Punta Gorda man under arrest for illegal contracting, burglary

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla.- A Punta Gorda man was arrested on a variety of charges, including multiple felony counts of contracting without a license.

Detectives say 30-year-old David Osteen used illegal contracting jobs to provide him with information he used to later burglarize those locations.

Osteen is charged with eight counts of contracting without a license. According to detectives, Osteen would go door to door soliciting work, often giving customers a business card that indicated he was a “Pile Wrap Master.”  The cards also indicated he was ‘licensed and insured.’

Detectives learned that not only was Osteen not legally licensed as any type of contractor in Charlotte County, he had been previously convicted in another county for a similar charge.  They had also linked him by fingerprint evidence to at least one burglary at that time and obtained a warrant for his arrest in that case.

Osteen was spotted at the Flamingo Motel in Tropical Gulf Acres mid-morning on Wednesday. He fled from deputies and was seen throwing items out of his vehicle while he was driving.

Police were able to arrest Osteen when he came to a dead end road.  When deputies checked his vehicle, they found a methamphetamine pipe and a baggie of methamphetamine by the vehicle. They also found a prescription bottle with someone else’s name on it.  Detectives learned that the woman whose name was on the prescription lived in the area.  When deputies checked her home, they found it had been broken into.

After the burglary victim arrived home, she noted several items missing from her house, including some food, a new iPod Nano that was still in the packaging and a 410 gauge shotgun.  The food items were located in Osteen’s vehicle along with the iPod.  The shotgun was located along the roadway where he was seen throwing out items as he drove.

According to detectives, Osteen broke into two additional houses where he had performed the unlicensed marine contracting work that he was previously charged for. In both instances, firearms were reported stolen.

Officials also charged Osteen with additional counts of contracting without a license and burglary or attempted burglary.

Detectives also arrested 43-year-old Ronald Daniel Cole on charges related to two of the burglaries. Officials say he assisted Osteen by driving him to the locations of the two burglaries, picking him up and then helping with disposing of the firearms.

“When you are considering having work done at your house, it is really important to make sure the person you hire is indeed really licensed and insured in Charlotte County,” Sheriff Bill Prummell said.  “Check them out to make sure they have the correct paperwork, particularly if they are soliciting you for work.”