Crews continue to work on the widening of US 1 through Big Pine.

Several land closures and detours are expected during the course of the work.

If you must traverse Big Pine between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. be prepared for traffic delays as in-place flag men direct traffic around the construction crews.

You can dial 511 for traffic information.

In light of the hurricane season, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office wants to remind everyone about Hurricane Re-entry issues in the event of an evacuation order in the Florida Keys.

Hurricane Re-entry decals, color coded for different areas of the Keys, are currently available at all Sheriff’s Office substations and the Sheriff’s Office Headquarters building on Stock Island. They are also available from all tag offices in the Keys, Key West City Hall, Islamorada City Hall and the Ocean Reef Public Safety Communications Center. The decals will be used to identify Monroe County residents at the re-entry point in Florida City after a storm has passed. The city of Key West is issuing its own decal, which will also be honored at the re-entry point in Florida City. A re-entry decal is meant to speed up the re-entry process, but is not mandatory to re-enter the Keys. If a person does not have a decal, he or she may also present a driver’s license with a Keys address, or some other proof of residency or proof of home or property ownership.

The hurricane re-entry stickers are orange in color for lower Keys residents (from Key West to the south end of the Seven Mile Bridge), blue for middle Keys residents (from the north end of the Seven Mile Bridge to the south end of the Long Key Bridge) and yellow for the upper Keys (from the north end of the Long Key Bridge to the county line, including Ocean Reef.

The Monroe County rumor control hot line number is 1-800-955-5504. When calling the rumor control number during or after a storm, however, residents need to be patient.

A Big Pine Key man was arrested Monday after fingerprints tied him to one burglary, and DNA tied him to another.

The two burglaries took place in April of 2009. According to Detective Diane Mimosa, 32 year old Michael Manning first broke into a house on Ixora Drive sometime between April 8 and April 9. He allegedly stole jewelry, cash and a couple of cameras from the home. He left behind fingerprints on the outside of the home’s sliding glass door. They were collected by Crime Scene Detective John Underwood and sent off to Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for comparison with their fingerprint database.

Between April 11 and April 12, Manning allegedly burglarized another home on Avenue G, Big Pine Key. According to Detective Mimosa, to get in, he broke a window; when he broke the window he cut himself leaving his blood behind. He took a laptop from the home. His blood was collected by Detective Underwood and sent off to FDLE for comparison to their DNA database.

Recently, the results from both the fingerprint and the DNA comparison returned from FDLE identifying Manning as the perpetrator of both burglaries. Warrants were issued for his arrest. The warrants were served Monday. He is currently in Monroe County jail.

Fire damaged Coco’s Cantina on Cudjoe Key overnight Sunday.

Deputy Peter Garcia was on patrol, northbound on U.S. One at 12:15 a.m. today when he saw smoke coming from Coco’s Cantina at the 21 mile marker of the highway. He called for firefighters and then evacuated two residents from an efficiency apartment in the rear of the building. Firefighters found the fire appeared to have originated in the rear of the building. There was no one inside. There was damage from smoke and heat throughout the building.

The State Fire Marshal responded and will be investigating the origins of the fire.

A Monroe County Detention Deputy who works at the Stock Island jail was arrested last Friday for battering an inmate.

The battery incident took place last Thursday as Deputy Kenson Jean Baptiste was removing 19 year old inmate Fernando Concepcion, Jr. from his cell at the main detention facility. According to Investigator Janine Gedmin, a surveillance video shows the officer slammed Concepcion into a phone cage; Concepcion had his hands cuffed in front of him at the time and, according to Investigator Gedmin, he at no time showed signs of physically resisting the officer. The officer then picked the inmate up off the floor and slammed him into the cement wall next to the cage.

The inmate sustained a minor laceration and swelling on his forehead, an injury on his lip and abrasions on his wrists. He was treated for his injuries by the jail medical staff. Jean Baptiste was booked into jail for battery. His bond is set at $2,000.00.

Jean Baptiste is 26 years old; he’s been employed by the Sheriff’s Office as a Corrections Officer since March of 2008. He will now be placed in a position at the Sheriff’s Office that requires no contact with inmates until the outcome of an Internal Affairs Investigation into this incident.

Detectives from the Sheriff’s Special Investigations Division arrested a Cudjoe Key man after an undercover operative bought Oxycodone from him last Wednesday.

The undercover operative called 36 year old Brett Stewart Wednesday on Stewart’s cell phone and he agreed to sell the operative 50-30 milligram Oxycodone pills for $1,000.00. The two met at the Blue Hole on Key Deer Boulevard and the operative exchanged cash for the pills. Stewart was arrested a short distance away and the documented buy money was recovered from him. Stewart was charged with trafficking in a controlled substance and use of a two way communications device to facilitate a felony. Stewart was booked into jail.

A chaotic scene and an attacking Rottweiler led to the shooting death of the dog July 2 on Stock Island.

Detectives and deputies went to a Stock Island residence on 2nd Terrace at 6:15 p.m. to serve an arrest warrant on Catherine Perez. They were backed up by officers from Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

When they arrived, they explained to her what they were there for and she became belligerent and uncooperative, struggling with the officers who were taking her into custody on grand theft charges.

Neighbors and family members began gathering. A large Rottweiler was chained to a picnic table. The owner of the dog, 41 year old Thomas Council, was asked to move the dog to a side yard to get the dog away from the crowd and the officers. Council unchained the dog from the table and took hold of the dog’s collar. According to deputies on the scene, Council took a couple of steps with the dog, then deliberately let go of the dog’s collar, turning it loose. Council later admitted to letting the dog go on purpose. He said he thought he could control the dog and that the dog would listen to him.

The dog began advancing on officers and others gathered at the scene. The dog was described as agitated, with its hackles raised, growling and barking. Individuals in the crowd began to scream and run; Council began running at one of the officers on scene – an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer named Jeffrey Muller.

Muller told deputies that Council charged at him, hitting him with his fist; Agent Muller then took Council to the ground, in an effort to control the situation. As other officers ran to assist, the dog charged at Muller and Council. Muller was forced to shoot the dog to keep from being attacked. The dog died on the scene.

Perez was taken to jail for the grand theft warrant; Council was also arrested, charged with resisting an officer with violence. Agent Muller was taken to the hospital for treatment after he complained of chest pains and difficulty breathing.

The Sheriff’s Special Investigations Division conducted two Highway Interdiction operations over the past two weeks; one on Big Pine Key and the other in Marathon.

On Big Pine Key, 27 vehicles were stopped during the operation. In 12 of those stops, K-9 vehicle searches were done. Two people were arrested on drug related charges, and two more received notices to appear in court for drug related charges. Two grams of powdered cocaine and five grams of marijuana were seized, along with several prescription pills that were possessed without a prescription. Additionally, 3 citations and 18 warnings were issued for traffic and safety related violations.

On one of the arrests, 40 year old Sky Gerry Rockett of Big Pine was stopped after officers saw his muffler on his vehicle dragging on the roadway and a broken tail light. K-9 Team Detective David Smith and his dog Deja conducted a search of the vehicle and located a pill bottle containing cocaine. Detectives also located several prescription pills. Rockett was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.

In Marathon, 36 vehicles were stopped. Of those, nine were searched by a K-9 team with one person arrested on drug related charges. Twenty one grams of powdered cocaine were seized. Additionally, 9 citations and 35 warnings were issued for traffic and safety related issues.

Participating in the operations were Road Patrol and Traffic  deputies, troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol K-9 Unit and Monroe County HIDTA.

Deputies and detectives responding to a domestic dispute on Big Coppitt Key arrested a man for possessing drugs.

When the officers arrived at the house on Avenue C, Big Coppitt Key at 12:30 p.m., they spoke with the female victim. She said her husband accused her of stealing his drugs, then hit and kicked her. She said she was afraid of him, so she fled to a neighbor’s house to call for help.

When deputies checked their house, looking for her husband, 45 year old Mark Morales, they found the door open, but he was not home. One of the officers heard what sounded like a person walking around in a vacant lot next door. She checked the lot and found a grey cloth lunch bag with 19 small baggies of cocaine with a total of 26 grams of cocaine inside and 20 Oxycontin pills inside. Officers also found a large plastic bag with 50 grams of an unknown white powder inside.

Morales’ wife said her husband has been dealing in cocaine, as well as consuming it. She said sometimes, when he gets paranoid, he hides the drugs in the back yard or the vacant lot then forgets where he puts them. She said he would then sometimes accuse her of stealing them.

While officers were on the scene, Morales’ step-father showed up. He agreed to take them to Morales, who was at a nearby restaurant. Morales was taken into custody. He admitted the drugs were his. He was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was booked into jail.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office participated this week in a state wide drug operation targeting marijuana grow houses. Called “Operation RAKE”, the investigation took place in counties all over the state and, in Monroe County, involved investigators from Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service, the Monroe HIDTA, HIDTA Miami and investigators from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division.

During the operation, two locations in Monroe County were found to have cultivation operations and at two others, detectives found the presence of marijuana.

Detectives checked 65 Park Dr. in Key Largo. Detectives made contact with 22 year old Omar Martinez Moya of Hialeah. When Moya opened the door detectives were overwhelmed with what they recognized as the odor of marijuana cultivation. Moya showed detectives that he had converted the two bedroom house in to a full-blown marijuana grow lab. Detectives located 34 six-foot marijuana plants that were ready to be harvested. Detectives also located 23 pounds of harvested marijuana and one gram of cocaine. The grow operation was equipped with several grow lights, transformers air purifying systems, cooling systems and an irrigation system. To keep the cost of the power consumption down and not be suspicious Moya diverted power from the main line before it got to the meter. Florida Keys Electric was called to disconnect the power to the residence. Detectives also seized a 2009 Chrysler 300 for possible forfeiture. Moya was charged with cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The total street value of this marijuana was estimated to be $57,000.

Detectives checked 6621 Maloney Ave #26 in Stock Island. Detectives made contact with 74 year old William Muir DeChenel who was found to be in possession of 9 marijuana plants and 58 grams of marijuana. He was arrested and charged with cultivation of marijuana, possession of felony amount of marijuana with intent to distribute, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The total street value of this marijuana was estimated to be $9,000.

Detectives also checked a Tavernier residence and another Key Largo residence where marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found.