PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (WWSB) – A fugitive wanted by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office for the last three years has been captured in Oregon, official said.
Steven Charles Whitney, 47, has three active felony warrants in Charlotte County. One of those involves an incident in 2022 where he allegedly chased and shot at teenagers in Punta Gorda.
Whitney then fled the state, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Over the past three years, Whitney evaded law enforcement by using fake IDs and changing the license plates on his vehicles to avoid detection from license plate reader systems, authorities said.
Charlotte County deputies finally learned Whitney was in Eugene, Oregon. The Eugene Police Department was also able to identify Whitney as a suspect in an armed robbery case in Oregon.
As Oregon police tried to serve arrest warrants, Whitney barricaded himself inside a home. He ultimately surrendered. Inside the home, detectives found several of Whitney’s fake IDs, 15 pounds of marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms and multiple firearms.
Whitney was arrested on several felony charges in Oregon, police said. Whitney will eventually be extradited back to Charlotte County, which could be several years from now depending on the outcome of those cases.
Whitney’s charges in Charlotte County include:
Failure to appear (two counts)Violation of pre-trial release (aggravated assault with a deadly weapon)Possession of a firearm by a convicted felonFleeing to eludeResisting arrestDriving with suspended/revoked licenseDUI (third offense)
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