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Jacksonville man accused of burglarizing homes he was hired to fix after Irma

A Jacksonville man is in jail, accused of burglarizing three homes he was hired to fix up after Hurricane Irma.

The vacation rental homes were all on Ponte Vedra Boulevard in Ponte Vedra Beach.

All three homes are owned by Vacation Quest.

The company told the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office it hired Kyle Best to “board up and clean up damaged vacation rental homes after Hurricane Irma.”

“It’s distressing to say the least, but I really feel sorry for the homeowners, because they’ve already had a really hard blow with the storm,” said Esther Nichols, who is renting out a vacation home a few doors down from one of the burglarized homes.

Best’s arrest reports say he pawned multiple televisions in Jacksonville.

A man working in the garage of one of the burglarized rentals on Wednesday identified himself as Vacation Quest leadership. He did not want to go on camera, but said he’s glad Best was caught.

Best’s arrest reports say he denied being involved with the burglaries, and claimed another man who was also hired to clean up those vacation homes asked him to pawn the televisions.

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office told Action News Jax that man is Julian Cortez, who has two outstanding warrants for the crime, but has not been arrested.

Best is being held on $60,000 bond.