On January 15th, 2025, an officer with Florida Fish and Wildlife was on patrol when he observed an individual pulling commercial lobster traps towards the shoreline. After parking his vehicle, he observed the suspect, later identified as a 62year-old male named Michael throwing one lobster in the water and another into a red mesh bag. 9412 Marathon 912. Let me open up a 87 Romeo. What do you think? Where's your 20? Uh 35 mile marker. 26. I'm looking Oceanside. I've got a gentleman in blue swim trunks. Just [ __ ] Hello there. How's it going? Good. How you doing? Good. Are you with him over there? Yes. Okay. Come here. Hi, puppy. Friendly? Yes, he is. Okay. Hi, puppy. Um, so I'm going to need your ID and I'm going to need his ID. Okay. Stay there for me. I'm going to go grab him. Sorry, you were trying to reach me. 104. Hey there. I'm offer fish and wildlife. Got a lobster there. Got two. All right. You got a measuring device? I don't. It's in my car. All right. You know if they're keeping them in the water to to take them back. I gotcha. Got you got a fish license so we can take a walk. Yeah. So, uh, how far did you have to go for? Through here? Yeah. Maybe out of that trap right there. I pulled two more out that were, uh, little Yeah. So, and one of those was those, right? No. No. You're going to tell me no. Yeah. You're going to start that right now, man. I've been watching. All right. I grabbed it. Okay. All right. Let's Let's Let's move past that, right? I I watched you pull him out. Okay. Let's move past that. We're going to take a walk back to the car. All right. Is that not okay to do with something? No, it's it's not because first off, it's not your trap, right? So, second off, are you a commercial fisherman? Okay, so we got a couple things. First off, it's theft because that trap doesn't belong to you. Second off, you don't have commercial license. You can't harvest lobster without uh uh with from a trap. Okay. Okay. Like I said, we'll we'll deal with it. We'll get there. Where you from? Indiana. Indiana. I can't take my Where you guys You guys parked over there at the end of the thing. All right. Go ahead and uh hand me the bag for right now. Do you guys have any you guys have any more uh any more lobster in the car or anything like that? All right. I'm going to pull up. I'll meet you guys over there. Okay. [Applause] So, does it the ball belong to you? No. Is that too? As if it doesn't belong to you, right? Oh, all right. Is that No, I'm not. I just see everybody with them. I didn't I guess no other no other fish or nothing in here. No. Want to take a look? Sure. Thank you. This is a new phone, so I'm kind of not sure where I put it. I got you. But you do have a valid fish license. Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right. Give me a minute. All right. See if you can find it. [Applause] [Applause] 9312 back. Will you check for a fish license lobster stand for the male subject? Shameless plug. While officer Allen is checking the lobster trap, if you like fish and wildlife content, please consider subscribing. It really helps her channel grow. Go ahead. In reference to that male subject, he does have a valid lobster permit, a valid saltwater fishing, a crab trap registration and also stone crab trap registration as well. They all expire at 127 2025 248. All right, Michael. Come here for a minute. All right. So, I see you got it engaged now. It hangs on my dash. Okay. All right. They were to find it. So, yeah. Perfect. Thank you. I looked it all up. All right. Real quick. So, like I said, I got a couple questions I want to ask you real quick. She got right. I got to let you All right. Uh, you have the right to remain silent. Do you understand each of those? Yes. With those rights in mind, do you want to talk to me now? Sure. Okay. All right. So, we're going to measure these real quick. Okay. We'll use your gauge first. Okay. Typically, those are more uh more forgiving, the commercial gauges. Oh, okay. Oh, sorry. Mine is more forgiving. That one is good. We're we're good there. Okay. See how it goes over there? Yeah. It's not supposed to do that. Okay. All right. So, and I'll just just so you know, I'll give you my gauge. Okay. Same thing right to the top and it goes right over. Okay. No issue. Okay. Okay. See if you got some wiggle room in there. All right. That one is short. All right. Okay, we're going to let these guys go just cuz they are still alive. They they should uh should do all right. They're pretty hardy. Hopefully, they'll be all right. I'll give you this back. Um, how long have you been coming down to the Keys for? About 7 years. Okay. I've been doing lobstering the whole time. Just started last year. I got you. Yeah. I saw you got stone or Yeah, stone crab trap licenses and stuff like that. I don't have any idea, but I got you. Uh, how long are you guys down for? Another Well, I got a VA meeting that could come up uh at any time. I got what branch are you in? Marine Corp. Okay. How long? 10 years. 10 years. Okay. So, there's there's a couple things here. Like I said, you you said you don't have a commercial permit, right? Right. So, you don't you're you don't have, you know, any traps or anything you be pulling from. That one's not yours. Right. Right. The one's a little short. Um that those are those are some some big things here. And then when I first asked you, you told me out in the water. So that that tells me, you know, you shouldn't be pulling from the trap, right? Well, I Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Come on, man. I I get it. You're handicapping me here. No. Give him a No, I I just didn't look at it that way. But I understand exactly what you're saying. So, um let me go take a look. Um, do some paperwork real quick. Just stand by. Um the trap you see your truck over there. It's on the shoreline over there. Um I I put a piece of green flagging tape on it with the case number on it. Um I already got my pictures all the way around. The only one I didn't get was the underside. Okay. Which I don't know how important that one is, but All right. Um um what do I need to drop it off at the office? Do you need to start that on your computer? Yeah, I need to do a a property receipt. Um, but I just wanted another person here before I hooked him up. It was it was hilarious. I was going southbound and I watched him dragging it up on the shoreline, turned around, I pulled over in that that behind the woods over there. I was watching for a minute. Yeah. And he started pulling lobster. I threw one out in the water. Got another, threw it in his little red red catch bag, and his old lady was a little closer. They're talking. I couldn't hear them both, but yeah. Old lady was like, "Well, tell me 941." All right. Who whose car is it again? This one. That's yours. Do you mind if she takes it? No. Okay. All right. Can I get a arrested a signature down here? That's This is for the the trap. It's going to go into evidence at this point. All right. Okay. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do here. It's just Are you read this this part here? Oh my gosh. I'm really getting arrested. Yes, sir. For for harvesting out of a trap to theft and then the undersize. And where will he be detained? It'll be Stock Island Jail. Stock Island. Wow. For real? Yes, sir. Put your hands behind your back. Can I get my wallet? We'll we'll get it for you. All right. We'll grab all that. I'll let you know exactly where you Yeah, we'll we'll get you where where you're going and everything. That way she can help you out. If you take your phone and your wallet with you, you'll be able to access phone numbers or whatever you need out of it to make phone calls. I have to say it is a felony. So, I'm not sure uh you have a misdemeanor and a felony um at the same time when you mess with those traps. It's a big deal. It's uh these guys livelihoods, you know, they I just Yeah. All right. I I get that. But up on the up here, right? I thought it'd be a warning ticket, but I don't go out and pull trash. Yeah, the majority of our conservation laws are all criminal. So, what'll happen is he'll bring you down there to uh Stock Island, uh process you into jail, and then uh after they get the paperwork complete, if there's a a bond, it will be set. Uh you'll be notified of that, and then you'll be able to make phone calls and communicate with her of when would be a good time to to pick you up or facilitate that. You have any any priors with us before FWC resource related to anything? Want to try to snap her or nothing like that? Any what? any resource prior with us, any undersized snapper, fish license tickets or anything like that? No. So, they took all that stuff into consideration when setting bond and whatnot. Um, and you've been more more than pleasant with me so far. You've given me no troubles. They they take all that stuff into consideration. Um, but ultimately it is up to the judge. Yeah. So, Stock Island is the island right before Key West. Right before Yeah. And then he'll be in contact with you. So, he'll be able to give you a lot of information after he calls you. he'll be able to say, you know, this is my bond amount. Uh they think I'm going to be released at this time. Can I talk to her real quick about getting some cash out of my account? Of course. I I'll like I said, you you've been more than pleasant with us. I I'll I'll be more than more than happy to work with you. All right. Yeah. One sec. All right. Sure. Let's take a step back. Make sure someone else didn't leave nothing in there for you. All right. Yeah. Big step up. I'll give you a hand. All right. Yeah. I got really bad news, but hang on just a second. There you go. There you go. You help with the traffic. Got him. What's that? You sending help with the traffic. That's where you're um Yeah. If you mind grab grabbing the It's that on the shoreline over there. I threw the uh I threw a flagging tape on it with the case number. Okay. Um you want me to take him to compound? Yeah. He's got a property receipt already written up. Hi, I'm Officer Garcia with Florida Fish and Wildlife. How are you guys doing today? Good. How are you? Good. I'm just giving you guys a courtesy call to let you know that we just um arrested an individual that was found robbing one of your traps. Oh my god. Good job. So, so we did have to take the trap because it's seized as evidence right now. Um I am giving you notification letting you know that as soon as they're done with the trial, you will be getting your trap back and we will call you and notify you. The trap is not damaged in any way. Um the individual pulled there's no buoy on it. I don't know if it already had a buoy, but the individual pulled it to shore and opened it and took Two Lobster out. Um, an officer saw him doing so and obviously put him in custody and took him to jail. So, I'm just giving you the phone call to let you know. I will be sending you a property receipt. Um, so if you want, this is my work cell phone number. You can text me an email that works for you. We will be emailing you the property receipt just to show you that we have it in our possession and that as soon as this case is cleared and the evidence is cleared, we will be giving it back to you. Okay. So, I mean, I'd like to press charges for us not being able to make income out of that trap with this guy. So, that could be something individually you can address at the jail or with any legal representation. We're getting him for um keeping an undersized lobster because the lobster was undersized for messing with your traps and for obviously the felony of actually robbing your trap itself, right? I know. Yeah, because I mean something these people come down. I mean, it's just it's gotten ridiculous. We've been fishing for 35 years, but um but it's like that, you know, a lot of them just get off and slap on the hand. Annalie, I'm on the phone. And but when we when our trap is being held, you know, we're not making any income from that. They need to be held liable for that. Absolutely. And I believe it is something you could do, but it would be civil, I believe. I don't think that because we're handling all the criminal aspect of it. That would be something between you and him, I believe. Um, I don't know for sure, but I am just giving you that curses call you guys know that we have it. I just put in our evidence. It is intact. It is not He didn't pry anything open. There's nothing broken on it. Like I said, all that's missing is just the buoy on the trap. Okay. What area was this? Off of M marker 35 on the Atlantic side by Horseshoe Beach. By horseshoe on the other side like across from Horseshoe. Like on the Atlantic side across. Oh, okay. Like mom 35 34. Yeah, that's where a lot of our gear is. So, yeah. So, just wanted to give you that courtesy call, let you know. And then please, this is my work cell. Please text me um the best email address that works for you and we will be emailing you the uh property receipt once it's finalized and everything signed. Okay. So, he was arrested in my here. Yes, ma'am. He's he's in jail right now. No, not local, but he is a felony. So, it's an automatic arrest. Oh, okay. All right. Thank you very much. No problem. Sorry to give you the bad news, but I'm glad we caught him for you. Well, no, I'm glad you guys caught him because I mean, geez, we have been getting robbed so bad this year by other fishermen. Yeah. You know, not just I mean, it's the robbery out there this year is pretty bad. Yeah, we've been we've been we've been getting a couple people. So, to get this to get this guy I wasn't the officer that got him, but the officer that did get him, it was really good for him to do that. So, yes. Awesome. Yeah, sure was. All right. Thank you very very much. You're very welcome. You have a good rest of your day. Thank you. You, too. All right. Bye. Bye. In the end, Michael was charged with being in possession of an undersized lobster and molesting a spiny lobster trap without consent. It's unclear why, but the felony charge for the lobster trap was later dropped. The misdemeanor lobster charge remains ongoing. If you like this video and want to see more like it, subscribe to Arrest Cam. As always, thanks for watching.