Royal Caribbean employee accused of burglarizing customers’ homes while they were on cruises

A Royal Caribbean cruise ship employee was arrested Thursday for allegedly burglarizing the homes of nearly two dozen South Florida customers while they were away on cruises.

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Bethsaida Sandoval, 38, on 24 counts of burglary and one count of racketeering, records show.

Detectives say the Miami woman accessed the victims’ information at Royal Caribbean’s offices in Miramar, where she worked as a vacation planner, according to a Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

She and her husband, John Lopez, later broke into nearly two dozen homes and took off with flat-screen televisions and other expensive items, the report said.

The burglaries happened at homes in Boca Raton, Boytnon Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens and Coral Springs starting in November 2009. Most had one thing in common: a hole was cut in the home’s rear sliding glass door after the victims left on Royal Caribbean cruises.

Detectives confronted Sandoval on June 2. In a taped statement, she allegedly confessed to her role in the burglaries, the report said. She told them she would drive her husband to the homes in a black SUV and waited outside while he broke into the homes. Sometimes Lopez went without her and worked with another accomplice, the report said.

Palm Beach County Judge Krista Marx ordered Sandoval be held in lieu of a $70,000 bond Friday morning. Lopez is being held at a Broward County jail on unrelated assault and burglary charges. It is not clear if he has been charged in the case.

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One Response to “Royal Caribbean employee accused of burglarizing customers’ homes while they were on cruises”

Ulk Cruise says:

June 14, 2010 at 10:01 am

This is a horrible story and shocking to think that somebody would abuse their clients’ trust in this way. People who take cruises do so regularly and tend to find one travel agent they like and use time and time again. They build up a great relationship with their agent and even treat them more like a friend than somebody they are doing a simple business transaction with. For somebody to abuse this position in this way is sickening. most people in the world are good, but unfortunately it’s the bad ones you remember!

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