JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The burglary of a Jacksonville Sheriff's officer's home and theft of her patrol car might have been fueled by her estranged husband's spite.
Bruno Bego, 32, is suspected of plotting to have his wife's home burglarized because he thought she wasn't faithful to him. Those claims were detailed in an arrest warrant that states Bego told an acquaintance on Oct. 12 when his wife would be out of town, that there were guns in the home and where to find her car keys.
Duval County court records show bond has been set at $600,000 for Bego, a Marine Corps recruiter who is charged with burglary, motor vehicle theft, criminal solicitation to commit burglary, and criminal solicitation to commit motor vehicle theft in the case.
Bego's acquaintance, 19-year-old Max Brathwaite (pictured), is one of five people charged in the case. He said he shared what Bego told him with Juan Anibal Otero. Otero and Orialys Santiago-Maldonado, both 20, and Kyler Evans, 24, were arrested Oct. 16 on armed burglary and auto theft charges.
"Bego told the acquaintance that his wife had cheated on him and the victim did not need to be a police officer anymore," the arrest warrant states. "Bego told the acquaintance that there would be firearms in the home and the keys to the victim's police vehicle would be on the counter."
According to a police report, three people were seen outside the officer's home Oct. 13. She returned from a trip to find the home ransacked and her patrol car missing from the driveway. Her agency handgun, rifle, and a personal shotgun were among the items taken.
The patrol car was abandoned with the rifle and some gear inside. It's unclear what happened to the officer's handgun and shotgun.
Bego, who lives in North Carolina where he works as a Marine Corps recruiter for Camp LeJeune, told detectives in an Oct. 15 phone interview that he returned to Jacksonville and went by his wife's home Oct. 12 to collect some belongings. He said he noticed nothing out of place while he was there.
Bego's past recruitment work in Northeast Florida included visits to Brathwaite's high school.
As News4Jax previously reported, Bego was arrested on a fugitive warrant Oct. 18 in North Carolina. His name does not show up during a search of Duval County jail logs. It's unclear if he has an attorney.
Christine Smith, a friend of Brathwaite's family, said police stopped by her home days after the officer's home was broken into because they were looking for the 19-year-old. He was arrested Tuesday and released Wednesday morning after posting bond on felony criminal solicitation charges.
"Max is a good kid," Smith said. "It's really surprising."