Two arrested in storage unit burglary

A man and woman, both of Stock Island, were arrested Tuesday after they broke into a storage unit they had been illegally living in previously.

Erica Zoryana Brown, 21, was charged with burglary, possession of burglary tools, criminal mischief and resisting arrest.

Eduardo Martinez, 46, was charged with burglary possession of burglary tools and criminal mischief.

A manager at StorgeMart, 6401 3rd St., called the Sheriff’s Office on Monday to report both people were living in a storage unit. Neither Brown nor Martinez had rented the unit and had no legal reason to be on the property. A Key West police officer responded, because the Sheriff’s Office was experiencing heavy call volume at the time. That officer issued both trespassing warnings and escorted them off the property. The police officer made it clear they would be arrested if they returned. The officer then notified the Sheriff’s Office of the warnings.

The manager told Sheriff’s Office Deputy Ken Fricke she arrived at work on Tuesday and noticed a lock on the same storage unit had been removed. She viewed security video footage and saw Brown and Martinez had returned to the property by way of a hole they had cut in a fence. Both were seen returning with a pair of bolt cutters and a pry bar while crawling through the hole in the fence.

Brown was found at a family member’s residence on 5th Street where she was taken into custody. She resisted being handcuffed at that time. Martinez was then came out from behind a tarp in the back yard and he was arrested.

Both were taken to the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island.

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