California man has been sentenced to prison

California man has been sentenced to prison

KEY WEST –  A California man has been sentenced to prison in Florida after admitting to violating his probation in a Florida Keys burglary case.

David Miller, 39, of Whittier, California, was given two years each for violating probation for burglary of a structure and violating probation for possession of burglary tools. The sentences, handed down December 19 by Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones, will run concurrently. Assistant State Attorney Patrick Flanigan represented the state.

Key West police arrested Miller after, without authorization, he spent two nights in a hotel room registered to someone else.

On November 10, 2017, Police Officer Frank Betz was in the area of the Hyatt Beach Resort near U.S. 1 and Roosevelt Boulevard when he was approached by a hotel employee. Staff told him someone had broken into a room the night before, slept, showered and made coffee. He was discovered when the registered guest tried to go in the room but Miller slammed the door on her, then fled. Betz was given a description of the suspect.

The next day, hotel staff told Betz the suspect again broke into the same room, slept, showered and made coffee. He had gotten in through a window.

The day after that, staff again spotted Miller on the property. Betz arrived shortly after, saw Miller crossing North Roosevelt Boulevard and took him into custody. Hotel staff was called and identified Miller as the unauthorized hotel guest. Miller had with him a bent wire that was “formed in a way to open locks and windows.”

On February 23, 2018, Miller pleaded no contest to burglary of a structure, possession of burglary tools and petit theft (toiletries he used in the hotel room). Judge Jones gave him 36 months of probation. On September 10, a Florida Department of Corrections officer reported that Miller violated probation by failing to report to the probation office, by moving from his residence without consent, by not paying court-ordered costs related to the case and for getting arrested in California for violating a beach curfew.

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