Suspect arrested in four break-ins on Thalia and Constance — including case of stolen Saints Super Bowl ring

A man caught on video wearing distinctive red sneakers as he broke into four homes on Thalia and Constance Streets — including one in which a Saints Super Bowl ring was taken — has been arrested, New Orleans police said this week.

Sean Devitt, 25, was arrested Tuesday after he was caught in the act of another residence burglary in Mid-City, police said.

Devitt was subsequently identified in four other residence burglaries — Sept. 4 in the 1400 block of Constance, Sept. 6 in the 1300 block of Constance (the case in which the Super Bowl ring was stolen), Sept. 15 in the 900 block of Thalia, and Sept. 15 in the 1000 block of Thalia, said Sgt. Jerusha Carroll, who handles property crimes in the NOPD Sixth District.

All four residences were locked when Devitt broke into them, Carroll said, but private surveillance video caught him in several cases wearing the same pair of red shoes. Police were able to identify him from one of the videos and flyers of his image they posted around the neighborhood.

On Tuesday, Devitt was arrested while breaking into a home in the 3500 block of Iberville Street, according to a NOPD report:

Officers responded to a report of a suspicious person in the area around noon. When they arrived, officers found a broken window pane in a rear door of a residence. Officers also found an axe on the rear porch, believed to have been used to break the window. In searching the residence, police found an individual – later identified as Devitt – hiding in an upstairs closet with a purse belonging to the homeowner. Devitt was arrested and charged with simple burglary at that location.

Devitt is believed to be homeless, and does not live at any of his last known addresses, so police do not know if he was stashing any of the jewelry or electronics he took in the burglaries, Carroll said.

“He’s probably selling it immediately,” Carroll said.

The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call the NOPD Sixth District station at 658-6060 to speak to a detective, or CrimeStoppers at 822-1111 to leave an anonymous tip that could be eligible for a cash reward.