ENGLEWOOD EAST — The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office arrested one of two men dressed in black caught in the act of stealing an outboard motor off a boat in a fenced in area at 3790 N. Access Road in Englewood East on Thursday night. Arrested was Ifrain Mondeja, 40, address unknown at this time. CCSO received a call at 8:38 p.m. from a witness who reported seeing two men in black near the rear fence of a closed business, Econo Termite & Pest Control. Upon arrival, a deputy observed one man in black crouched down by the fence at the rear of the business. The subject immediately got up and ran, and a foot chase began. The deputy deployed his Taser and the subject dropped to the ground. However, the man rolled over and started to reach into his pockets. A struggle ensued. The man fought with the deputy, broke loose and ran away again. The deputy called responding units and continued to chase the subject, tackling him and using his Taser in drive stun mode. As they wrestled on the ground, the subject grabbed the Taser and redirected it to the deputy’s chest, which fired into his ballistic vest but no injury. Backup deputies arrived, gained control of the suspect, and handcuffed him. Under the subject deputies located a pair of bolt cutters and a bag of tools. The second subject was not located.

Detectives located an $8,000 outboard Yamaha motor cut from the boat and put on a hand cart to be moved. The cables, hydraulic hoses and wiring were cut and the motor unbolted from the boat. A screwdriver and a pair of gloves were also located near the cut fence. The deputy finally was able to identify the subject as Mondeja by means of a U.S. Employment Authorization card. The Cuban-born Mondeja only spoke Spanish and a deputy was called to communicate with him. Mondeja claimed he had been living in Bradenton but could not provide an address. He said a friend was driving him back to Miami, where he normally lives, and dropped him off in Englewood. He had no possessions with him and could not give a Miami address. He said he was dropped off near the Econo business for unknown reasons. He denied committing the burglary or attempting to steal the outboard motor. According to detectives, Mondeja was found to have an extensive criminal history involving multiple felonies. In addition, he presented identification documents that could not be confirmed. A criminal check showed multiple name spellings, multiple dates of birth and several social security numbers associated with him. At the time of his arrest by CCSO, he had an employment authorization card as well as a Social Security card beginning with the number 723. Detectives checked and found that the 723 prefix for Social Security numbers was used only for railroad employees prior to the 1970s and is no longer used. Mondeja was transported to the Charlotte County Jail, where he remains on no bond. He has been charged with multiple crimes involving burglary and resisting arrest. CCSO has contacted the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency concerning the identity and status of Mondeja.