the information to Otero, telling him to confirm once the burglary was done. After the burglary, the acquaintance reached out to Bego and told him the burglary was completed, according to the warrant.
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On Oct. 15, police contacted Bego, who said he had traveled to Jacksonville on Oct. 11 and then to the victim's home on Oct. 12. The suspect said he was there to collect some personal belongings and that the victim knew he was in the home. Bego told police he secured the apartment when he left.
Bego was arrested in North Carolina on Oct. 18.
Bego is charged with armed burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, criminal solicitation to commit armed burglary and criminal solicitation to commit theft of a motor vehicle, according to the warrant.
McGriff said the situation amounts to heartbreak for the couple, their two children and friends.
"Good couple," she said. "I mean, he would always work on his cars, the kids would come outside and play outside with my children."
So close they were, McGriff said, that she named one of her daughters after the wife.
"I told them I was going to cry for them," she said. "I had gotten so comfortable and used to a really nice, supporting family being on the side of me."