Too dim tail light? 29 ticketed, three arrested in police ‘crackdown’

On Friday, Feb. 29, Lee County sheriff’s deputies made three drug-related arrests and issued 29 tickets and 20 warnings during a special island enforcement sweep that took place between 11 a.m. and midnight.

In what they called a “small scale traffic enforcement and narcotics enforcement” operation, Capt. Rex Shevitski said that two officers from Boca Grande joined forces with two other Lee County deputies, including a K-9 unit, and Shevitski himself. Tickets issued were for everything from windshield tint being too far down on the window to tail lights that were too dim.

On an average day, fewer than a half dozen motorists are stopped by police. More than 95 percent are issued written warnings, not citations.

According to one witness, just before sunset there were at least four cars pulled over by deputies in the area of Gilchrist Ave. and Gulf Blvd. at 1st Street. The witness said that the drivers were not allowed to continue on until the K-9 officer completed a “free air sniff” check around each vehicle.

Those arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana and drug paraphernalia were Michael John Lauer, 42, of East Englewood, Shawn Patrick Smith, 23, of Englewood and Scott A. Caldwell, 28, of East Englewood.

Lauer was pulled over on Friday at 3:40 p.m. at Gilchrist Ave. and 1st Street for having an unreadable license plate. After advising Lauer that the K-9, Cole, would be conducting a free air sniff around his vehicle and asking if Lauer had anything illegal in his vehicle, Lauer admitted that he had a small amount of personal use marijuana in his vehicle. After searching the vehicle deputies found several baggies containing a total of more than 50 grams of marijuana. He was arrested and transported to the Lee County Jail. He was also cited for having an obstructed license plate and an open container of alcohol in the vehicle.

Caldwell was pulled over at 1:50 p.m. at Park Ave. and 5th Street for having an improperly displayed temporary tag on his vehicle. The deputy said he could smell marijuana coming from the vehicle, and after K-9 Cole once again alerted that the smell of drugs was present, the deputy found a plastic wrapper with trace amounts of marijuana on it and a pipe used to smoke marijuana. Caldwell was given a notice to appear for possession of .01 grams of marijuana and paraphernalia.

At 9 p.m. Smith was pulled over at Gasparilla Road and 11th Street after a random registration check by deputies found his license plate had expired. The deputy said that when Smith exited his vehicle he noticed a marijuana joint in the driver’s side door handle. Smith then said he had a “pipe” under the seat. After he was arrested Smith told the deputy he had another bag of marijuana next to the driver’s seat.

Smith was arrested for possession of 3.8 grams of marijuana and paraphernalia. He was released at the scene and given a notice to appear for a March 31 court date. He was also cited for having an expired registration, failing to change the address on his registration, a loud muffler fix it ticket and failing to produce a registration card.

Several drivers who were pulled over said the deputies told them the operation was taking place due to burglaries and construction thefts that occurred recently on the island. Shevitski said that was not true.

“I’m unaware of any of that rumor or hearsay,” he said. “I think they must have misunderstood the deputies.”

Shevitski said he is unaware of the last time an operation of this nature was conducted on Gasparilla Island, but that it was just routine.

When Shevitski was asked whether or not they had received complaints from residents that precipitated the operation, he said they had not.

“We operate on different levels,” he said. “Our district performs certain operations during certain times, and sometimes we are pro-active instead of reactive.”

He added, “I have heard reports that people out there were very happy we did it.”

In unrelated incidents, a GPS navigation system and a boat radio were reported stolen from boats on the island.

Deputies reported that a complainant whose boat was docked at the Gasparilla Inn Marina on 8th Street had a VHF boat radio stolen sometime between the evening hours of Sunday, March 2 and the morning hours on Tuesday, March 4. The radio is valued at $400.

On Saturday a resident in the 200 block of Damificare Street reported that a Northstar GPS Chart Navigator was taken from his boat while it was docked in a slip behind the home. The complainant said it had been taken sometime between February 24 and March 1.

The radio is valued at $5,000, and a reward of $500 is available to anyone with information on the crime. Contact the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at 964-2400.