Man Convicted of Burglary Kept Journals About the Thefts

Journals can be a good way to keep track of things. But for one Landfall man, his journal entries only helped him get convicted for burglary.

Jeffery William Boyd, 26, was recently convicted of four counts of felony burglary in Washington County District Court for a number of 2009 garage break-ins in Woodbury and the surrounding areas.

Woodbury police found several journals in which Boyd detailed a number of thefts, described how he tried to sell the items or trade them for drugs, and mentioned a storage locker where he kept a number of pilfered items, according to the criminal complaint.

In November 2009, Woodbury police responded to a "suspicious people" call in a neighborhood where there had been a number of recent break-ins. Police found Boyd at the Country Inn & Suites; he fled the scene and was later captured at Denny's in Maplewood.

At the hotel police found a number of items that were reported stolen, in addition to the journals.

Journal entries listed in the complaint, while grammatically unsound, show remarkable detail in what was taken.

For instance, an Oct. 18, 2009, entry reads: "So I had whent out last night and real quick hit one spot & grabbed some (expletive) real fast. I when straight out the back door and walked threw the back lots to the street thats on the other side of the parking lots out back and stoped at the second one in and got a small bunch of things. Things I got. 2. Sungale portable DVD/CD Video Player, 3. Sony Xplod Car deck/ CDX-S2010 Drive-S/Selectable Sub-Out/52x4-100dBt, 4. Authentic Golf Equipment."

Thirty-four stolen items were found in the hotel room and another dozen were discovered at the Woodbury storage locker, according to the criminal complaint. The items matched the descriptions of property stolen from eight locations in the Woodbury, Oakdale and Maplewood areas.

He was sentenced to more than eight years in prison and must pay restitution to the victims.