By Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A photograph sent by e-mail to downtown businesses helped catch the man accused of breaking into the Taft Museum in downtown Cincinnati Sunday.

The museum had good surveillance photographs of the man who broke in and took a flashlight, computer speakers, binoculars and a cooler.

Downtown Cincinnati Inc. e-mailed the photos to merchants and others who are part of a virtual block watch designed by the downtown group and the Cincinnati Police Department.

A worker at the main public library saw the pictures shortly after they were sent out Thursday afternoon and recognized the man - who was in the library at the time. Police arrested Mark Walker, a 34-year-old homeless man who was charged with breaking and entering. He remained in jail Friday.

Officials from the downtown group and police department plan an announcement in the next couple of weeks about the e-mail system.

"But our own success kind of beat us to it," said David Ginsburg, president and chief executive officer of the downtown merchant group.

He estimated that 50 to 60 are on the e-mail list now. Most of the notices are about crimes that occur downtown or other problems such as panhandling and rundown properties.

When the project is completed, Ginsburg expects the number of e-mail recipients to grow to the hundreds.

"People are really hungry for information," he said. "And they really want to help make their downtown better."

Cincinnati was named Downtown of the Month for September by the International Downtown Association, a Washington group that helps cities develop and promote their downtowns. The group cited the virtual block watch program as one of the reasons for the award.

E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com