A 39-year-old Summerfield man was arrested Thursday night after a resident caught him burglarizing his home.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the incident location on SE 80th Avenue and found Jose Luis Cruzado-Flores, of 8920 SE 161st St., being held at gunpoint by the victim, who said he had arrived home and saw Cruzado-Flores walking from behind his garage carrying a gas tank valued at $100 to his motorcycle. The victim said he armed himself with a handgun, confronted Cruzado-Flores and called 911, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The deputy observed two vehicles on the property parked close together, including a gold SUV belonging to Cruzado-Flores. The SUV had a bicycle rack attached to it with a blue/silver bike on it. The bike was covered in dust and cobwebs. The victim said it belonged to his wife and it was previously inside a second unoccupied home on the property. He said he saw a door to the second residence propped open when it is normally closed, the report said.
The victim walked the deputy through the home and pointed out the room where the bicycle was stored. The inside of the home was dirty and dusty with cobwebs throughout, which matched the type of environment the bicycle appeared to be stored in. The victim valued the bicycle at $100, according to the report.
After being read his Miranda warning, Cruzado-Flores said he used to be friends with the victim’s neighbor and pointed to the neighbor’s house. He said he went there looking for a place to live. Cruzado-Flores said he spoke to the neighbor, who directed him to the victim’s house and said he might want to sell his property. He said he was at the victim’s house the previous day and left a note on the garage, the report said.
Cruzado-Flores said when he didn’t hear back from the victim, he returned the next day and noticed a vehicle was missing. He said he walked over to investigate why the car was missing because he thought someone had stolen it. He said he saw the gas tank and wanted to move it up to the house to leave another note. Cruzado-Flores said that’s when the victim came home and pulled a gun on him, according to the report.
Cruzado-Flores initially denied stealing the bicycle that was on the back of his car. He said he picked it up from a friend before arriving at the victim’s house. Eventually, he admitted he stole the bicycle from the vacant home. Asked why he stole it, he said, “For the (expletive deleted) of it,” the report said.
Cruzado-Flores gave the deputy permission to search his vehicle. Before the search started, he told the deputy about a spoon that was somewhere in the front of the vehicle. The deputy located a small silver spoon underneath the radio. The spoon had a brown substance on it that tested positive for heroin, according to the report.
The victim denied finding a note on his garage door, which is his daily method of entry to the residence. The victim’s neighbor denied knowing the suspect, having a conversation with him, or directing him to the victim’s residence, the report said.
Cruzado-Flores was arrested and charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, second-degree petit theft, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription (felony), and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was released Saturday on $33,000 bond. He will appear in Marion County Court on March 2.