{"id":34916,"date":"2015-02-10T11:23:39","date_gmt":"2015-02-10T16:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=34916"},"modified":"2015-02-10T11:23:39","modified_gmt":"2015-02-10T16:23:39","slug":"massive-car-theft-ring-dismantled-more-suspects-sought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2015\/02\/massive-car-theft-ring-dismantled-more-suspects-sought\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive Car Theft Ring
Dismantled; More Suspects Sought"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In late 2014, detectives with the Lee County Sheriff\u2019s Office began an investigation into the theft of several Ford F-series trucks.\u00a0 These thefts continued through the first few weeks of 2015, during which time several businesses in the Lehigh Acres and central\u00a0Fort Myers\u00a0area were impacted.\u00a0 Detectives compared notes and discovered that near the locations of these vehicle thefts, there were also large clusters of burglaries occurring during those same time frames.\u00a0 Last month, many of these vehicles stolen in the weeks prior were being discovered in the Crescent Acres community in\u00a0Lee\u00a0County\u00a0that borders Glades and\u00a0Hendry\u00a0Counties.\u00a0 As the vehicle recoveries continued,\u00a0Lee\u00a0County detectives determined that our area was not the only jurisdiction affected by what was becoming a quickly growing trend.\u00a0 Once information began to be shared between detectives from Hendry, Glades, Collier and\u00a0Lee\u00a0Counties, several possible persons of interest were quickly identified.\u00a0 In looking through the criminal histories of these individuals, investigators learned that these suspects had a lengthy history of the same types of thefts in\u00a0Charlotte\u00a0County, as well.<\/p>\n

The primary suspect in the investigation was identified as Eddie Deleon, DOB 8\/21\/79.\u00a0 Detectives immediately began working closely with their counterparts from other law enforcement agencies in Southwest Florida to secure probable cause for the arrest of Deleon, who was a known offender in Lee, Hendry and\u00a0Glades\u00a0Counties.\u00a0 With the assistance of the\u00a0US\u00a0Marshals Office, Deleon was taken into custody in the\u00a0Sarasota\u00a0area within a matter of days.\u00a0 During an interview with Deleon, after his arrest, he provided investigators with information on his involvement with multiple business burglaries in Lee, Hendry and\u00a0Collier\u00a0Counties.\u00a0 He described how he and his co-conspirators honed their trade by watching instructional videos on the internet, teaching them how to break into cars and bypass ignition switches.\u00a0 He also admitted to being under the influence of Methamphetamine during the commission of most of these crimes.\u00a0 It was his addiction to the drug that motivated him to commit the crimes in order to feed his habit.\u00a0 However, after seeing himself profiled by Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers for being a repeat criminal offender, Deleon stated that his motivation to commit the crimes changed, and that his goal was, from that point on, to taunt authorities.\u00a0 As a result of the coordinated efforts of several law enforcement agencies, probable cause was established to charge Deleon with numerous felony crimes.\u00a0 In total, Deleon is currently facing in excess of 20 felony charges for his involvement with several business burglaries and motor vehicle thefts in Hendry\u00a0County.\u00a0 He was also found to be a suspect in a grand theft auto case out of\u00a0Glades\u00a0County, and once Deleon is extradited back to\u00a0Lee\u00a0County, he will be facing more than 40 additional felony charges for his involvement with burglaries and car thefts here.\u00a0 In addition, he is also a suspect in similar criminal activity in Collier,\u00a0Sarasota\u00a0and Charlotte\u00a0Counties.<\/p>\n

As a result of a large, collaborative effort with the affected agencies, additional arrests for this auto theft ring were made, to include David Ressie Dix, DOB 10\/23\/65.\u00a0 During the hunt for Deleon, Dix was found in possession of one of the stolen vehicles taken from one of the first affected businesses.\u00a0 He later used this vehicle in an attempted trailer theft in\u00a0Hendry\u00a0County. \u00a0Last month, Dix committed a grand theft at a local grocery store, which ultimately led to his arrest.\u00a0 He was later charged by\u00a0Lee\u00a0County\u00a0detectives for his involvement with the trailer theft.\u00a0 Dix still remains a suspect in several of the other crimes committed during this spree.<\/p>\n

A third suspect was identified as Dennis Lamar Flint, DOB 12\/4\/65, who was apprehended by US Marshals after a warrant was issued for his arrest stemming from his alleged involvement with the theft of a boat in the McGregor Boulevard area of Fort Myers.\u00a0 Detectives from both Hendry and\u00a0Lee\u00a0County\u00a0learned that\u00a0Flint\u00a0had brokered a deal to sell the motor from the stolen boat, which was later recovered.\u00a0 Prior to being taken into custody on that charge,\u00a0Flint\u00a0was also identified as a suspect in the stolen boat investigation from Hendry\u00a0County.\u00a0 That boat was ultimately recovered in Lehigh Acres near a home which\u00a0Flint\u00a0was known to frequent.\u00a0 The motor from this boat was recovered at a home in Glades\u00a0County\u00a0in late January.<\/p>\n

A fourth suspect in this case was identified at Charles W. Sikes, DOB 5\/28\/86.\u00a0 Sikes is accused of working with\u00a0Flint, including the sale of a stolen boat motor to an individual in Glades\u00a0County.\u00a0 As a result of this case,\u00a0Hendry\u00a0County\u00a0detectives were granted a warrant for Sikes\u2019 arrest for his involvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe arrests of these four men, and the charges being levied against them, is a perfect example of how many crimes can be solved when agencies work together,\u201d said Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott.\u00a0 \u201cThe cooperation of multiple agencies has led to the halt of a very active and aggressive auto theft ring, which impacted many communities in Southwest Florida.\u00a0 All we need now are a few other pieces of the puzzle to ensure that all parties involved with this operation are brought to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of today, all four suspects have been taken into custody for their alleged crimes, which span nearly every pocket of\u00a0Southwest Florida.\u00a0 However, detectives firmly believe that there are others who have had involvement in this string of crimes, and they are asking for the public\u2019s help identifying those individuals so that they, too, can have their day in court.\u00a0 Anyone with information on any vehicle or boat theft, or burglary which may be linked to Deleon, Dix,\u00a0Flint\u00a0or Sikes, is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477).\u00a0 All callers will remain anonymous and will be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.\u00a0 Tips may also be made online at\u00a0www.swflcrimestoppers.org<\/a>\u00a0or by texting a tip to CRIMES (274637).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In late 2014, detectives with the Lee County Sheriff\u2019s Office began an investigation into the theft of several Ford F-series trucks.\u00a0 These thefts continued through the first few weeks of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":34917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34916"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}