Key West The Newspaper

Man arrested for counterfeit money.

The quick actions of a business owner in the Upper Keys led to the arrest of a Miami man for passing counterfeit bills.

56 year old Oscar Pulido walked in to the Salt Hair Salon at the 94 mile marker at 1:40 p.m. Tuesday and asked if the shop carried a particular hair product. The owner sold him the product, which cost $30; Pulido paid with a $100 bill, receiving $70 in change. As he left the shop, the owner checked the bill with a counterfeit detector pen which showed it to be a fake bill. She quickly checked to see what vehicle he was leaving in, getting a detailed description and a license tag number. She called the Sheriff’s Office with the information.

A notice to be on the lookout for the silver Hyundai was issued over police radios. A short time later, the car was stopped by Lt. Al Ramirez at the 90 mile marker of the highway. Pulido was driving and there was a woman in the passenger seat. The owner of the salon was brought to the scene of the traffic stop and identified Pulido and the man who gave her the fake $100 bill.

More counterfeit money was found in Pulido’s pants and in the vehicle itself. The fake bills all had the same two serial numbers on them. Pulido was placed under arrest. He was charged with possession of 10 or more counterfeit bills and with fraud and he was booked into jail. The hair care products purchased with the fake bill, along with the legitimate currency taken by Pulido in return were all returned to the owner of the salon.

Marathon man charged with burglary, theft, dealing in stolen property.

A Marathon man stole items from a neighbor’s home and pawned them at a local pawn shop. He was charged with the crimes Tuesday.

The owner of the stolen property called the Sheriff’s Office June 18th. He said a number of items had been stolen from inside his locked trailer, parked at the rear of his property on 26th Street in Marathon. He told Sgt. Joel Slough he left town June 3rd and left the only key with a neighbor, Brandon Geiger, who was working on his lawn. He said he told Geiger to lock the trailer after he was done. He said when he returned from out of town on June 8th, the trailer was locked, but the items were gone, including a floor jack, fishing rod, two fishing reels and a leaf blower.

Sgt. Slough checked pawn shop records and found the leaf blower had been pawned by Geiger; when he went to the pawn shop, he asked the owner if he knew anything about a floor jack. The owner said he remembered someone offering to sell him a floor jack recently but he said he could not remember who it was. An employee of the shop said he sent the person to Muffler Man in Marathon. Sgt. Slough went to Muffler Man. The owner said he bought a floor jack from someone recently. The floor jack turned out to be the one that was stolen from the victim.

Geiger was easy to locate as he was already in jail. He’d been arrested on June 12th for DUI and resisting arrest. Sgt. Slough additionally charged him with burglary, grand theft and two counts of dealing in stolen property.

Marathon man charged with exposing himself.

A Marathon man was arrested Wednesday, charged with exposing himself and masturbating in front of two 15 year old girls.

The incident took place Tuesday at 5 p.m. The two girls were in one kayak and the parents of one of the girls were in another one. They were all staying at Coconut Cay Resort in Marathon. They were returning to the resort when the girls saw Logan Webb standing on a seawall. They told Detective Manny Cuervo as they passed, they saw him pull down his shorts and begin to masturbate while watching them.

Logan was located Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. in his silver Toyota truck on Coco Plum Drive, traveling toward Highway U.S. One. Major Crimes Detective Cuervo stopped his vehicle with assistance from road patrol deputies.

As the detective spoke with Webb, Sheriff’s dispatchers called over the radio for deputies to respond to an indecent exposure on Coco Plum Drive, near the beach. Deputy Rosary Ponce made initial contact with the 43 year old female victim over the phone. The victim said she’d been paddle boarding offshore when she saw a man on the beach. She said he asked her if it was hard to stand up on a paddle board. She said he then exposed himself and began to masturbate as he looked at her. She said she began to paddle away and he asked her “do you like to look at me?” She returned to her parent’s home and called the Sheriff’s Office. She said she saw the man get into a silver colored Toyota truck and drive away.

Logan was placed under arrest for the Tuesday incident, charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious acts in front of someone under the age of 16; the incident which took place Wednesday is still under investigation.

Lower Keys-Alcohol Coalition Checks

On June 27, 2016, The Special Investigations Unit of the Sheriff’s Office conducted an operation checking businesses that sell alcohol in the Lower Keys. Seventeen businesses were checked including restaurants, convenience stores and bars. Four of the businesses served alcohol to a minor during the investigation. The four clerks who sold the alcohol were issued Notices to Appear before a Monroe County Judge.

The following are a list of the Businesses, and attendants who sold the alcohol:

Walgreens – 30351 Overseas Highway, Big Pine Key. Attendant: Cassandra J. Mense, 38 years of age.
Baypoint Market – 3124 Overseas Highway, Bay Point. Attendant: Nicole R. Ferry, 24 years of age.
Circle K – 1190 Overseas Highway, Big Coppitt Key. Attendant: Justin M. Lewis Zuk, 23 years of age.
Chevron Gas – 5220 Overseas Highway, Stock Island. Attendant: Benjamin L. Hanson, 37 years of age.

The Sale Clerk violations are up to 60 days in jail, a $500.00 fine, $235.00 in court cost, $75.00 in cost of prosecution, and $40.00 in cost of investigation.

The Licensee Violations are:

1st-Offense $1000 fine and 7 day suspension.
2nd-Offense $3000 fine and 30 day suspension.
3rd-Offense Revocation of license.

The remaining businesses checked, were in compliance with the law. This operation was conducted in cooperation with the Monroe County Coalition for a Safe and Drug Free Community.Charges are pending.