Cazenovia Sports Bowl was burglarized for the third time in three weeks this past Wednesday, Oct. 7, and then, only 24 hours later, the alleged burglar returned for a fourth robbery.
And this time, Cazenovia police caught him in the act.
The suspect, Eric L. Crysler, 29, of Nelson Street in Cazenovia, was found hiding in the ceiling of Cazenovia Sports Bowl early in the morning of Thursday, Oct. 8, after Cazenovia village police, assisted by Madison County Sheriff’s Office deputies and New York State Police troopers, secured a perimeter around the building and undertook a search inside, said Cazenovia Police Chief Michael Hayes. Crysler was found with a bowling bag in his possession containing stolen property, and police have since recovered from his possession other bowling alley property stolen on Oct. 7, Hayes said.
Crysler was charged with burglary in the third degree, a class D felony, and with criminal mischief in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor. He was arraigned Thursday morning before Acting Village Justice Patrick O’Sullivan, where a plea of not guilty was entered on Crysler’s behalf and he was sent to Madison County Jail on bail of $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond.
While Crysler was charged only with the Oct. 8 burglary attempt and arrest, he is a suspect in the previous three burglaries at Caz Sports Bowl as well as a burglary that occurred at Cazenovia Apartments at 24 Nelson St. — the apartment complex in which Crysler lives, Hayes said.
“So by the time this gets to the grand jury we should have all the evidence in order and he will be charged appropriately with the cases we can prove,” Hayes said.
Crysler’s arrest occurred as the result of Cazenovia Police Officer Will Stevens deciding to drive by Cazenovia Sports Bowl early Thursday morning just to check it out because he knew the business had been burglarized the night before, Hayes said. “He noticed the lights were off and some other inconsistencies — that was unusual; that was not as normal as it should be for 4:30 in the morning,” Hayes said. Stevens stopped to investigate, and then he noticed movement inside the building. Cazenovia police mobilized and called the county sheriff’s office and the state police for assistance, so they could set up a perimeter around the building and the suspect could not escape, Hayes said.
Officers gained entry to the building with a key supplied by the owner and, after a 30-minute search of the premises, found Crysler “up in the ceiling panels above the sports bowl,” Hayes said.
Hayes said police found property stolen from the bowling alley that night in Crylser’s possession — more than $500 in cash and $10,000 in lottery tickets — and subsequently found about $23 in tip money and several bottles of alcohol allegedly stolen from the sports bowl the night before, as well as some burglary tools.
Cazenovia police were assisted by county sheriff’s deputies in processing the crime scene, Hayes said.
“I’d like to thank my guys and the county sheriff’s deputies and state troopers. It was a real team effort, a cooperative effort,” Hayes said.
Now that police have Crysler’s fingerprints from his arrest, they will compare those to fingerprints obtained at the sports bowl from two previous burglaries, Hayes said. Those two burglaries occurred within the past three weeks, first on Sept. 15 and then on Sept. 22-23, when someone forced entry into the business and, on each occasion, allegedly stole a “couple of thousand dollars” in cash, according to police.
In addition to these two incidents, Crysler is a suspect in a reported break-in burglary during the late night/early morning hours of Sept. 13 to 14, when someone broke into the Cazenovia Apartments at 24 Nelson St. and allegedly stole a “couple hundred dollars” in quarters from the laundry room, according to police.
When Crysler was arrested Thursday morning, he would not talk to police except to say that he wanted a lawyer, so his motive for allegedly robbing Cazenovia Sports Bowl four times in three weeks is unknown, Hayes said. However, Hayes theorizes that Crysler continued to return to the business because “he kept getting away with it.”
During his arraignment Thursday morning, Crysler said he is currently unemployed, having only recently been released after spending eight years in prison in Baltimore, Md. Hayes said he believes that arrest was also for burglary. Crysler also told the judge that his father died three months ago so “I’m dealing with a lot of stuff.” Crysler applied to receive a public defender, and waived his right to have a preliminary trial.
O’Sullivan scheduled Crysler’s trial to occur on Nov. 4 in the Cazenovia Village Court.
