Man charged with multiple burglaries on Little Torch Key

A Little Torch Key man is in jail charged with multiple burglaries on Little Torch Key.

Deputies responded to Lobster Tail Trail on Little Torch Key Christmas morning to reports of multiple vehicle burglaries. When they arrived, they began speaking with victims and discovered two attempted residential burglaries and a boat burglary as well.

Investigations led officers to a home on Coral Shores Road, Little Torch Key. They identified several people who lived in the house and obtained permission to search the house for any possible stolen property.

Inside the house, in a room belonging to 22 year old Jenner Pizarro, they found a large amount of stolen property from the burglary cases, including a prescription pill bottle, a state park pass, a makeup bag, a purse, a pair of shoes and some women’s clothing, dive gear, fishing gear, sleeping bags and several vehicle insurance and registration cards from the burglarized vehicles.

Pizarro could not explain how all the stolen items got into his room. He was arrested and booked into jail, charged with four counts of burglary, three counts of grand theft and one count of theft.

Man arrested for disturbance on bridge

A man from Knoxville, Tennessee was arrested early today after causing a disturbance on the Seven Mile Bridge.

Deputies responded to a call from a security guard at the Sunshine Key campground. The guard said a man was driving recklessly and yelling, causing a disturbance in the campground. When Deputy Christopher Schwartz arrived at 2:30 a.m., the guard told him the man was driving a smoke gray truck. He said the man – later identified as 22 year old Fortune Odendhal – had been yelling “they took my brother” and seemed to be on drugs.

Deputy George Zakariadze spotted the truck speeding northbound on the bridge. Drivers on the bridge called dispatch to report Odendhal was periodically stopping the truck, getting out and running in front of cars, yelling incomprehensibly. Deputy John Allen responded from Marathon and saw Odendhal jump onto the roof of a car on the bridge. He then jumped down and sat on the side of the bridge with his head down.

Deputy Allen ordered Odendhal to lay down and put his hands behind his back. Odendhal complied and was taken into custody. His truck was removed from the bridge. Odendhal was charged with disorderly intoxication and he was booked into jail.

Traffic stop leads to auto theft arrest

Deputies on patrol in Islamorada spotted a stolen vehicle and arrested the woman driving it Monday afternoon.

Deputies Eric Viergutz and Nicholas Thaler spotted the stolen Toyota Prius southbound at the 87 mile marker at 3:30 p.m. The car had been reported stolen from Miami Dade County. There were two women inside the vehicle when it was stopped.

The stolen car was driven by 42 year old Eleanor Smith, who told the deputies she’d just moved to Florida from Rhode Island. She said she’d borrowed the car from a man she knows as “Uber Man”, who lives at a motel in Homestead. She said he is known as “Uber Man” because he drives lots of different cars. She said she paid him $60 to borrow the car; she claimed she did not know it was stolen.

Smith was arrested and charged with grand theft auto. She was taken to jail. Once at the jail, deputies found a driver’s license in someone else’s name along with four credit cards under other people’s names.

Smith claimed the driver’s license and credit cards belonged to various friends and family members. Deputy Viergutz made contact with the family of the woman whose driver’s license was in Smith’s possession. They said no one had permission to have the identification.

Smith was additionally charged with possessing another person’s ID. More charges may be pending in the case.