Two men arrested for burglary

Two men were arrested on Summerland Key Sunday morning for burglary after an observant neighbor called the Sheriff’s Office to report suspicious activity.

Deputy Josh Gordon was dispatched to check out the suspicious truck with two men inside which reportedly appeared to be “scoping the place out” according to the reporting person who called it in at 8:30 a.m. When the deputy arrived, he found the blue truck parked at East Caribbean Drive and Isles Boulevard.

As Deputy Gordon checked the area on foot, he found a man loitering under a home on Isles Boulevard two and a half blocks from where the truck was parked. The man was identified as 41 year old Clester Kilbourne of Marathon. Kilbourne told the deputy he was in the neighborhood to  “collect money”. The deputy noticed the main door to the home was open. A few minutes later, the homeowner walked out of the door.

The homeowner said he recognized Kilbourne as someone who had worked for him in construction. He said Kilbourne did not have permission to be under his house, nor did he have permission to open the door to his house, which the homeowner said should have been closed.

Deputy Gordon called for backup and Deputy Jon Riggs responded. As Deputy Riggs entered the neighborhood, he saw a second man sitting on a rock. The man was on the phone. At just that time, according to Deputy Gordon, Kilbourne’s phone began to ring. The name “Peter” came up on the screen of the phone. Deputy Gordon asked Kilbourne who “Peter” was and Kilbourne did not want to say. The deputy suspected “Peter” was acting as a lookout and was calling to tell Kilbourne a deputy had arrived in the area.

Deputy Riggs picked up “Peter”, later identified as 47 year old Audley Brown of Marathon. The homeowner said Brown had also worked for him in construction. He said there had been a dispute with the two men, and with another man who worked for him, about payment for their services. He said he had received a number of threatening text messages in regards to the dispute. He showed the deputies the threatening text messages, which he still had on his phone.

Both men were arrested. They were charged with burglary and with use of a two way communication device to facilitate a felony and they were booked into jail.