In a wild and violent chain of events Sunday, a Key Largo man being arrested for attempted murder stole a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office sergeant’s patrol cruiser, drove away and then stopped a woman and carjacked her SUV, later wrecking it on U.S. 1, according to the agency.
Authorities said that came after suspect A L first tried to steal the sergeant’s gun. The 52-year-old is now facing more than a dozen felonies, including carjacking, burglary, impersonating an officer and fleeing and eluding on top of the attempted murder charge.
According to MCSO, it all began after deputies went to a home in the 500 block of Palm Drive on Key Largo at around 4:25 p.m. as Lopez was beating a woman in a domestic violence incident.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Local 10 News, the 30-year-old victim, L’s ex, with whom he had two children, told deputies that amid an argument over infidelity, L threw her against a glass artwork, punched her repeatedly in the head and told her “that ‘today’ would be the day she dies.”
The affidavit states that L then grabbed a cleaning cloth soaked with Fabuloso and “stuffed” it in her mouth to suffocate her and then strangled her while “repeatedly telling her he was going to kill her.”
Authorities said after an MCSO sergeant arrived, L punched him as he tried, unsuccessfully, to unholster his weapon; the sergeant ended up on top of Lopez’s 3-year-old son during the struggle.
They said L ran off and deputies shocked him with a Taser, but it proved ineffective and he was able to get in the sergeant’s squad car and “briefly” steal it.
The affidavit states that, L drove the cruiser, with its emergency lights running, to The Sandal Factory at 102411 Overseas Highway, where he carjacked a 46-year-old woman.
The affidavit states that the woman “had just entered her vehicle when (L) opened her driver’s side door, demanded she exit the car, then forcefully grabbed her with his two hands to remove her from the car.”
The woman, authorities said, initially believed L was a law enforcement officer.
L, amid a high-speed chase, then rear-ended another vehicle near mile marker 104, flipping the Kia, authorities said. Deputies took him to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier and then to jail.
In the affidavit, a detective described the aftermath of the violent incident at the victim’s home.
“In the spare bedroom, signs of a struggle were apparent as the room was in disarray,” it reads. “Blood stains could be seen on the bed, door handles, wall. On the floor was the mop bucket, blood stains on the cleaning towel the defendant used to suffocate the victim. Blood stains could also be seen on the bed spread.”
The affidavit states L’s ex sustained several injuries from the ordeal, including “several fractures in her jaw, eye socket and cranium.”
In a news release Monday, Monroe County Sheriff R R said he was “relieved” that no one had life-threatening injuries during the incident and said Lopez “is currently where he needs to be — sitting in jail.”
“It is a reminder of the dangers law enforcement officers routinely face while simply doing their jobs,” R said.
As of Monday, L was being held without bond in MCSO’s Key West jail facility.
He’s set to be arraigned on Jan. 7, online records show.
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Source: local10
