Grave Robber: Vases Worth $150K Stolen From St. Pete Cemetery, Pinellas Sheriff Says

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A St. Pete man faces multiple felony charges after stealing more than 125 brass vases from gravesites, authorities said.

Douglas Deck, Jr., 31, stole the vases, which were attached to concrete headstones, from Memorial Park Cemetery at 5750 49th Street N. The cemetery is located next to his home, according to an arrest affidavit from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. The ornamental decorations were used to hold flowers placed at the graves.

Deck sold the vases, which totaled 661 pounds of brass, to a secondhand scrap metal dealer for $1,149.60 on July 12, 13, 14 and 19, records show.

The removal of the vases cost the cemetery about $150,000, according to a PCSO news release.

Detectives with the burglary and pawn unit responded to the scrap metal yard July 21 and recovered 124 of the stolen vases, the agency said.

Deck was identified on surveillance video footage at the scrap dealer, according to the arrest affidavit. His bicycle was also found in the cemetery, which is about 150 feet from where he lives.

He collected the vases from an area within an alley just north of his home, PCSO said. He also admitted to investigators that he found the vases in the cemetery and took them.

Deck was charged with four counts of dealing in stolen property and one count of damage or removal of a tomb or monument, the sheriff’s office said.

During his arrest, .25 grams of fentanyl was found in his pocket, and he was also charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance.