{"id":146503,"date":"2026-02-06T20:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/146503\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T20:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:50:07","slug":"stolen-merchandise-spotted-in-plain-view-suspect-also-found-with-narcotics-deputies-say-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/146503\/","title":{"rendered":"Stolen merchandise spotted in plain view; suspect also found with narcotics, deputies say"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A series of business burglaries striking northern St. Lucie County<\/a> ended with the arrest of a Sebring man.<\/p>\n

The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office<\/a> said that deputies responded around 4:45 p.m. on February 5 to South Kings Highway after business owners reported an overnight burglary. During the initial response, deputies identified a white Nissan sedan \u2014 driven by a white male \u2014 believed to be tied to several recent burglaries in the area.<\/p>\n

As deputies worked the call, SLCSO said further investigation revealed the vehicle was also connected to multiple theft cases across the Indian River County Sheriff\u2019s Office <\/a>and Fort Pierce Police Department<\/a> jurisdictions. Before long, officers with IRCSO and FPPD located the suspect vehicle within St. Lucie County.<\/p>\n

Deputies identified the driver as 29-year-old Austin Garrett Russell of Sebring. Investigators say they saw suspected stolen merchandise <\/a>from several burglarized businesses in plain view inside the vehicle. While Russell was being detained, deputies reported finding narcotics on him.<\/p>\n

\"February<\/p>\n

February 6, 2026 -{ } St. Lucie County deputies arrested 29-year-old Austin Garrett Russell after investigators from multiple agencies linked him to a string of business burglaries across northern St. Lucie County, Indian River County, and Fort Pierce, leading to his capture when suspected stolen goods and narcotics were found during a coordinated search for his vehicle. (St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office){ }<\/p>\n

See also: ‘Everglades Pizza’ goes viral: Inside the iguana pie made in North Palm Beach<\/a><\/p>\n

He was taken into custody without incident and booked into the St. Lucie County Jail<\/a>. Russell faces charges including three counts of burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, grand theft between $750 and $5,000, and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.<\/p>\n

The case remains active, and detectives say additional charges may be forthcoming as the investigation continues. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detective Corporal P. Taylor at 772-462-7300 or email CrimeTips@stluciesheriff.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A series of business burglaries striking northern St. Lucie County ended with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-146503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}