A Dunedin man is accused of pouring white paint over two cars and leading deputies straight to his home by leaving behind stained footprints, according to an arrest report.
"They went right to this man's room and he was covered in paint," said victim Deborah Wylie-Lumm. "Pretty much an idiot."
Christopher Robbins, 22, was arrested on two counts of felony criminal mischief and white paint can been seen on his beard in his mugshot.
The incident happened early Sunday morning in Dunedin at the Wylie residence. Robbins rents a room in a home next door. Homeowner Dee Wylie said Robbins knocked on her door late Saturday night.
"I kept asking him, ‘what do you want?’ And he wouldn’t answer me and he was holding the garage door open," she said. "I said, 'my dogs are losing their minds and I’ve got a sick husband in here and he went, 'well' and with that I slammed the door in his face and turned all the lights off."
Wylie believes the vandalism was in retaliation for shutting the door on Robbins. Three tires on a 1997 Lexus in the driveway were slashed, paint was poured across the trunk along with eggs and mustard. A 2006 Ford Fusion parked next to the Lexus was even more damaged with globs of white paint poured across the hood, roof and trunk.
"A whole bucket of paint had to go into my niece’s car," said Wylie-Lumm. "It’s under the hood, it’s in the backseat. He also keyed her car from hood to trunk."
That niece, Amber Scull, said her tires were also slashed on her car that was almost paid off.
"My car is completely destroyed," she said. "I’m glad it was my car, not us, that took a beating."
Wylie said their newspaper carrier woke the family up to show them the damage and they immediately called the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. No doubt the paint footprints made this case an easy one to solve for detectives.
"He was out cold and... still had the same clothes on and they were covered with white paint," she said. The police said, 'come on, you’re coming with me.' And he said, 'well, I just painted a house officer.' And the police man said to him, 'yes, I know you did.' And he got belligerent with the cop and he put him in the police car."
Wylie said Robbins also toilet papered her trees and used painters tape too that left his fingerprints on it. At Robbins' first appearance on Monday, Judge Paul Levine noted how deputies tracked the defendant.
"Looks like police caught you because you actually stepped in paint and led them right to your house," he said.
Robbins is being held in the Pinellas Jail on a $4,000 bond and the judge did not budge on that amount.
"I was just wondering if there was any way to lower my bond whatsoever?" Robbins asked the judge.
"No," Levine said. "It’s low to begin with."
The landlord who rents a room to Robbins said he's not going to bail him out.
"He shouldn’t have done that to a neighbor that I’ve known most of my life," said George Swart. "I feel bad for them and they shouldn’t have to go through this."
The Wylie family said they're glad Robbins is not bonding out of jail anytime soon.
"I hope he doesn’t get out," Wylie said. "I mean if he gets that upset because I closed the door in his face, what would he do if you really made him mad?"