Key West Police Chief Sean Brandenburg joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
A recent break in at a hotel in Key West saw about $6,000 worth of property stolen.
Chief Brandenburg said, “We had a report of over $6,000 worth of jewelry, Apple devices, and clothing stolen from a hotel room here in Key West. Officers were attempting to locate leads and were trying to track the GPS devices that had pinged. The first day they were unable to locate anything. However, they continued to be vigilant in trying to solve this case. The victim did report the second morning that they had lost their room key somewhere on Duval. The room key was still in the envelope with the hotel’s name on it and with the room number, so we presume that is how the individual was able to gain access to their room. The officers continued to investigate, and they were able to ping the GPS devices again, and it came up at Clinton Square Market. When our officers arrived on scene, our officers are very familiar with some of the individuals, and especially the criminal element here in Key West, and one was in Clinton Square when officers arrived, and as soon as we got there, he left in a hurry. So officers were looking around Clinton Square Market, and they were able to locate an abandoned duffel bag and sleeping bag that had been left there, and inside that duffel bag were a number of the stolen items that we were looking for. We were able to locate witnesses in the park there, and they said he was with the bags, and so officers were working on a photo lineup. Also other officers on the shift were checking pawn shops and awaiting surveillance video. Another astute officer out on the road, located him around town, after reading him his Miranda rights, he did turn over the jewelry and room key that he still had in his possession, and he also admitted that the rest of the property he had stolen was in his duffel bag, which was the duffel bag that we had recovered there at Clinton Square, and it was interesting. Some of the pieces of jewelry were very unique, and the one hat he stole was a members-only Helly Hansen Annapolis Yacht Club hat, so I’m guessing there’s only one of those in Key West, and he still had it in his possession. So he had the room key still with him. He had this very unique hat, he had the Apple devices that were pinging, and we were able to identify, so he was taken into custody. All the all the stolen items were recovered and returned back to the owners of the property. Also, in his possession were some things that didn’t belong to those folks, so we’re going to continue to investigate him for some of the other items he had in his possession and see where he obtained those from. More to follow. Officers Johnson and Betz really put in the extra leg work and the extra effort to make this happen. So I want to commend officers Johnson and Betz for their determination in finding this individual and taking them into custody and getting these tourists their property back.”
A brick of marijuana washed ashore in Key West recently.
Chief Brandenburg said, “That was on Tuesday. We had a brick of marijuana wash ashore, so if you are missing your brick of marijuana, please contact us here at our property department. We’d love to talk to you about the brick of marijuana that you misplaced somewhere out in the water.”
An unsanctioned fight occurred on North Duval Street recently.
Chief Brandenburg said, “Officers were flagged down by security in reference of a large physical altercation inside one of the lower Duval Street establishments. When officers arrived at the location, they found multiple individuals fighting and brawling with each other. Staff members were trying to separate the fight, and then we ended up arresting five individuals, three were visitors, two were locals, and they were charged with disorderly conduct, fighting, and brawling in public. Thankfully, there were no significant injuries. Usually, a fight this large, someone gets hurt pretty good, but in this case, there were no significant injuries, and everybody was transported out to the R&R Bread and Breakfast. We work with the security at each of the bars downtown, and there’s an alert system that we have between each other that the average citizen wouldn’t understand what was going on, but we’re able to signal to one another when there’s a problem in one of those establishments, and then the officers are able to respond quickly if we’re on foot down there. So, definitely another community partnership making Key West a safer place to live, work, and play, and it’s just important to get to know all those security members and to have understanding between the police and them before the problems arise.”
Michael Stapleford of Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM pointed out, “I want to commend you and your leadership skills in imparting a healthy balance amongst your officers, as far as being helpful and respectful, but also making sure that the letter of the law is followed. I just mentioned that because I often observe with our offices in Lower Duval, your officers are very cordial and very helpful to the visitors, but they take control of situations when necessary, and it really does give a peace of mind not only to the residents but to the visitors as far as how they are treated by your officers, and hopefully the cordiality is returned to them most of the time.”
“Most of the time,” Chief Brandenburg confirmed. “But when it’s time to enforce the law, enforce the law.”
“And they do,” Stapleford agreed.
Mila, a horse with the Key West Police Department passed away recently. Another horse has come to the department.
Chief Brandenburg said, “We have three horses in the barn under normal circumstances, and this horse that just arrived is actually replacing one of our other horses that we had retired, and our mounted officers, were scouring pretty much the nation, looking for just the right horse for us. They were able to find this horse, and this was already in the works before Mila’s passing, but he arrived last Friday. They had adjusted their schedules, and they spent most of the weekend riding him and checking him out, and a few people have been lucky enough to see him walking down Duval Street, the new giant darker horse with the white on his face and the two white rear feet, that is the new one right now. We are still in the test drive period, believe it or not, we’ve got a 60 day test drive with him, but so far he is performing at or above our expectations. So I hope that trend continues. There’s also a video out there of him walking down Duval Street, and he has got a strut or a saunter to him that is quite impressive. So look forward to everyone getting a chance to meet and see that horse out working Duval Street. I was contacted by a citizen here in Key West this week, and the cost of the horse is going to be covered when we find the proper horse, and again we will not just take any horse, it has to be the right horse, and so that search will begin again, and when we find what we think is the right one, we will bring them down and test them out, and then that part of the funding is going to be covered, but of course, with a new horse, new saddle, new gear, there’s a lot of expensive tack and gear that goes with a new horse, because our saddles are actually custom fit to the horse, and quite expensive. There will be some financial needs coming up.”
The mounted unit is quite necessary for the police.
Chief Brandenburg said, “It seems like every year during Fantasy Fest, in the middle of one of the large crowds, we have usually a medical incident of some sort, and the officers on foot are standing there, jumping up and down, trying to see into the crowd where in the crowd the medical emergency is. The mounted unit walks right up, they’re they’re 12 feet in the air, they can see where the problem is, and all they have to do is walk into that crowd and the sea parts, and they walk right through and are able to get to that medical emergency and get them out of the crowd and get them the attention they need. So imperative life-saving force that we have for all of our big events.”