Man charged with possessing drugs

A Key Largo man was arrested after he was stopped for traffic violations and found to be in possession of methamphetamine and heroin.

37-year-old Chad Sitton was driving a gray Subaru at 9:30 a.m. on Lignumvitae Drive in Key Largo when deputies in the area spotted him run a stop sign when he turned onto Highway U.S. One. He was pulled over at the 102mm of the highway for the violation.

Deputies said they could smell marijuana in the vehicle and, when they asked Sitton if there were drugs in the car, he told them there was a syringe in the driver’s side door. A check of Sitton’s name revealed an outstanding warrant from another jurisdiction for domestic battery by strangulation. He was placed under arrest.

A search of the vehicle turned up methamphetamine, heroin, 11 syringes and a glass pipe commonly used for smoking drugs. He was further charged with possessing the illegal drugs and paraphernalia and he was booked into jail.

Two incidents of fleeing police lead to arrests

Two separate incidents of people fleeing from police led to arrests on Wednesday.

The first took place on Sugarloaf Key at 5:30 p.m. A deputy who was on a traffic stop on the side of the road saw a car traveling toward him at a high rate of speed. He stepped out into the roadway and gestured for the vehicle to pull over. The driver of the white Hyundai looked directly at the deputy, began laughing and sped past, not stopping.

The deputy quickly issued a warning to the other driver, jumped into his patrol car and followed, stopping the speeding car a short distance down the road. The driver, 21-year-old Ethan Wattles of Winter Springs, Florida was arrested, charged with fleeing from police, and he was booked into jail.

The second incident took place in the vicinity of 41st Street in Marathon at 11:15 p.m. Deputies on patrol spotted 50-year-old Marathon resident Shayon Bryant riding a bicycle with no lights. They attempted to stop him but he began to ride away from them, speeding up. He turned and rode through a gravel lot, continuing to flee until he hit a curb with his bicycle and lost control.

He struggled with deputies as they took him into custody. He was charged with fleeing police and resisting arrest. He was booked into jail on those charges.

Woman reports being scammed

A 66-year-old woman from Key Largo reported being scammed as she was attempting to pay for her DUI school fees.

The woman said she was trying to pay the remainder of the fees for the school so she could get her certificate of completion. She was contacted by a man who told her to go get a green dot cash card in the amount of $395 to pay for the school. She complied with his instructions. He then told her another man, an attorney, would be contacting her. A second man who claimed to be an attorney told her to pay him $200 in the form of a green dot cash card, which she did.

The first man then told her the certificate would be sent to the UPS store in Key Largo. That is when the victim realized she’d been scammed. Detectives will be investigating.

The Sheriff’s Office would like to remind everyone that generally if someone asks you to pay for a legitimate service in this way, you should be suspicious of a scam. If you are uncomfortable in any way with someone asking you for specific personal information or asking you to pay them in a way that does not feel right, you should take the time to check their legitimacy first. Many such scammers will try to convince you that there is some kind of rush or that you have to stay on the phone with them as you pay. This is a pressure tactic that is common in these types of scams. Take down their information, then take time to think, to consult with someone else, and check the situation out before taking any action.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]