Key West The Newspaper

A tip to Crime Stoppers led Monroe County Sheriff’s detectives to Yurisandro Leon, 22, for his role in an attempted burglary on Sugarloaf Key. Upon arrest, detectives recovered property and cash that had been stolen Wednesday from a Key West home on Sunrise Drive.

Based on surveillance video and other information, detectives suspected that a group of people were involved in several break-ins in Key West as well as the Lower Keys.

During the investigation, Key West detectives uncovered a social media post by a 16-year-old boy they recognized from previous encounters with law enforcement. In it, he and a young woman are seen with a large amount of cash shortly after several thousand dollars had been stolen from the Sunrise Drive home.

Police issued a Be On the Lookout for the juvenile, and he was arrested early Friday December 16th morning. Detectives were able to identify the girl in the social media post as Katherine Lebrigio Cruz, 18, with the help law enforcement databases.

Key West road patrol officers spotted Cruz’s car at a Key West gas station Friday [Dec 16th] morning. In addition to money from the burglary, Cruz also had an array of drugs in her possession.

Another juvenile was also interviewed in connection with the Sunrise Drive burglary. During the interview, he admitted to police that he had a gun in his backpack. A check on the gun showed that it had been reported stolen after a Key West burglary in late November, and the boy was arrested for possession of a stolen firearm.

All four suspects were booked into the Monroe County Detention Center. Leon faces felony charges of burglary and grand theft. Cruz is charged with felony burglary and drug possession as well as several other misdemeanor charges. Ignacio Valdez, 16, faces felony burglary and grand theft charges.  Jorge Colina, 15, was charged with felony possession of a stolen firearm and a felony count of possession of marijuana.