When we say the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department is ready for anything — we’re not kidding. And it includes hurricanes.
Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay joined Good Morning Keys this morning on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about how the Sheriff’s Department dealt with Hurricane Ian.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “We’re so used to storms, this is just another day. We were patrolling, vigilant, before, during, after. Our patrols barely ceased.”
Occasionally if the winds got above 45 miles per hour, the patrol cars had to be downed for safety.
Flooding really affected a number of homes throughout Monroe County.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “Overall, it came closer than I thought. It had more wind and flooding than I thought we were going to get, but compared to the west coast, we are so lucky.”
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department will be sending officers up to help in the Fort Myers area.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “We have to pay back, pay forward. When we have a hit, people come down to help us. We’ve got to return the favor.”
The migrant crises continues, even during a hurricane.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “It’s so desperate in Cuba for people to come here, they’re risking their lives every day to try to make these transitions across the 90 mile (water way).”
Indeed, a migrant boat with 27 people aboard tried to make the voyage from Cuba before storm. Only four people made it to shore alive.
Because of the grave conditions in the storm, it was difficult to do a search and rescue mission. As soon as it was safe to do so, search and rescue set out to find the migrants.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “It’s a sad, sad situation. There’s still a large amount of people that have not been discovered yet, many of which will never be located.”
Fentanyl is another issue in the Keys. It’s a deadly drug that can kill very quickly with just a small amount.
A 7:30 p.m. traffic stop last Tuesday at the 29-mile marker discovered fentanyl with a canine officer. A 41-year-old man from Big Coppitt Key was found to have 6.1 grams of fentanyl.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “This is enough to fentanyl to kill literally thousands of people.”
The man will be charged with trafficking fentanyl – a very serious charge.
A kidnapping case occurred at a hotel in Marathon recently as well. Two women who work at the hotel, one of whom because of the storm had to bring her 16-month-old child to work, were involved.
The co-worker took a picture of the baby and said she was going to make her “mine.”
The mother told the woman twice to leave her child alone.
The child eventually ended up walking out with the co-worker, leaving in a white BMW.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “Obviously this woman is freaked out. She calls us, gives us information. We have all hands on deck looking for this BMW.”
The vehicle was found with a male driving and the co-worker is in the front seat with the child in her lap.
The woman was arrested for kidnapping. The husband was also eventually charged as a co-conspirator. Both were also charged with child neglect because the girl was not in a child safety seat in the car.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “We have reason to believe they were going to try to sell this child. Terrible, sad case. It’s hard to see it happen anywhere, but here where it never happens, it’s so unusual that this was a co-worker. This was someone who worked side by side with this woman. So thankful we got the child back in a matter of less than a half an hour.”
Some marine thefts were being reported recently, but a 36-year-old male has been arrested on Stock Island for stealing a propeller off a boat and trying to steal the boat engine. He was charged with larceny and property damage. Security camera footage helped build the case and identify the suspect.
Sheriff Ramsay said, “People down here love their boats and boating. Every time we can make an arrest and make a case it sends a message to people that it’s not going to be tolerated and it ensures our boating world that we are vigilant and we’re doing a good job on this.”