Don’t Mess With PBSO Or Delray Beach Police. They’ll Find You.
DELRAY BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A Pennsylvania man wanted since 2016 for allegedly stealing and pawning a roommate’s laptop in Delray Beach is finally behind bars, arrested nearly 11 years after the crime. Michael James Haslett, now 38, was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on July 2, 2026, by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. He faces charges of dealing in stolen property and providing false ownership information to a pawnbroker, both stemming from a case Delray Beach police opened back when Haslett was still living in South Florida.
The case traces back to October 2015, when a Delray Beach man reported his 17-inch black HP laptop missing from a transitional housing residence he shared with several roommates, including Haslett. The victim told police he had issues with Haslett taking small items from the home, and that Haslett had abruptly moved out around the same time the laptop vanished. When a Delray Beach detective picked up the case for follow-up, the phone number the victim had for Haslett was already disconnected.
Investigators didn’t give up. Using databases and a Facebook search, detectives tracked down a Pennsylvania address and photo for Haslett, then found a pawn shop record showing he’d sold the laptop at a Federal Highway pawn shop in Delray Beach for $80, using a Pennsylvania ID and a phone number that matched the one given to police. Records showed someone had even added a password to the laptop before the sale. The victim identified the laptop from photos and picked Haslett’s picture out of a Facebook post, and the pawn shop employee who handled the transaction picked him out of a six-photo lineup without hesitation.
Prosecutors issued a warrant for Haslett’s back in January of 2016 — but he wasn’t taken into custody until this month, more than a decade later. He’s expected to appear in court on July 9th.
