Criminal Corner 5 – Car thief tells physics-defying story in attempt to fool law enforcement
A 25-year-old Manatee County man provided quite the story to law enforcement after his blood, hair and pieces of skin were found inside a crashed stolen vehicle on June 4 around 6 a.m.
Florida Highway Patrol responded initially to an abandoned stolen vehicle that had struck a light pole on 301 Blvd. E., just south of Whitfield Avenue.
Inside the vehicle, the hair, blood and skin was plastered to the inside of the vehicle’s cracked windshield.
Provided by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office
Dylan Schweigert was eventually located at Sarasota Memorial Hospital where he told law enforcement he had been struck by a vehicle. Schweigert explained that when he was struck, he was temporarily “sucked into the vehicle,” as the reason his blood, skin and hair was found inside the vehicle as opposed to the outside of the windshield.
Schweigert eventually changed his story, explaining to FHP that he was inside the vehicle with a friend attempting to buy marijuana when his friend “started freaking out,” and they crashed into the pole.
Schweigert changed his story again and said he was alone in the vehicle but had received the vehicle from an unknown, “intoxicated Mexican,” and was unaware the vehicle had been stolen.
Schweigert was booked into the Manatee County jail on charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or property damage.
Schweigert remains in custody on a $1,500 bond.
Stealing from the dead
A 41-year-old Bradenton man is being charged with multiple felonies after stealing a dead person’s wallet and vehicle without notifying anyone the person had died, according to the Bradenton Police Department.
Police say Larry Anderson used the deceased person’s credit cards at “numerous retail establishments,” and used the person’s vehicle for more than a week before law enforcement found him in possession of the vehicle.
According to the arrest report, Anderson admitted knowing the deceased, who police say died of natural causes, and that Anderson knew the person had died when he took the wallet and vehicle.
Anderson was booked into the Manatee County jail on June 10 on charges of credit card fraud, burglary, motor vehicle theft, grand theft and failure to report a death.
Anderson remains in custody on bonds totaling $12,000.
Sex offender fails to report new address
A 41-year-old Bradenton man is facing a sexual assault charge after raping a woman shortly after midnight on June 3, according to the Bradenton Police Department.
Police say Luis Torres-Martinez raped and beat the victim after she refused his sexual advances.
Torres-Martinez was booked into the Manatee County jail on charges of battery and sexual battery. He remains in custody on a $25,000 bond.
Convicted sex offender back behind bars
Nathan Wheeler, 49, of Bradenton is back behind bars after failing to notify law enforcement of an address change – a requirement of his sex offender status, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Wheeler was already in custody when he was charged with the felony offense on June 3.
Wheeler was convicted of sexual battery on a child in Dixie County in 2002, according to the arrest affidavit. Deputies say Wheeler has moved multiple times before arriving in Manatee County in May of 2021.
Wheeler was taken into custody on an arrest warrant for an unrelated offense in May of this year. During the course of the investigation, deputies discovered Wheeler was receiving mail at another house, indicating a residence outside of his reporting address.
Wheeler was booked into the Manatee County jail on the felony to report charge, as well as multiple bond violations and two counts of contempt of court.
He remains in custody on bonds totaling $36,000.
