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Video: Bradenton Oak & Stone general manager accused of burglarizing the business

By and
Published  April 30, 2025 12:36pm EDT
Bradenton
FOX 13 News

Bradenton restaurant GM accused of burglary

The general manager of the Bradenton Oak & Stone restaurant is accused of burglarizing it early Tuesday morning.

The Brief

    • The general manager of Bradenton Oak & Stone is accused of burglarizing the restaurant.
    • Police say video captured William Johnson, 43, walking into the manager's office at 5:44 a.m. and unplugging the security cameras. Additional video shows him leaving the business, wiping the door handles, and leaving the door unlocked. Police say he then returned to a car, carrying a deposit bag.
    • Johnson was arrested at his home.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The general manager of Oak & Stone in Bradenton has been arrested after police say he was caught on camera burglarizing the restaurant earlier this week.

The backstory:

According to the Bradenton Police Department, an employee of Oak & Stone, located at 1201 Barcarrota Blvd., got to work on Tuesday morning and found the restaurant's entrance unlocked.

Police say the safe was open and empty, and the cash register at the bar appeared to have been forced open.

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The employee told the general manager, William Johnson, 43, who said he’d locked the restaurant at 12:45 a.m.

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Courtesy: Bradenton Police Department

Dig deeper:

Investigators said video from Oak and Stone recorded a man, with his face covered, walking into the manager's office at 5:44 a.m. and unplugging the security cameras. He forgot about the city's cameras.

"Because we have such a great network of cameras that belong to the city or belong to local businesses, we were actually able to trace the steps of the person who entered the restaurant. It turns out that the suspect had parked several blocks away," said Bradenton Police Department Public Information Officer Meredith Censullo.

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These cameras allowed police to track down the car that the suspect had left in.

They said the suspect was seen parking a Kia SUV, registered to Johnson, several blocks from Oak and Stone. Police say he then walked to the restaurant and opened the door with a key. Ten minutes later, according to officers, the suspect exited the business, wiped the door handles, and left the door unlocked. Police say he then returned to the Kia, carrying a deposit bag.

Courtesy: Bradenton Police Department

Courtesy: Bradenton Police Department

Detectives also looked at video from multiple cameras near the restaurant. 

What they're saying:

Johnson was arrested at his home. He declined to speak with detectives.

"Later, when we tried to make contact with him so that we could go ahead and place him under arrest, because we had probable cause at that point, he did not have any interest in speaking with us," Censullo said.

"Every step of this was captured on camera, and I think maybe that wasn't considered by the burglar," said Censullo.

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Detectives say he stole about $3,500 from the restaurant's safe, which they are still working to recover through a search.

"Every movement he made from where he parked the car was captured on a camera, so in this case, the camera surveillance really was instrumental in getting this one solved very quickly," Censullo said.

What you can do:

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Detective Rachael Tobie at rachael.tobie@bradentonpd.com.

Tips can also be made anonymously to Crime Stoppers at manateecrimestoppers.com or by calling 866-634-8477 (TIPS).

The Source: This story was written with information provided by the Bradenton Police Department and FOX 13's Jordan Bowen.

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