The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has arrested Michael Sterlace, 26, of 4160 Fruitville Road, Apt. 5, Sarasota, in connection with the burglary on Stone Ridge Trail Saturday night in which the homeowner fired two shots at the suspect before he fled.
Detectives received an anonymous tip on the afternoon of Monday, July 9, identifying Sterlace as the suspect, a Sheriff’s Office news release says. Detectives learned a short time later that Sterlace was at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, seeking treatment for a gunshot wound to his right arm.
According to the arrest report, the Stone Ridge Trail homeowner shot Sterlace twice with a .38-caliber revolver after seeing him enter the residence through a French door in which the glass had been broken.
After locating Sterlace, detectives obtained a search warrant for Sterlace’s apartment, the news release says. When they arrived at the location, Sterlace’s girlfriend, Taylor Dammann, 22, refused to open the door until they announced they had the warrant, a Sheriff’s Office report says. During the search, the detectives determined that evidence had been removed from the apartment and stored in a 2009 Infiniti parked outside, the report says.
Dammann was arrested after she refused multiple requests to provide the keys to that vehicle, according to the report and the news release.
Detectives seized her vehicle and a 2004 Ford SUV allegedly used in Saturday’s crime, so both could be processed as part of the investigation, the news release says.
As of this morning, July 10, Sterlace has been charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling, and Dammann has been charged with obstruction without violence. Both are considered suspects in a number of other recent residential burglaries, the news release notes.