Traffic stop leads to auto theft arrest

Deputies on patrol in Islamorada spotted a stolen vehicle and arrested the woman driving it Monday afternoon.

Deputies Eric Viergutz and Nicholas Thaler spotted the stolen Toyota Prius southbound at the 87 mile marker at 3:30 p.m. The car had been reported stolen from Miami Dade County. There were two women inside the vehicle when it was stopped.

The stolen car was driven by 42 year old Eleanor Smith, who told the deputies she’d just moved to Florida from Rhode Island. She said she’d borrowed the car from a man she knows as “Uber Man”, who lives at a motel in Homestead. She said he is known as “Uber Man” because he drives lots of different cars. She said she paid him $60 to borrow the car; she claimed she did not know it was stolen.

Smith was arrested and charged with grand theft auto. She was taken to jail. Once at the jail, deputies found a driver’s license in someone else’s name along with four credit cards under other people’s names.

Smith claimed the driver’s license and credit cards belonged to various friends and family members. Deputy Viergutz made contact with the family of the woman whose driver’s license was in Smith’s possession. They said no one had permission to have the identification.

Smith was additionally charged with possessing another person’s ID. More charges may be pending in the case.