MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — The sun was shining, and the shoreline was bustling across Martin County this week, but while beachgoers soaked in the warm weather, detectives were focused on a very different kind of activity.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office posted on Saturday that its Criminal Investigations Division (CID) deputies teamed up with St. Lucie County detectives to conduct targeted surveillance on a suspect believed to be roaming beach parking lots in search of unlocked vehicles.
Investigators say the man moved back and forth between Martin and St. Lucie County beaches, checking cars and scouting for quick opportunities.
Detectives eventually identified the suspect as 32-year-old Joseph Zeman of Fort Pierce. During surveillance, they observed Zeman attempting to enter multiple vehicles; some were left unsecured, while others were protected only because they were properly locked.
On March 21, 2026, Martin County Sheriff’s Office detectives, working with St. Lucie County investigators, arrested 32-year-old Joseph Zeman after surveillance showed him moving between local beaches and checking vehicles in parking lots in an effort to find unsecured cars to burglarize. (MCSO)
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His beach-to-beach routine came to an abrupt end when detectives intervened and took him into custody. Zeman now faces charges connected to confirmed and attempted vehicle burglaries, as well as crossing county lines to commit the crimes.
As the Sheriff’s Office put it with a nod to the iconic band, he may have been having “Fun, Fun, Fun” until detectives took the “jailbird” away.