Marion County deputies arrested a man and woman Tuesday after an Ocala resident reported being threatened with a machete during a burglary.
Deputies were called to an apartment on the 2200 block of SE 58th Avenue after a man reported confronting 32-year-old Cary Tyee Putnam and 29-year-old Jamie Eichler Langston as they were going through his personal belongings and “trashing” his room, a sheriff’s office report states, adding that the man had to use a knife to get inside the blocked door to his room.
Once inside the room, the man said, Putnam “raised a large machete” and was asking, “Where is it?” The man, who said he didn’t know what Putnam was talking about, then stepped back, afraid he was going to get hit with the machete, the report says.
Wearing backpacks, both Putnam and Langston fled the room, the man told deputies, adding that Putnam took a yellow Schwinn bicycle worth $900 and a black fire safe with a broken handle that contained a $3,000 coin collection.
The man’s roommate, who first alerted him to the burglary, confirmed the details of the incident. And the man’s girlfriend told deputies she saw Putnam take the bicycle as she was arriving at the apartment.
A short time later, deputies located Putnam and Langston walking in the 5500 block of SE 17th Street. Both were wearing backpacks and Putnam was pushing a yellow bicycle, the report says.
Putnam told deputies that he went to the apartment because he believed the man stole his brother’s .22-caliber rifle and he was going to get it back, the report says. Putnam admitted to having a machete for protection, taking the black safe that was found in his backpack and stealing the bicycle, the report says.
Langston said needles and syringes found inside her backpack were used to inject insulin, which deputies also found. An unidentified white pill, a small container with distilled water and a “constriction string” that is “commonly used to help inject methamphetamine or heroin” also was found in the backpack, the report says, adding that Langston admitted to using methamphetamine.
While searching Putnam, deputies found a gray shopping bag in his right front pocket that contained 13 7.5 mg Temazepam pills, two 50 mg Tramadol pills, 13 5 mg Zolpidem Tartrate pills and 13 25 mg Lyrica pills. Temazepam, Tramadol and Zolpidem Tartrate are classified as Schedule 4 drugs, while Lyrica is classified as a new legend drug (required by federal law to be dispensed only by prescription), the report says.
Both Putnam and Langston were taken into custody and transported to the Marion County Jail. Putnam, who has been held in the facility 10 times since April 2014, was charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a harmful new legend drug without a prescription, burglary with assault or battery (principle) and larceny/grand theft (between $300 and $5,000). He was held with no bond and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 21 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charges.
Langston was charged with accessory to assault or battery, accessory to larceny/grand theft (between $300 and $5,000) and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was held on $18,000 bond and also is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 21 at 9 a.m.
