Key West The Newspaper

Woman arrested for aggravated assault, DUI

A Key Largo woman was arrested Thursday night for driving drunk and for attempting to hit two people with her car.

Deputies responded to Hibiscus Park in Key Largo just before 10 p.m. A caller to Sheriff’s dispatchers said a woman was “trying to kill people with her vehicle.” The caller said the vehicle was an older beige colored sedan and it was “going over 100 miles per hour.”

Sgt. Scott Ward was first to arrive and he spotted the vehicle in question at the entrance to the Hibiscus Park neighborhood. Deputy Paul Rocha also arrived and turned on his emergency lights, stopping the car. The driver was identified as 56 year old Sonja Lopez. A Florida Highway Patrol Trooper also responded. After it was determined Lopez appeared to be impaired, the FHP trooper conducted a DUI investigation.

Deputies interviewed the two victims, a 39 year old woman and her 19 year old son. The woman was the one who called dispatch to make the report. She was visibly upset and told Sgt. Ward she and her son were walking down the side of the road and Lopez was driving up and down the road at a high rate of speed. She said Lopez was yelling and screaming from the car, and repeatedly used racial slurs as she was yelling. She said Lopez intentionally tried to hit her and her son twice with the car. She said they had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

Lopez was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol by the Florida Highway Patrol and with aggravated assault by the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office is discussing with the State Attorney’s Office the possibility of a potential enhancement of the aggravated assault charge due to the racial slurs used by Lopez.

Two arrested on drug charges

Two Key Largo residents were arrested Thursday afternoon after undercover operatives purchased heroin and cocaine at a resort in Key Largo.

An undercover operative met with 25 year old Jessica Brown at Sunset Cove Beach Resort; they went to a unit at the resort with “Pelican” on the door and met with a man later identified as Kristian Demblans and purchased a substance that later tested positive as 3.4 grams of Heroin. A second purchase of 4.4 grams of crack cocaine was made later in the day at the same location from Brown and Demblans.

After the drugs were purchased a search warrant was obtained for the unit they were selling from. Inside, detectives found 23 grams of crack cocaine, 9 grams of powdered cocaine, 15 grams of Alprazolam, .7 grams of Heroin and 5 grams of marijuana. A large amount of drug paraphernalia was also found in the room.

Both Brown and Demblans were arrested. Brown was charged with sale of cocaine, sale of heroin, possession of heroin with intent to sell, trafficking in cocaine, two counts use of a two way communications device to facilitate a felony and possession of drug paraphernalia. Demblans was charged with sale of heroin and cocaine as well as an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court.

The operation was conducted by the Sheriff’s Special Investigations Unit with assistance of Homeland Security Investigations and the State Attorney’s Office.

Woman arrested for warrant, drugs and resisting arrest

A Rockland Key woman was arrested for having an outstanding warrant, possessing drugs and fighting with deputies Thursday afternoon on Summerland Key.

The bartender at the Wharf Bar called the Sheriff’s Office just before 4 p.m. because 32 year old Kristin Plante was reportedly causing a scene in the bar and refusing to leave when he asked her to. He told responding Deputy Freddy Rodriguez he believed Plante was under the influence of cocaine because she’d gone in the restroom and come out with white powder on her face. By the time deputies arrived, she’d left the bar.

Deputy Rodriguez located Plante walking near the First State Bank on Summerland Key. When he checked on her through Sheriff’s Office computers, she had an outstanding warrant for her arrest for violating the terms of her conditional release ref. two counts of felony theft. When he informed her of the warrant, she told him she was not going to jail and she ran away from him. As she was running, she tripped and fell face-first onto the sidewalk.

Deputies Seth Hopp and Austin Hopp arrived to assist. An ambulance was called to assist as well. Plante fought with the deputies as they attempted to take her into custody. She was bleeding from injuries to her face, so after she was handcuffed, she was transported by ambulance to Lower Keys Hospital.

Plante fought with paramedics in the ambulance and continued to fight once she got to the hospital. At the hospital, at one point, she was able to break away from deputies who were restraining her. She ran away from them and ran face-first into the emergency room doors before they gain control of her.

She was finally cleared by the hospital for transport to jail. In her purse, deputies found white powder and a green leafy substance which tested positive for cocaine and marijuana. She was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and two counts each of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence.

Convicted felon charged with possessing a firearm and drugs

An Islamorada man who is a convicted felon was arrested Sunday night for possessing a firearm and drugs.

Sheriff’s dispatchers received a call at 8 p.m. of a suspicious person on South Ocean Shores Drive in Key Largo. The caller said a man in a car was seen dumping a firearm and bullets out of the vehicle and onto the street and then leaving the area. As deputies were responding, dispatchers received another call that the vehicle had returned and picked up the firearm and bullets.

Once Deputy Titus Hodges and Sgt. Sheila Seago arrived in the area, they were flagged down by a witness who said the vehicle had turned onto Ocean Way. A vehicle matching the description given by the witness was found, with two men inside, parked at the end of the street.

Deputy Gil Gonzalez arrived to assist. He made contact with the driver, 26 year old Derek Williams of Islamorada, who admitted there was a gun in the car in a side pocket next to the center console. He told deputies he is a convicted felon and knows he is not allowed to have a firearm. There was a strong odor of burnt marijuana in the vehicle. Williams was found to have marijuana in his pocket and more marijuana was found in the vehicle. Two pills later identified as Alprazolam were found in the ashtray of the car and there were also several items of drug paraphernalia in the car.

Williams was arrested. He was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana, a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. He was booked into the Plantation Key Jail.