Three men were arrested Monday, charged with burglarizing a home on Shark Key Sunday.
Deputies responded to a home on Cannon Royal Drive just before 6 p.m. on Sunday after a call from a neighbor. When Deputy Shannon Jones arrived, she met with several neighbors one of which gave her the homeowner’s contact information. One of the other neighbors had video which showed three males inside the home burglarizing it. He also had a picture of the vehicle the three suspects fled in.
The video clearly shows the three men inside the home. Two go into the kitchen and another goes into another room off camera. The alarm goes off in the house and the three suspects fled the house and got into a white Nissan Frontier with gray rims, leaving the area.
Deputy Edward Swogger was on the way to an off duty detail in Marathon and stopped by to assist at the burglary scene. He saw the picture of the suspect vehicle. Later that evening, while working in Marathon, he spotted the truck and called on duty road patrol Deputy Seth Hopp. Deputy Hopp stopped the truck and found one of the suspects – identified as 18 year old Noah Homer – inside.
When confronted with the photo of the truck and a still shot from the video showing him inside the home, Homer admitted to being there with the two other men. He told Deputy Hopp they found a door open and went inside to find out if anyone was there and if the home owner needed any work done at the home. He was not initially arrested during the traffic stop because detectives had not had the opportunity to closely review the video and talk to the homeowner about the incident.
On Monday, Detective David Cruz was assigned to investigate the case and he reviewed the video. Hed recognized and identified the other two suspects as 49 year old Robert and 21 year old Richard Ray, father and son from Big Pine Key. Robert Ray had been arrested Sunday night on Big Pine Key for an outstanding warrant from another jurisdiction and for giving a false name to law enforcement.
Detective Cruz spoke with Robert Ray at the Stock Island jail and he admitted to going into the residence. He was charged with burglary and criminal mischief. He then located Richard Ray and Noah Homer, who were both on Big Pine Key. They were both arrested. Ray was charged with burglary, criminal mischief and theft; Homer was charged with burglary and criminal mischief.