Irene Liquor Looter Cries For Forgiveness

A Virginia Beach man was caught by WVEC Norfolk news crew sneaking away from a home ruined by Irene with a stash of purloined liquor Saturday afternoon. WVEC reporter Cleve Bryan, reporting from the Sandbridge section of VB, saw a man wheeling his bike past.

“He’s got…well, I’m not gonna say what he’s got in his bucket there,” said Bryan. “Something to pass the time with.”

Turns out the man, Patrick McGuire, and a friend, Charles Andrews, had looted the booze–and some iPod speakers–from their neighbor’s devastated house.  The neighborhood had been under mandatory evacuation.

WVEC.com says police saw the news clip and hustled to the scene:

Police had been patrolling the Sandbridge area because of the storm and were able to get to the scene quickly. They chased one of the men on foot and also found the second man at the same house. 

McGuire issued a tearful apology on the same medium that got him busted: local news.

He told WTKR:

“We had no intention of stealing TVs, anything that was of value to them, real value. I just seen a couple bottles of liquor there and figured they wouldn’t miss it.” What McGuire and Andrews did not know was that Virginia Beach Police saw them looting the Robinsons’ home on live television.

“I didn’t know they were rolling, so I was caught red handed,” says McGuire.

WTKR doesn’t cite who had the incriminating video.

In his apology, McGuire offers to help rebuild the home he stole from.

Thanks to my Virginia Beach-based sister Nancy for the tip.