Key West The Newspaper

Naked Wanted Woman Arrested for Hitting Deputy

A woman wanted on an outstanding warrant answered her door with no clothes on when deputies went there to serve the warrant. She then attacked the deputies and threatened to kill them.

53 year old Kim Larman of Silver Springs Drive in Key Largo was wanted for contempt of court reference a violation of an injunction for stalking. Sgt. Scott Ward and Deputy Christopher Kilmurray knocked on her door at 9 p.m. Wednesday. She answered the door completely unclothed.

When they told her they were there to serve a warrant, she used obscene language to let them know she was not going to cooperate and go with them. As she turned and walked away from the door, they followed her inside.

She walked toward the bedroom as the officers continued to order her to stop. As she lay down on her bed, they asked her if she had any weapons in the residence. She replied, “If I had a gun then I would shoot you and kill you.”

They attempted to take her into custody and she fought with them, charging at Sgt. Ward and pushing him in the chest with both hands. They were finally able to handcuff her. They covered her with a blanket and took her to jail.

Larman was charged with the warrant. She was also charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, making threats against a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence and she was booked into jail.

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UPDATE: The two boats reported stolen in the below story were recovered.

The Wellcraft stolen from Harbor Drive was recovered by Marine Deputy Wilfredo Guerra in a mangrove area near Burdines Restaurant in Marathon.

The Twin Vee stolen from North Angler’s Drive was located by Lt. Derek Paul and Captain Gene Thompson Sunday in mangroves behind Marathon High School in a mangrove area.

Both boats will be returned to the owners. Detectives are still investigating in an effort to discover who may have stolen them.

Boat and other marine related thefts

Two boats and a large amount of fishing equipment were reported stolen over the past few days in the county.

In Marathon, the two boats were stolen sometime between the evening of the 12th and the morning of the 13th. One, a 1987 Wellcraft V20 with a 225 Hp two stroke Mercury engine on it, was taken from behind a house on Harbor Drive in Marathon. The owner said he was working on the boat and last saw it at 7 p.m. on Thursday. He woke the next morning at 7 a.m. and it was gone.

The second stolen boat was a 20 foot long Twin Vee Outrageous with a yellow Bimini top on it. It had two 60 Hp four stroke Mercury engines on it. It was taken from a condominium complex on Anglers Drive. The owner said he last saw it Thursday night when he was working on it. He said he woke at 7 a.m. to find it missing.

In both cases, the owners said they left the keys on the boats.

A large amount of fishing equipment was reported stolen from a boat kept on a trailer at a house on Lobster Lane in Key Largo. The owner said he last saw his equipment on the boat on January 10th. When he checked on it on Friday, it was gone. The stolen equipment included rods, reels and fishing tackle valued at over $2,000.

The Sheriff’s Office would once again like to remind everyone that it is currently our busy season in the Keys; this means we have many more visitors in our county, not all of them here to enjoy themselves. With the influx of people to the Keys, thieves also come here; they are looking out for people who are not mindful of their valuables and property.

It is impossible to prevent all crime from happening, however you can make sure you are making it as difficult as possible for someone to steal your property.

Make sure fishing equipment – and any other valuable property you might have – is secured somewhere safe and not left on board a boat or left unsecured on a dock or outside a building.

If you have a boat, never leave the keys on it; make sure it is parked or docked in a well-lighted area and that the lights are on at night when a theft is most likely to take place. If it is on a boat lift, turn off the electricity to the lift when you are not using the boat. If the boat is kept on a trailer, make sure there is a trailer lock on it so it cannot be easily towed away by thieves.

Most of the time, thieves are looking for an easy target. If your property is not easy to steal, they will move on to somewhere less difficult.

Anyone with information about these or any other crimes should contact the Sheriff’s Office. Callers who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers of the Florida Keys. If a Crimestoppers tip leads to an arrest, the caller would be eligible for a cash reward. The Crimestoppers hot line number is 1-800-346-TIPS. Tips may be made anonymously on line at www.tipsubmit.com or via a text message to 274637 using the keyword TIP136.

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Grassy Key man arrested on felony warrants

A Grassy Key man fought with deputies and yelled for help from his mother before being arrested on outstanding felony warrants early today.

An anonymous caller reported just before 2 a.m. that a wanted felon – 23 year old Craig Vettinger – could be found at 58662 Overseas Highway on Grassy Key. Sergeant Nick Whiteman and Deputies Daniel Hill and Garrett Bragg were familiar with Vettinger. He is well known for fleeing from law enforcement and for fighting with deputies so they formed a plan to catch him with those things in mind.

Sgt. Whiteman and Deputy Hill went to the address where Vettinger was supposed to be and, when Vettinger fled from them, Deputy Bragg, who was hiding a short distance away, waited for him. When Vettinger approached Bragg’s location, the deputy stepped into his path.

Vettinger, startled, fell down. He was handcuffed and taken into custody. He refused orders to walk to a nearby patrol car; and he struggled and fought with the deputies as they carried him to the car. At one point, he began yelling for his mother, who was at the residence, but who did not interfere with the arrest.

Vettinger was charged with the two warrants, both of which were for violation of probation ref. battery and burglary. He was also charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest.

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Drug arrest after traffic stop

Erratic driving led to the arrest of a Big Coppitt Key man for marijuana possession.

Detectives with the Monroe County HIDTA Task Force this morning saw a gray colored Dodge RAM truck southbound at the 21 mile marker at 3 a.m. The truck was driving erratically, swerving from side to side. The detectives called for assistance in stopping the truck. Deputy Garrett Bragg was in the area and stopped the truck at the 17 mile marker of the highway.

A Key West Police K-9 team responded to the traffic stop as backup, along with agents from Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations and Border Patrol.

The driver of the truck was identified as 52 year old Tony Morejon; the passenger was identified as 27 year old Chad Wassman.

During the traffic stop, Wassman was found to have a small amount of marijuana in his pocket. The K-9, trained in drug detection, alerted to the presence of drugs in the truck. A search of the truck turned up three large vacuum seal bags filled with a total of 820 grams of marijuana; rolling papers and other drug paraphernalia were also found in the truck.

After questioning the two men, it was determined the marijuana in the truck belonged to Morejon. Morejon was arrested, charged with possessing a felony amount of marijuana and with possession of drug paraphernalia and he was booked into jail. Wassman was not charged.