The “Obit Bandit” has been captured.
Barnstable Police have arrested a man who they say broke into people's homes on Cape Cod while they attended wakes or funeral services.
Authorities say they began to suspect Randy Brunelle, 35, of Plymouth who had previously served an 18-month prison sentence on a 2012 conviction for breaking into a Sandwich police officer's home as the officer attended his mother's funeral.
Barnstable police say they began following Brunelle's car Friday while other officers went to homes of residents attending funeral services.
Officers discovered a break-in in Cotuit and pulled Brunelle over and arrested him after finding jewelry in his sweatshirt pockets. He was returned to the break-in in Cotuit where the homeowner positively identified the jewelry as being stolen.
Brunelle, who police nicknamed the "obit bandit," is facing charges for multiple B & E’s on Cape Cod, including felony breaking and entering. He faces arraignment today in Barnstable District Court.