Florida Man Tries To Break Into Pickup Before Taking His Escape Through a Canal, Police Say
A Florida man accused of trying the door of a stranger’s pickup truck apparently decided a nearby canal offered his best chance of getting away when police found him. Cape Coral Police say 43-year-old Antonio Palhares Desouza jumped into the water and swam to the opposite bank, only to find officers waiting in the surrounding area.
The incident began at approximately 10:42 p.m. on September 21 when officers responded to the 5300 block of Nautilus Drive for a reported vehicle burglary in progress. A resident told police they watched through their home security system as a shirtless man exited a white SUV, walked up the driveway, and tried to open the door of their unoccupied pickup truck.
Fortunately for the truck’s owner, the door was locked, and police say the man walked back toward his vehicle before leaving in the direction of El Dorado Parkway East. Officers circulated a description, and less than 15 minutes later, one spotted a white Lexus RX 350 backed into a driveway in the 1400 block of Wiltshire Court.
Police say a man standing on the passenger side briefly ducked underneath the Lexus before taking off on foot toward a nearby canal. He jumped into the water and successfully made it across, but officers positioned nearby located and detained him after he emerged on the other side in the 1400 block of Windsor Court.
Security Footage Helped
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Investigators identified the man as Desouza and confirmed that he was the registered owner of the white Lexus, according to Cape Coral Police. Officers also reviewed the resident’s security footage and said it showed Desouza attempting to open the pickup’s door before returning to a vehicle matching the Lexus.
Cape Coral Police announced that Desouza was transported to the Lee County Jail on charges of burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, loitering and prowling, and resisting an officer without violence. The burglary charge is a third-degree felony, while police identified the remaining charges as second- and first-degree misdemeanors, respectively.
The department’s release focuses specifically on the attempted entry captured by the resident’s security camera and Desouza’s subsequent attempt to flee officers. Lee County jail records reviewed for this story, however, contain considerably more information about the charges currently attached to his custody record.
Jail Records List Additional Cases
Lee County records show that Desouza was booked at approximately 5:59 a.m. on September 22 and remained listed in custody at the time of the review. Although Cape Coral Police announced one burglary charge in its release, the jail record currently lists four separate charges of unarmed burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, each carrying a $25,000 bond.
The record also lists loitering or prowling with a $2,500 bond and resisting or obstructing an officer without violence with a $5,000 bond, bringing the total bond amount for those six charges to $ 10,750. Those cases are scheduled for hearings in Circuit Court on October 26 at 8:30 a.m., according to the jail record.
Three additional charges appear under a separate case number in Desouza’s custody record: unarmed burglary of an unoccupied structure, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and petit theft involving a prior conviction. Those charges are associated with case number 26CF16643 and an October 21 court date, but the information provided by Cape Coral Police about the September 21 canal incident does not explain those charges or establish that they arose from the same investigation.
As always, all suspects are considered innocent unless found guilty in a court of law. We reached out to Cape Coral Police and didn’t hear back.
