PORT ST. LUCIE, FL – Port St Lucie Police arrest two men after attempting to elude police; believed to be in the area cloning vehicle keys.
In the early morning hours of April 9, 2021 Port St Lucie Police Officers were patrolling hotel parking lots in St. Lucie West, when they noticed a beige Cadillac Escalade entering and exiting different hotel parking lots.
When Officers went to investigate further the vehicle left the area.
Officers pulled behind the vehicle at the intersection of SW St. Lucie West Blvd/SW Peacock Blvd. After conducting a record check on the license plate, it was determined the registration expired on March 29, 2021.
Officers conducted a traffic stop at the 1600 Blk of SW St. Lucie West Blvd. The vehicle came to a stop in a nearby parking lot. When officers exited their patrol vehicle, the Escalade immediately sped off, traveling through various business parking lots. The vehicle then traveled North on NW California Blvd, trying to elude police by turning off their vehicle headlights. The vehicle eventually stopped on NW Country Club Drive after traveling South in the North bound lanes. The driver and the passenger were immediately placed into handcuffs for further investigation. The driver was identified as Andres Aguila and the passenger was identified as Ricardo Jimenez. They both had different stories of why they were in the area.
Jimenez who has an address in Miami stated they were just “hanging out” and Aguila who has an address in Cape Coral stated they were staying at a hotel. Officers retraced the path of the vehicle and located a black backpack near the location where the occupants turned off the vehicle’s headlights. Inside the backpack were a Smart Pro Advanced Diagnostics Device, 5 vehicle key fobs to different vehicles, and a cord that would appear to plug into a vehicle’s computer system.
The diagnostic vehicle programming device captures the frequency of a vehicle’s fob system, allowing the user to reencode a vehicle key to match that vehicle. Andres Aguila was arrested and charged with Possession of Cocaine, Resisting an Officer without Violence, and Loitering or Prowling.
Ricardo Jimenez was arrested and charged with Fleeing/Eluding Police, Resisting an Officer without violence, Driving with license suspended/revoked-3rd violation, and Loitering or Prowling. Hotels near the I95 corridor are ideal targets for vehicle burglaries and vehicle thefts due to the easy and quick access to I95. It is highly likely that the attentiveness of our Officers thwarted vehicle thefts and/or burglaries.