911 call about naked intruder leads to ‘large' drug operation, Florida cops say

Miami Herald

29-04-2025

A strange 911 call about a naked home intruder got even more peculiar when deputies traced the suspect to a nearby home filled with pounds of drugs and stacks of cash, according to investigators in North Florida.
The burglary happened April 15 in a neighborhood near St. Augustine, and the intruder was still there when deputies arrived, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said in an April 28 news release.
'The residents of the home were awoken to a nude male subject striking their doors and windows with a large wooden branch,' the sheriff's office said.
'The suspect shattered the glass to a rear kitchen door and the victims hid in another bedroom while calling 911. SJSO deputies took (the suspect) into custody, learned he lived nearby, and went to his residence.'
They found an open garage door and 'clothing and a purse outside the residence,' officials said.
'Deputies entered the home to check on the welfare of any occupants and discovered evidence of a large marijuana grow,' the sheriff's office said.
After securing a search warrant for the home, detectives found three firearms; $85,000 in cash; 22 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms; three pounds of marijuana; 12 mature marijuana plants; 17 grams of Ketamine; 5.2 pounds of marijuana edibles; and drug ledgers and drug paraphernalia 'consistent with cultivation and sales,' officials said.
The 44-year-old suspect has been charged with armed burglary to an occupied dwelling and criminal mischief, the sheriff's office said.
'Additional charges are pending,' investigators said.
Details of what prompted the home intrusion have not been released.
St. Augustine is about a 45-mile drive south from Jacksonville.