Florida Holocaust Museum Hit by Break-In — No Damage to Displays
— A 23-year-old man who broke into the Florida Holocaust Museum did not damage any of the displays or steal anything.
St. Petersburg Police arrested Christopher Michael Venegas early Sunday morning, according to local reports. Surveillance camera footage at the museum in the central Florida city showed Venegas breaking an electronic keypad and call box, which sent a signal to the police, who arrived minutes later.
Venegas was charged with one count of commercial burglary and was later released on $5,000 bail. He refused to talk to police, according to WFTS Tampa Bay.
The museum praised the police for their quick response.
“In the past few years, local grants from Homeland Security have allowed us to begin upgrading our security systems,” its executive director, Elizabeth Gelman, said in a statement. “Those security measures — and the quick response from the St. Petersburg Police — assisted in keeping damage to the minimum.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
