Suspects also accused of stealing catalytic converters with estimated value of $94,000
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has charged five Miami men in connection with an April 2023 hit-and-run incident that killed a Sarasota man, the agency reported this week.
Samuel M. Rosemond, 22, of Miami Beach; Antonio F. Carbonell, 38, of Opa Locka; Allen Hunt, 29; and Micheal Trillo, 22, are facing a count of Second Degree Felony Murder, in addition to multiple counts of Burglary of an Unoccupied Structure, Grand Theft, and Traveling to Commit a Burglary, a news release points out.
Additionally, the release says, Edwin Norris, 31, has been charged with Felony Murder, Hit-and-Run, and 20 counts of Traveling to Commit a Burglary.
In April 2023, the release explains that “the five defendants traveled from Miami to Sarasota with the intent to steal catalytic converters from work vehicles parked at All Glass and Windows (AGW) and Arrow Environmental Services,” both on Tower Lane in Sarasota, as noted on the companies’ websites, The Sarasota News Leader learned. Tower Lane is east of Interstate 75.
Altogether, the release notes, the 22 catalytic converters that were removed had an estimated value of $94,000.
The release says that deputies “were alerted to an in-progress burglary at AGW and responded to the scene. As deputies were enroute, the suspects fled the scene in a dark-colored Audi, running a red light and colliding with a motorcycle driven by 21-year-old Leonardo Adams.”
The suspects fled the crash scene instead of stopping and/or rendering aid, the release adds. Their vehicle later was discovered abandoned on the shoulder of I-75 near Fruitville Road, the release notes.
“Through investigative means,” the release continues, “Norris was identified as the driver of the Audi, with Hunt, Trillo and Rosemond as passengers. Carbonell was observed driving a secondary vehicle.”
The release further points out that Carbonell, Norris and Rosemond were being held without bond in the Sarasota County Correctional Facility. (The News Leader learned of Rosemond’s and Carbonell’s addresses from their jail booking forms. The publication was unable to find Norris’ booking record.)
Hunt was awaiting extradition to Sarasota from Miami, the release adds.
Trillo was in the custody of the Miami-Dade County Jail, facing a charge of Attempted Murder for a 2023 case, the release points out. After that case has been resolved, the release notes, he will be extradited to Sarasota to face charges.
Details of the thefts
A News Leader review of the Probable Cause Affidavit for Carbonell, found in the records maintained by the Office of Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller Karen Rushing, said that just before 10 p.m. on April 4, 2023, an employee at All Glass and Windows (AGW) received an alert from a motion detector at the business. While looking at surveillance footage, the affidavit added, the employee “observed an individual inside the fenced-in section of his property and called 911.”
The deputies who arrived about 9:50 p.m. “observed a black Audi SUV leaving the area, traveling northbound on Apex Road,” the affidavit continued.
When the deputies reached AGW, the affidavit said, they “discovered a cut section of fencing that provided access to several company trucks. Upon inspection, they found that fourteen catalytic converters had been removed from the vehicles, resulting in an estimated loss of $70,000.”
The affidavit further noted that surveillance video showed “three individuals inside the fenced area …”
Then, the affidavit continued, about 9:51 p.m., 911 calls reported that, “approximately 0.8 miles from AGW,” a dark vehicle had run a red light, “causing an oncoming motorcycle to collide with the vehicle’s driver side. The impact ejected the motorcyclist, who was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
The dark vehicle “fled westbound on Fruitville Road without stopping or rendering aid,” the affidavit pointed out.
Deputies who searched the surrounding area for the vehicle involved in the crash discovered a black Audi SUV “abandoned on the shoulder of I-75 near Fruitville Road, approximately 0.9 miles from the crash scene,” the affidavit added. That vehicle was found at 10:40 p.m., the affidavit said.
The vehicle was registered to Raul Diaz of Miami, the affidavit continued. It “displayed damage consistent with the hit-and-run collision,” the affidavit said. “In the grass near the vehicle,” the affidavit noted, “deputies found a black ski mask, a mechanic’s glove, and a yellow DeWaltz Sawzall lying next to a cut section of fencing separating I-75 from a nearby residential property equipped with video surveillance.”
Given the damage to the vehicle, “the items located on the ground, and the fact that a black Audi SUV had been seen fleeing the scene at AGW,” the affidavit continued, “deputies seized the vehicle and notified the Investigations Bureau for further investigation.”
Detectives canvassed multiple locations, collecting video surveillance “from businesses located on Tower Lane and Apex Road, as well as from the crash intersection and a business on Fruitville Road,” the affidavit added.
After detectives obtained a search warrant, the Audio “was forensically processed,” the affidavit said. Fingerprints lifted from the vehicle enabled detectives to identify Edwin Norris, Allen Hunt and Micheal Trillo, the affidavit continued.
Detectives subsequently learned from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office “that the same Audi had been linked to catalytic converter thefts” in its jurisdiction, the affidavit pointed out. The ex-girlfriend of Norris, “who had been implicated in similar thefts,” had told the Lee County Sheriff’s Office that Norris, Hunt, Trillo, Carbonell and Rosemond “were traveling to various locations throughout Florida to steal catalytic converters,” the affidavit added.
Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office investigators then contacted Diaz, the owner of the vehicle, and learned that he had been renting the Audi; he kept track of it “through a GPS device,” the affidavit said.
Diaz was able to provide the detectives details of the rental on April 4, 2023, the affidavit noted. As a result of that information, the affidavit said, detectives learned from Joanna Gonzalez, who “confirmed she was dating Allen Hunt,” the same information that Norris’ ex-girlfriend had conveyed to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Gonzalez had been identified as the renter of the Audi, the affidavit explained, though she reported to investigators that that was not the case.
After Diaz granted the detectives access to the Audi’s GPS data, they learned that the Audi left Miami about 4 p.m. on April 4, 2023 and that it made its first stop near AGW, followed by a stop at a service station and then arrival at a restaurant at 7:22 p.m., the affidavit pointed out.
Surveillance from the restaurant — Joey D’s — showed the Audi, plus Norris, Hunt, Trillo and Rosemond exiting the vehicle and meeting Carbonell, who had arrived in a Chrysler minivan, the affidavit said.
When the men left the restaurant, the video showed, all but Carbonell returned to the Audi; Carbonell re-entered the minivan, the affidavit continued.
The GPS data and video surveillance gathered from Tower Lane “confirmed that both the Audi and the minivan arrived at Tower Lane by 8:38 p.m.,” the affidavit said. Then, at 8:43 p.m., the affidavit continued, GPS data placed the Audi in the parking lot of Arrow Environmental Services (AES) “for approximately 43 minutes.”
Detectives learned from AES records that a manager had reported that the exterior fence had been cut, and eight catalytic converters had been removed from box trucks, resulting in an estimated loss of $24,000, the affidavit noted.
The Audi arrived at AGW at 9:27 p.m., the affidavit said.
The collision with the motorcycle
The affidavit explained that when detectives began working on the sequence of events related to the traffic accident, they learned that the Audi was traveling north on Apex Road when the first responding deputy headed to AGW passed by it, with emergency lights activated. The Audi continued to travel northbound, the affidavit added.
Video from two locations “along Apex Road showed the Audi overtaking a slower-moving vehicle by using a partially completed turn lane,” the affidavit continued. “GPS data confirmed the Audi reached speeds of 61 mph on a single-lane road with a posted speed limit of 35 mph before approaching a roundabout and continuing toward the intersection of Lakewood Ranch [Boulevard] and Fruitville Road,” the affidavit pointed out.
“Video footage from both the Fruitville Library and an intersection camera captured the crash and corroborated witness statements,” the affidavit said. “Following the crash,” it noted, “the Audi fled westbound on Fruitville Road, dragging its rear bumper.” The “GPS data placed the Audi coming to a stop at 9:52 p.m. on the shoulder of I-75,” the affidavit added.
A Chrysler minivan like the one seen in the restaurant surveillance video showed up at 10 p.m. next to a boat where the four individuals from the Audi had gathered after crossing the yard of a home, the affidavit said.
Later, the affidavit explained, the ex-girlfriend of Norris provided investigators with email exchanges she had had with him. In one dated April 4, 2023, sent at 10:29 p.m., the affidavit continued, Norris wrote, “ ‘Almost killed someone on a motorcycle jus [sic] in a chase …’ ”
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office later arrested Norris on an unrelated charge, the affidavit noted. During an interview after he was read his Miranda rights, the affidavit said, he “admitted to being in the Audi at the time of the [motorcycle crash].”
Subsequent investigative work led to the arrests of the other men, the affidavit noted.