A diver death and a man found floating in the water offshore of Higg’s Beach kept Major Crimes Detective Manny Cuervo busy last Friday afternoon.

At 11:20 a.m., Detective Cuervo responded to Front Street on Stock Island, where a diver was being brought in unresponsive, not breathing. Paramedics responded as well and transported the Ohio man to Lower Keys Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was on board a commercial dive vessel; he and a group of divers on the boat were doing a “test dive” in about 30 feet of water in preparation for a later dive on the Vandenberg. Other divers in the group said he surfaced and gave the “OK” sign, but when they saw him  just minutes later, he was floating on the surface of the water, not breathing. Detective Cuervo is attempting to reach his family to notify them of his death. An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of his death.

Just 20 minutes later, Key West Police notified Sheriff’s dispatchers of a man’s body, found about 400 – 500 yards offshore of the Higg’s Beach / White Street Pier area of Key West. A jet skier in that area found the man floating in the water. Key West Police recovered the body and took it to the U.S. Coast Guard station, where Detective Cuervo met them to conduct his investigation.

According to the detective, there is no obvious sign of foul play in evidence on the body. There is also no identification on the body, so Detective Cuervo is hoping someone will recognize his description. He is a white male, late 40s to late 50s with medium length salt and pepper hair. He is about 5’10” to 6’ tall and weighs in the neighborhood of 250 pounds. He is wearing blue jeans, a brown “Key West” t-shirt, tucked in, with a brown belt. On his feet, he was wearing “water shoes”. On his left ring finger is a small key ring, worn like a ring. He may have been in the water anywhere from 6 to 12 hours.

A Tallahassee man, arrested after he was caught driving a stolen auto, is under investigation for several burglaries.

Detective Donald Catala spotted 40 year old Robert Skinner driving the silver colored Chevrolet Silverado last Wednesday afternoon. When Skinner saw the detective’s unmarked law enforcement vehicle, he began acting as if he were nervous; Detective Catala decided to run the truck’s license tag to see if Skinner had reason to be nervous. The tag revealed the truck had been reported stolen from Hillsboro County.

The truck was stopped as it left Key West, over the Cow Key Channel Bridge, by Detectives David Chavka and David Cruz and Deputy Matt Dowling. Skinner was taken into custody on the Hillsboro County grand theft auto charge.

The truck matched the description of a vehicle involved in a Key Largo burglary earlier in the day. Property found in the truck, including laptop computers, cameras, fishing equipment and ammunition, may have come from burglaries committed earlier in the day in Key Largo and on Grassy Key.

Skinner claimed a man he met at the Waffle House in Key West earlier in the day had loaned him the truck and asked him to use it to get him drugs. He also said the same man asked him to take the property in the truck to a pawn shop for him. He could not give detectives the man’s name or description. He also couldn’t explain why he had two credit cards in his wallet that did not belong to him.

Investigations are continuing as detectives attempt to match the items in the truck with the burglaries, and try to locate other items Skinner may have pawned. More charges are pending. According to detectives in Hillsboro County, Skinner is well known to them and has more charges pending there as well.

A Marathon man is in jail, charged with threatening another man with a gun.

The charges stem from an incident which took place January 7 in the early morning hours at JJs Doghouse bar. Just after 3 a.m., deputies responded to the bar to reports of a man with a gun.

When they arrived, they met with the victim, who said the suspect, 36 year old Enrique Valdes Jr., had chased him down the street with a gun in his hand.

The two men had a previous altercation, about  a week before, during which Valdes was struck in the eye. The victim said when Valdes saw him in the bar he left, telling the victim he’d “be right back”. The victim said he was afraid Valdes was going to get a weapon, so he armed himself with a pool cue. He said when Valdes returned a short time later, he had a gun in his hand. At that point, the victim said he fled on foot down the street with Valdes chasing him.

Witnesses corroborated the victim’s story. An employee of the bar at first refused to make a statement, but later told Sgt. Joel Slough Valdes had shown him a handgun tucked in his waistband. Another witness said he saw the suspect running after the victim carrying a handgun.

A warrant was issued for Valdes; last Thursday, he was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He was booked into jail.

In the constant effort to keep our streets safe, the Sheriff’s Office has a new tool. For the past month, deputies have been driving a specially equipped patrol car which can read license plates, and which gives an alert when a car has been reported stolen, or the owner of the car has  a suspended license.

The car looks just like a normal patrol vehicle – citizens won’t know the difference when they see it unless they notice the unobtrusive black boxes mounted beside the light bar on top. Inside it is equipped with four digital tag readers which feed information to a laptop computer in the car. The readers can read tags in front of the patrol vehicle, and to each side of it. The computer automatically checks the tags through a database which is updated every half hour to reflect up to date information on stolen cars and suspended licenses.

Once alerted, the deputy checks the actual car’s tag with the one showing on the screen to make sure the reading is correct. If it is, he can pull the vehicle over and ticket the driver if necessary.

“We have been operating this car 24 hours a day in various areas of the county and it has been very successful,”said Colonel Rick Ramsay. ‚”It checks an average of 1200 – 1500 tags per shift, depending on time of day and traffic. We are still collecting data on it, but as an example, we worked in the city of Key West with KWPD for a week. In one night, we got 74 hits on tags and wrote 25 tickets.”

“This is one more tool in our arsenal,” Sheriff Bob Peryam said. “If someone’s license is suspended, it is for a reason. Usually, it is because of dangerous driving habits. We don’t dangerous people driving on our roadways, endangering our law abiding citizens,” he said. “And if a car is stolen, we definitely want to catch the person driving the stolen vehicle and return the it to its owner.”

40 deputies assigned to various areas of the county went through a four hour training session to learn how to operate the equipment. Most of the time, the vehicle is operated by two patrol officers; one driving and one working with the tag reader.

Two Miami women were arrested, accused of committing mortgage fraud in the purchase of a Sugarloaf Key home. A third one is wanted on an outstanding warrant.

The women conspired in 2007  to falsify documents regarding the purchase of a home on Pinetree Lane, Sugarloaf Key. The actual house purchase price was $899,000; paperwork falsified by the women showed the sale price at $1,940,000.  Detective Diane Mimosa received an anonymous tip about the crime in February of 2011.

Detective Mimosa’s lengthy and detailed investigations showed that during the process of purchasing the home, the women conspired to take a mortgage out on the property using the falsified and inflated property value; they then paid off the seller, the real estate agent and other costs based on the original sale price, pocketing the remainder of the mortgage amount – about $450,000.00 in all.

Warrants were issued on January 4th for 31 year old Sacha Rodriguez of Miami and 45 year old Alba Fito of Hialeah.  They were both booked into jail Tuesday, charged with grand theft over $100,000 – a first degree felony, and mortgage fraud, a second degree felony.

A warrant has been issued for a third woman, 43 year old Anayansi Perez of Miami. Perez is accused of knowingly allowing the two other women to use her identity when applying for the fraudulent mortgage. She will also be charged with grand theft and mortgage fraud.

Rodriguez has been convicted of similar crimes in other jurisdictions in Florida; Fito has been charged with similar crimes and cases against her are still ongoing.

A 24 year old Marathon man is in jail after failing to stop his scooter for deputies, then fighting with them as they attempted to handcuff him.

Sheriff’s dispatchers received a call at 8:45 p.m. last Saturday of a reckless driver on a motor scooter northbound on U.S. One in Marathon. Deputy Christian Galls was at the stoplight at U. S. One and 55th Street when he saw a vehicle in back of a scooter; the driver of the vehicle flashed his lights and yelled to the deputy that the scooter driver was driving as if he was impaired.

Deputy Galls attempted to stop the scooter as the driver continued on U.S. One to 68th Street. The scooter failed to stop as it turned on 68th Street, then pulled into the driveway of a residence.

Deputy Galls got out of his vehicle yelling at the scooter driver to get off the scooter. The driver, later identified as Brandon Smith, tried to take off on the vehicle, but the deputy grabbed him, dragging him to the ground.

As Smith resisted, Deputy Galls struggled with him finally getting him in handcuffs. At that point, Deputies Danielle Malone and Nicholis Whiteman arrived as back up.

Smith refused medical treatment, refused field sobriety exercises and refused a breathalyzer test. He reportedly appeared to be impaired, had trouble keeping his eyes open and spoke with slurred speech, having trouble answering deputies questions.

Once at the jail, because of his impaired state, Corrections officers insisted he be cleared by the hospital before being booked into jail. After he was cleared at the hospital, Deputy Galls was standing beside him opening the door of his patrol car to put him inside when Smith again began to struggle. During the struggle, he kicked the deputy and grabbed for his gun. Deputy Galls got him back under control and transported him to jail for booking. Once at the jail, he continued to struggle and had to be placed in a restraint chair for his own safety and the safety of the officers involved.

Smith was charged with driving under the influence, fleeing and eluding police, resisting arrest with and without violence and battery on a law enforcement officer.

A Marathon man on a motorcycle refused to stop for a deputy trying to pull him over; he crashed and was airlifted to Miami to be treated for injuries related to the crash.

Deputy Thomas Hill was northbound on Highway U.S. One near Sadowski Causeway just before midnight Tuesday when he saw the motorcycle pull out of the Circle K parking lot and immediately accelerate to 91 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone. As the deputy turned on his lights and siren and attempted to catch up with the bike, the driver accelerated through the red light at Coco Plum Road, traveling at a high rate of speed northbound.

At that point, the deputy decided not to chase the motorcycle for fear it would cause the bike’s rider to drive even more dangerously. Deputy Hill continued north and, when he reached the 56 mile marker, he saw black plastic scattered across the highway and several vehicles stopped with their emergency flashers on. He then saw the motorcycle off the road with the driver lying beside it.

Another vehicle with rear end damage was on the scene; the two people in the vehicle complained of some pain; they were treated on the scene but refused transport to the hospital.

Deputy Hill called for an ambulance and for Florida Highway Patrol to respond to investigate the accident. He then treated the motorcycle driver as he waited for the ambulance. The man identified himself as Charles Motschall of Marathon. Deputy Hill said when the man spoke, he could smell the odor of alcohol on his breath.

A short time later, a man arrived on the scene who also identified himself as Charles Motschall. He told Deputy Hill the injured man was his brother, Daniel. He said he and Daniel own the motorcycle together. He said Daniel probably gave a false name because he did not have a motorcycle endorsement on is license.

25 year old Daniel Motschall was airlifted to Miami for treatment of his injuries. FHP is investigating the case.

A Key West man was caught as he was trying to steal pieces of metal from a business on Stock Island.

One of the managers of F & W Fencing on 3rd Avenue was riding her bike to work just before noon Monday when she heard clanking metal coming from the fenced area owned by the business. When she stopped to check on it she saw 49 year old Serafin Alvarez picking up pieces of metal and throwing them over the fence. She called her husband, who is the other business manager; he responded and began talking to Alvarez as his wife called the Sheriff’s Office.

When Deputy Kim Trullender arrived, Alvarez was still on the scene. He was placed under arrest, charged with burglary and he was taken to jail.

Sheriff’s Detective David Cruz would like the public’s help identifying a vehicle burglar captured on video tape burglarizing a van on Stock Island in late November.

The crime took place November 26 at 4 p.m. in the parking lot of Unlimited Electric Technologies at 5585 2nd Avenue on Stock Island. The suspect is shown walking around the parking lot of Unlimited Electric Technologies; after several minutes, he picks up a rock and throws it at the van’s window, breaking it. He reaches in, unlocks the door, opens it and removes items from inside, including a quantity of electrical wiring. The suspect then loads the stolen items onto his bicycle and rides away from the scene in an unknown direction.

The victim, 36 year old John Grodzinski, was able to pull the video from his outside camera system. Now, Detective Cruz is hoping someone who watches the video will recognize the suspect.

Two videos have been posted on YouTube, A link to the videos has been posted on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, MCSO – Florida Keys. Anyone who has information which might lead to an arrest in this case should call Detective Cruz at 305-292-7060. Callers who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers of the Florida Keys. If a tip leads to an arrest, the caller would be eligible for a cash reward. The Crime Stoppers hot line number is 1-800-346-TIPS. Tips may be submitted on line at tipsubmit.com.

The videos can be viewed at http://youtu.be/aqK17jo1E48   and http://youtu.be/lkeQZyVso0w,  or there is a link on our Facebook page, MCSO – Florida Keys.

Deputies responded to Doubloon Lane early last Friday after neighbors reported hearing a loud booming sound, possibly an explosion.

When Deputies Massiel Brimo, Spencer Bryan and Chris Duncan arrived at 12:30 a.m., a number of residents were standing outside their homes. They told the deputies a truck had just left one of the homes on Doubloon Lane and appeared to be in a hurry. The deputies managed to catch up to the truck and pull it over; the driver, 45 year old Fredrick Lytton, appeared to be impaired; he said he had just left the house at 131 Doubloon Lane because “a bomb just went off”. The deputies asked him if anyone at the house was hurt and he said yes, a man was in the house and was hurt.

Deputies returned to the house where the explosion occurred; a man and a woman were underneath the house. They were asked to come away from the house for their own safety. Sherry and Derwood Stewart told the deputies their son, 37 year old Brett Stewart, and his friend Lytton had been drinking and had blown something up under the house using welding torches. Stewart was upstairs in the house in the shower with the window open. The deputies could hear him through the open window moaning in pain. He couldn’t hear them calling to him, however, because his ears had been damaged by the noise of the explosion.

Paramedics were called to the scene. Sgt. Tom Walker responded and was able to shut off the welding torches that were under the house and render the scene safe. Deputies were then able to enter and bring Stewart out of the house for treatment of his injuries. He suffered burns on his torso and he was transported to Lower Keys Medical Center for treatment.

Lytton was also transported to the hospital to be checked for injuries. Before his transport, he told Deputy Bryan he and Stewart were downstairs drinking when Stewart said “watch this”. He grabbed a black trash bag and began to fill it with acetylene and oxygen from a welder he uses to work on cars under the house. Steward said as the bag began to expand they both had their arms wrapped around it. It exploded in their arms injuring both men.