Crime Report
Marathon man charged with burglary
A 26 year old Marathon man was arrested for burglary early today.
The victim lives in Galway Bay Trailer Park in Marathon. He told Deputy Seth Hopp he woke at 3:30 am., walked out of his bedroom and found the door to his trailer open. He then found several cabinets open in the trailer and found an open can of beer and a pair of sunglasses inside that weren’t his. That is when he called the Sheriff’s Office.
As he was responding the call, Deputy Hopp encountered 26 year old Zachary Sims in the trailer park. Sims appeared to be intoxicated and said he was looking for his sunglasses.
Deputies Garrett Bragg and Shannon O’Connell arrived as back up and stayed with Sims while Deputy Hopp met with the victim.
Subsequent investigation revealed the sunglasses and the beer in the trailer did belong to Sims. He claimed to be in the trailer park visiting a friend, but he was unsure which trailer his friend lived in.
Sims was arrested. He was charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling and he was booked into jail.
Two charged with racing motorcycles
Two teens were arrested on Cudjoe Sunday afternoon for racing unregistered motorcycles.
Sgt. Ken Fricke was on patrol on Cudjoe Key at 1 p.m. when he heard motorcycles racing up and down Spanish Maine Drive near the 23 mile marker of the highway. As he turned onto Spanish Maine, he saw the motorcycles; neither had a license plate. He turned on his lights and siren to stop them.
Both bikes fled from him at high rates of speed, fleeing down side streets off of Spanish Maine Drive. He eventually one hiding in some bushes on Dirk Lane. The 17 year old driver from Ramrod Key was cited for careless driving and operating an unregistered vehicle.
The second motorcycle was found abandoned on another street nearby. Investigations revealed the driver had been a 17 year old from Big Coppitt Key. He was located by Deputy Lazaro Valdes at home and was charged with fleeing and eluding law enforcement, reckless driving, operating an unregistered motor vehicle and driving with no license.
Key West man, convicted felon, caught with weapons, drugs
A Key West man was arrested Tuesday, charged with being a convicted felon with weapons and for possessing illegal drugs.
Traffic Enforcement Deputy John McGee stopped the silver Ford F250 truck at 17th Terrace and Northside Drive in Key West just after 4 p.m. after he saw the driver was not wearing a safety belt. The driver was identified as 44 year old Nelson Sawyer of Key West. A K-9 law enforcement team responded to the location and did a sniff of the outside of the truck, checking for the presence of illegal substances.
The dog alerted on the vehicle, indicated the presence of narcotics inside. A search of the vehicle turned up 22 Alprazolam pills. The search also turned up two firearms and a machete in a duffel bag on the rear floorboard, behind the driver’s seat. The guns were identified as a Smith & Wesson M&P .22 caliber long rifle and a Spike’s Tactical ST-15 short barrel firearm. A check of Sawyer’s criminal history confirmed him to be a Florida convicted felon.
Sawyer was arrested and charged with two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was booked into jail. Members of the Key West Police Department Special Operations Unit and Homeland Security Investigations assisted with the investigation.