“Duck Boot Burglar” Sentenced to More Than 3 Years for Larcenies, Being Felon with Firearm After Flock Helped Norfolk Police Identify Him in Several Commercial Break-Ins
NORFOLK, Va. — Eddie Eugene Robinson, 36, was sentenced on Friday to serve three years and four months in prison for committing multiple burglaries last year, during which he stole thousands of dollars in cash and lottery tickets, as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Mr. Robinson committed burglaries at several Norfolk stores and restaurants last November, including:
- on Nov. 5, around 3:50 a.m., at the Nu Beauty Supply store on Sewells Point Road, where he stole cash and merchandise;
- on Nov. 12, around 3 a.m., at George’s Seafood on Chesapeake Boulevard, where he stole cash and an iPad;
- and on Nov. 29, around 4 a.m., at the Quick Serve Food Store on Sellger Drive, where he stole cash and Virginia Lottery tickets.
Following each of the burglaries, Norfolk Police investigators recovered surveillance footage that showed the same individual — later identified as Mr. Robinson — wearing the same hooded sweatshirt, medical-style face mask, and pair of duck boots.
After the Nov. 29 burglary, a Virginia Lottery investigator flagged the serial numbers of the stolen tickets in the Lottery’s database. At around 9:15 a.m. that same morning, Mr. Robinson attempted to cash one of the stolen tickets, and lottery investigators received an alert. The investigator went to the store where Mr. Robinson had been, recovered video surveillance footage that showed Mr. Robinson in the store, and shared the footage with Norfolk Police. Norfolk Police investigators then used the Flock system to identify the license plate of the vehicle in which Mr. Robinson had arrived at that store, identified Mr. Robinson as the registered owner of that vehicle, and determined that Mr. Robinson’s identification photo matched the suspect seen on the surveillance footage from the burglaries.
Based on that information, Norfolk Police investigators secured warrants for Mr. Robinson’s arrest and took him into custody on Dec. 4. Mr. Robinson was wearing the same duck boots he had worn during the burglaries at the time of his arrest. After they arrested Mr. Robinson, the investigators obtained a search warrant for his residence. When they executed the search warrant, they recovered merchandise and checks from the stores he burglarized as well as a handgun, which Mr. Robinson was prohibited from possessing as a previously convicted felon.
On Aug. 15, 2024, Mr. Robinson entered an agreement to plead guilty to six felony charges: three counts of burglary, one count of larceny of lottery tickets, one count of grand larceny, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. In exchange for Mr. Robinson’s plea, the Commonwealth agreed to not pursue additional charges against him and request that he serve an active sentence of no more than five years in prison. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Mr. Robinson’s plea agreement.
On Friday, Judge LeCruise sentenced Mr. Robinson to serve three years and four months in prison and suspended another 13 years and eight months on the conditions that Mr. Robinson be of uniform good behavior for five years and compliant with supervised probation for three years following his release.
“In an earlier time, Mr. Robinson may have gotten away with these burglaries,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Today, the responsible use of technology — from store surveillance to merchandise tracking to the Flock system — means that the police are able to solve cases that were not solvable before and that we as prosecutors can hold people accountable in court. I hope that Mr. Robinson makes productive use of his time in prison and that he comes back to Norfolk ready to do better.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney David A. Johnson prosecuted Mr. Robinson’s case, and Norfolk Police Detective John A. Schraft Jr. led the investigation.
###