Miami Dade Police recovered a stolen tractor trailer rig with the excavator machinery on the back taken from Marathon.

The truck was stolen sometime between December 8 and December 11. It was being used in connection with sewer work in the Marathon area.

The equipment was found, abandoned, at 3611 N.W. South River Drive in Miami. According to reports, the ignition had been punched on the truck in order to start it.

There was no arrest made in the case, which is still under investigation.

Special Investigations Detectives completed an extensive investigation last Thursday they called Taxi Cab Confessions.

Over a four month time period, undercover detectives worked as cab drivers in the Marathon area. During the course of the investigation, they purchased a number of illegal substances from people and purchased stolen property as well. Detectives made purchases of marijuana and cocaine, and also purchased six stolen GPS devices and two stolen radar detectors. The stolen property was traced back to a number of car burglaries which took place between Marathon and Cudjoe Key.

Detectives were able to identify a number of drug dealers, as well as where they lived. On Thursday morning, they wrapped up the investigation by serving a search warrant at the Marathon home of a woman who had sold them cocaine on two occasions.

The warrant was served at 10 a.m. last Wednesday, at 167 23rd Street Ocean in Marathon. The search turned up a black zippered case with 10 grams of powdered cocaine and two and a half crack cocaine cookies inside. The case was hidden outside the back of the house.

38 year old Pshantell Scott was on the premises when the warrant was served and was taken into custody for two outstanding warrants for sale of cocaine. The warrants were issued during the course of Operation Taxi Cab Confessions. She was booked into jail.

During the course of the day, detectives also served more outstanding warrants issued as a result of Operation Taxi Cab Confessions, including:

• 46 year old Letty Ann Laster of Marathon,  charged with Sale of cocaine and Sale of Marijuana.
• 45 year old Gregory Allen Davis of Marathon, charged with 3 counts of Sale of cocaine and Sale of Marijuana.
• 18 year old Aric Tanner Jinks of Marathon,  charged with 2 counts of Sale of Marijuana.

Several more arrests are expected in connection with the operation.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office will be out in force watching out for drunk and unsafe drivers during the month of December with the goal of making sure holiday travel is as safe as possible here in the Florida Keys.

Deputies will be concentrating their efforts on drunk drivers, improper passing and other unsafe driving practices throughout the season in an effort to save lives and make this holiday season a safe and enjoyable one for everyone.

So, as you attend special holiday events designate a sober driver, or take a cab home if you decide to drink alcoholic beverages. Whatever you choose to do, don’t drink and drive. Remember: if you drink and drive and get caught, you will be spending the night in jail.

Our deputies spend their holidays working in order to keep our community safe. Have a safe and happy holiday season, from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

A Stock Island man caught burglarizing a vehicle last Thursday afternoon was arrested.

Deputy Kim Trullender responded to reports a man had burglarized a car and was  now fleeing on foot down Suncrest Avenue at 4:30 p.m. When he arrived, the owner of a vehicle repair business was detaining a man he said he caught in the act of burglarizing a Lincoln Aviator parked at his business.

The suspect at first identified himself as Jose Fernandez; he later admitted this name was false. He was finally identified as 30 year old Daniel Rodriguez. He could give no explanation as to why he’d been inside the vehicle that did not belong to him. A large amount of change was found in his pocket.

He was placed under arrest for vehicle  burglary and giving a false name to a law enforcement officer. Once at the jail, a check on his name revealed five outstanding warrants for writing bad checks. He was also charged with those warrants and was booked into jail.

An 18 year old Marathon teen was arrested early last Sunday after he threw rocks at two patrol cars, and then fled when deputies tried to stop him.

Sgt. Joel Slough and Nicholas Abroe responded to 55th Street just before midnight Saturday after reports that someone was throwing rocks at vehicles parked  at the Brass Monkey bar. While they were parked in the lot investigating, they heard rocks impacting the parking lot beside their vehicles; then they saw a rock hit one of the patrol cars.

They began walking around the area looking for suspects in the rock throwing incidents. They found a young man, later identified as Sean Quinlan. When Quinlan saw Sgt. Slough, be took off running. The sergeant ran after him, through Eastwind Apartments. During the chase, he knocked over several items, including a large propane grill. A witness tried to stop him, holding him for a short time, but Quinlan broke away and kept running, hiding in a mangrove area near the apartments.

Deputy Abroe, Deputy Anthony O’Dea and Sgt. Slough searched the area. Quinlan was finally apprehended. When the sergeant asked him why he ran, he said he was afraid he would be arrested for throwing rocks. He was charged with throwing a deadly missile, criminal mischief and resisting arrest. He was booked into jail.

Deputies in Marathon took an auto theft report that was rather unusual over the past weekend. An oversize tractor trailer truck with an Excavator on the back was taken from its parking spot on 122nd Street in Marathon.

Sunday night, an employee of H.L. Pipeline company called to report the truck had been taken. He said he is currently working on the sewer project in the city of Marathon. He said he parked and locked the truck on the afternoon of December 8th. When he returned to the area on Sunday evening, it was gone. A red caution flag that had been in the truck was found along with some broken glass.

The truck is a Mack Truck with a Lowboy trailer. It had a PC300 Track Excavator on the back. He said it is 75 feet long, almost 12 feet wide and over 14 feet tall; it is so wide it requires an escort permit to operate on the highway.

Detectives will be investigating the case.

The Move-Over law, Florida Statute 316.126, requires drivers to move over or slow down when passing a law enforcement officer or other emergency services worker who is parked alongside the road with emergency lights flashing.

“Many law enforcement officers in the United States are killed each year while conducting traffic stops because driver’s fail to move over, and they hit the officers as they stand roadside,” said Sheriff Bob Peryam. “This Florida law, which has been adopted in almost every state in the country, is an important one and it is one we here in Monroe County take very seriously.”

If you are driving and see a police vehicle, ambulance, fire truck, or tow truck with its lights on beside the road, give the emergency responder room to work and make sure they remain safe as they operate. Move over or slow down. It’s the law, and the penalty is steep: three points on your license and a fine of $166.

A man wanted for attempting to rob the Burger King restaurant on Stock Island was returned to Monroe County to face the charges.

38 year old Derek Shaeffer is accused of entering the Burger King on November 6 at 8:30 p.m. He demanded money from an employee behind the counter, saying he had a gun. Shaeffer had something covering his left hand and arm.

The employee told him he’d have to get a key to the cash register and left the counter area. When Shaeffer realized the employee was not going to return, he left the restaurant.

He was identified from video surveillance footage by a deputy who knew his identity and subsequently identified in a photo line up by the restaurant employee. A warrant was issued for his arrest for robbery.

Shaeffer was in custody in Miami-Dade County on the warrant and was returned to Monroe County to face the local charges.

A woman who lives in an apartment on 7th Avenue returned home early Wednesday to find a man sleeping in her apartment. He was arrested for burglary.

The victim found 45 year old Amado Cardenas sleeping on her living room floor when she got home shortly after 7 a.m. She told deputies she tried to wake him, but he wouldn’t wake up so she called the Sheriff’s Office.

The house was disturbed; Cardenas had helped himself to alcoholic beverages, gone through her drawers and taken cash and medications from her. He had also tried to take her flat screen television off of the wall.

Cardenas said he thought he was in his ex-girlfriend’s house. His ex-girlfriend lives next door to the victim.

Cardenas was arrested, charged with burglary and theft and he was booked into jail.

A Marathon man is under arrest after he fled from deputies early last Wednesday, hitting a parked car in the process.

Deputy Nicholas Abroe was northbound on U.S. One at 62nd Street at 4 a.m. when he saw 37 year old Jack Carlson and a woman getting into a black Chevrolet Corvette in the parking lot of Dion’s Quik Mart. The car’s top was down as Carlson pulled onto the highway behind the deputy.

Deputy Abroe pulled off the roadway and saw Carlson accelerate past him, well in excess of the 45 mile per hour speed limit. The deputy drove back onto the highway and turned on his lights and siren to pull the car over.

Instead of stopping, Carlson sped up reaching speeds of at least 100 miles per hour. He ran a red light turning onto at 107th street, sideswiping a parked gray Chevrolet Trailblazer.

He continued fleeing and Deputy Abroe lost sight of the vehicle, which was found abandoned at the rear of Big Time Bait and Tackle, a shop owned by Carlson.

A woman fitting the description of the one in the car with Carlson was found sitting on a bench nearby. She said Carlson had parked the car and had run down the street.

Several hours later, Carlson showed up at the Marathon Substation and wanted to report his car stolen. After an interview with detectives, he was placed under arrest. He was charged with reckless driving, fleeing and eluding police, hit and run and making a false report of a crime. His vehicle was seized for possible forfeiture.