Jeffrey Duffey : Florida Man Arrested in Laundromat Coin Theft

A Brevard County man has been taken into custody after an alleged scheme to steal thousands of dollars from coin machines at a local laundromat, as reported by the sheriff’s office.

According to an arrest affidavit, authorities were alerted to a burglary at the “Laundromat of Port St. John” on West Avenue in the early hours of June 17. The caller informed deputies that a man, later identified as 39-year-old Jeffrey Duffey, had broken into the coin machines located in the restricted “employee only” areas.

Although Duffey had fled the scene by the time law enforcement arrived, evidence of his entry into the laundromat and manipulation of the locked “employee only” door with a crowbar was discovered.

This door led to a confined crawl space typically used for appliance repairs within the laundromat. Once inside this space, Duffey accessed the ceiling, navigated across the building’s rafters, and descended into the secured “employee only” office where the coin machines were located, the affidavit revealed.

Investigators determined that two coin machines had been forcibly opened, and the money contained within them had been removed. Additionally, Duffey is suspected of targeting the same laundromat on three previous occasions: May 31, June 9, and June 12.

Shortly after the June 17 incident, Duffey was apprehended near the Space Coast Flea Market and brought in for questioning. Initially denying involvement in the burglary, Duffey claimed he was at home with his girlfriend at the time of the incident. However, he was already on probation for burglarizing a nearby Chevron gas station.

During interrogation, Duffey confessed to the Chevron burglary, stating that he held a grudge against the business owners and burglarized them as retribution for a financial dispute. He also mentioned a similar burglary at a local “casino” on West Avenue that occurred in January, suggesting a potential link to the laundromat burglaries.

Despite Duffey’s attempts to divert attention to a fictitious suspect in the casino burglary case, deputies noted his boastful demeanor during the interview. Duffey claimed he could have executed the crimes without being caught on surveillance cameras, asserting his ability to disable most surveillance systems and manipulate Wi-Fi-based cameras.

Subsequent investigations revealed tampering with the Wi-Fi router at the laundromat during the prior burglaries. A search of Duffey’s residence uncovered a significant sum of $20 bills in his bedside drawer.

Confronted with this evidence, Duffey’s girlfriend corroborated his absence during the burglary and surveillance footage placed him at the laundromat. The stolen amount from the coin machines was estimated at around $5,000, causing substantial damage to the equipment.

As a consequence, Duffey was arrested on Friday and now faces charges of grand theft, three counts of burglary, and two counts of possessing burglary tools with the intent to use them. His bail has been set at $77,500.