OKEECHOBEE — A 29-year-old Lorida man was arrested Sunday for his alleged threatening actions and attempt at stealing a truck from a man who was visiting with his children at Lake Okeechobee.
Dustin Edward Suggs, County Road 721, was arrested on July 22 on felony charges of carjacking, possession of firearm by convicted felon, possession of firearm with serial number altered or removed, aggravated assault, burglary of unoccupied conveyance and a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief. His bond was set at $101,000.
Dustin Edward Suggs, 29
Deputy Corporal Kristin Gray, of the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO), was dispatched to Nubbin Slough on July 22 in regards to a complainant reportedly being threatened with a weapon.
Additional OCSO personnel responded to Southeast 86th Boulevard in an effort to locate the suspects.
The man told deputies said that he was at Nubbin Slough to visit with his children and during this time three individuals arrived in a red Ford truck. The complainant was apparently standing outside of his vehicle when one man supposedly ran up to him and then jumped in the driver’s seat of the complainant’s tow truck. The thief then reportedly tried to escape in the tow truck but the complainant was able to prevent him. The thief exited the tow truck. The tow truck owner was able to get into his vehicle and attempted to leave the area but his path was apparently blocked by the thieves’ vehicle.
The report continues that the thief jumped in the bed of the red Ford truck and pulled out what the complainant thought was a gun, pointed it at the tow truck owner and yelled that he was going to “put two bullets in him.”
During the incident’s occurrence, the children were taken to another location by the woman who brought them to meet with the complainant. The tow truck owner reported the approximate damage to the driver side door as $350 and that he wished to pursue criminal charges against the individuals.
The report also stated that during Cpl. Gray’s statement collection, OCSO Deputy Tyler Ott and Deputy Timothy Miller located the suspect vehicle and Suggs, who was immediately taken into custody, however the other two individuals fled on foot.
A search of the vehicle yielded the finding of a cocked and loaded black Ruger pistol located under the rear passenger tire. Digital photographs of the location and firearm were taken and turned in to evidence along with the firearm itself to be processed. The serial numbers had apparently been ground off.
The woman who brought the children to meet with their father provided a verbal statement to Cpl. Gray stating that she brought the children to see the complainant when the three arrived in a red truck and apparently began an argument. The woman said as she was leaving with the children she saw Suggs appear to point a gun at the children’s father, per the report.
The report concluded that Suggs was arrested, transported and booked into the Okeechobee County Jail on the aforementioned charges. A warrant will be filed for the other male individual with Suggs who fled on foot. The female with Suggs was later located, identified, arrested on a DOC felony warrant and transported to the Okeechobee County Jail for booking.
Dispatch confirmed that through Florida Crime Information Center/National Crime Information Center (FCIC/NCIC) that Suggs had nine prior felony convictions.