Serial burglar arrested after breaking into Austin store over 10 times

AUSTIN, Texas - A serial burglar is once again behind bars after breaking into two local Austin stores.

Timeline:

On Tuesday, 30-year-old Tyroan Telemacque was arrested after breaking into Royal Blue Grocery.

The first incident happened Sunday at the chain’s East 6th Street location around 4:30 AM. 

Video footage from inside the store shows Telemacque breaking the glass of a sliding window before jumping inside. He then fills his backpack with stolen goods before escaping through the same window.

But his theft wouldn’t stop there. 

Less than 24 hours later, Telemacque would make his way to the Royal Blue on 3rd Street and Lavaca.

There he can be seen jumping through the glass at the front of the store before once again stealing items from behind the counter. 

What they're saying:

"Well, we know this individual all too well," says Royal Blue Grocery owner, Craig Staley. "That made his 12th break in at one of our stores."

According to Staley, those break-ins don’t come cheap.

"Each one of these break-ins cost us anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000. We can't afford this and he's just one individual."

Due to how often Telemacque has broken into Royal Blue, Staley has come to recognize his face. That familiarity is what led to Telemacque’s arrest on Tuesday, when Staley saw him downtown.

"We know where he goes, typically. We always see him on 6th Street, we always him on 7th Street. I was heading home and I was like, well, I'll just drive down 6th and see if I see him. Took about five minutes and called the police, let them know. They knew that there was a warrant issued for him so they were able to act on that and go find him and pick him up."

The backstory:

Telemacque is now being held in the Travis County Jail on two felony burglary charges, adding to his already extensive criminal history. 

Since 2017, Telemacque has accrued over 40 felony and misdemeanor charges in Travis County. 

Several of them include theft, burglary, trespassing, and assault. In total, he’s been sentenced to over 71 months for his crimes over the years by the county and district attorney’s office.

Prior to the most recent Royal Blue break-ins, Telemacque was dealing with a separate burglary charge.

He was put into custody at the beginning of December last year, but on January 14th was deemed incompetent to stand trial. He would remain in custody until May 6th, when his competency was deemed restored. 

Telemacque would plead guilty to a lesser charge, Attempt to Commit Burglary of a building, and was sentenced to 300 days in jail. 

The same day he pleaded guilty, the court ruled that Telemacque was entitled to jail-time credit due to the time he already spent in custody, and he was released. 

Less than two weeks later, Telemacque would go on to burglarize two Royal Blue Grocery stores. 

Dig deeper:

"It's going to repeat. We know, it's coming again," says Staley, who points his frustration towards the office of District Attorney, Jose Garza. "Initially, in the beginning, he was willing to respond to us, and, you know, if we had questions about an individual or a problem, they would respond to it. But today, it's radio silence."

But the Travis County DA’s Office feels it  has done its part when it comes to Telemacque, telling FOX 7:

"The Travis County District Attorney’s Office has prosecuted this defendant in several cases, secured convictions, and sentenced him.  We look forward to continuing to work with law enforcement to hold him accountable."

Even with the frustrations rising, Royal Blue isn’t going anywhere.

"We're going to keep plodding along, doesn't matter what you throw at us. We're not going anywhere but man it's tough sometimes."

Besides the overnight break-ins, Staley claims safety at his downtown locations has been increasing, due to efforts by the Austin Police Department.

"We have a very competent APD today. They've got people working in downtown that really know what they're doing."

Staley credits much of that success to the Downtown Area Command Public Order Team, a unit consisting of six officers. One of their main goals is to restore quality of life and safety to public spaces downtown. One of the ways that is accomplished is by connecting people with housing or mental health needs to the correct organizations.

"The public order team that is managing behaviors on the streets is doing a fantastic job and has really changed the tone in our stores."

Staley says that due to the increased safety, bathrooms at his stores are open once again. He claims for quite some time they were closed due to people entering them for drug usage. 

AustinCrime and Public Safety