Illegal Alien Arrested for Second Time in Sarasota County

                                                                                                                                NEWS RELEASE #: 17-059 - MARCH 2, 2017

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office arrested a criminal illegal alien for the second time early Thursday morning as a follow up to a road rage incident that occurred in North Port in January.

Investigation into Carlos Echeverria-Pena began on January 6, 2017, when he was identified as the primary aggressor in the incident that took place at the intersection of Tamiami Trail and River Road. Detectives learned that Echeverria-Pena made contact with another driver where he broke through the victim's window and began punching the victim before the driver fired a gun in self-defense. Echeverria-Pena was charged with Burglary with Battery and at the time of his arrest, provided a Permanent Resident Card to detectives. Through investigation and in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, detectives learned that the card was counterfeit. Also provided during his arrest was a social security card which detectives later confirmed was fraudulent as well.

Echeverria-Pena was taken into custody in Nokomis by members of the agency's Fugitive Apprehension Unit and U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force. He is currently being held at the Sarasota County Jail on a single count of Criminal Use of Personal Identification, which carries a $20,000 bond.

"This is the second time our taxpayer dollars have gone toward feeding and providing medical services to an illegal alien prone to violence," said Sheriff Tom Knight. "During Echeverria-Pena's first arrest which by all accounts, is considered "violent" in my book, we called on the federal government to deport him. Today we are still waiting on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take a look at his criminal history that connects him to crimes around the country and for our purposes, asking that his removal is made a priority for the safety of our community."