SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – A Spider-Man mask hastily purchased at a thrift store wasn't enough to keep one Florida man from being identified during a burglary at a liquor store, according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said they recently nabbed Edward "Fast Eddie" Wilburn after he stole bottles and cigarettes from a liquor store in unincorporated Casselberry.
Surveillance video from the store shows Wilburn with his face covered in a Spider-Man mask, grabbing multiple bottles and putting them into a box before running away.
The mask might have worked if Wilburn hadn't originally approached the store sans the disguise, according to Deputy Bruce Milne. Surveillance video from before the break-in showed the first attempt.
"To me, it was just a matter of absolute surprise that he would walk up to the door first, try to break in, then it starts clicking in his head that, 'Oh I might get recognized if I do this without a mask on,'" Milne said.
Milne said when he saw the footage, his spidey sense starting tingling and he recognized the man in the video as Wilburn, a career criminal with an arrest history that dates back to 1991, according to authorities.
The initial faux pas didn't stop Milne from going through with the crime. Deputies said he left the scene, went to a local secondhand store and found the mask then returned to commit the burglary.
Once Milne realized who was behind the mask, he said he was able to track Wilburn to a neighborhood known for drug activity.
"Eddie's a narcotics user, Eddie uses heroin, Eddie uses meth and he steals to feed his habit," Milne said.
Wilburn was arrested on charges of burglary of an occupied structure, grand theft and committing a third-degree felony while wearing a mask.
"I hope that some of those cases can stick to the point that he goes back to prison this time for a long time," Milne said.