WINK Neighborhood Watch: burglary, aggravated battery and cockfighting

This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features burglary, aggravated battery with a vehicle and a man arrested for cockfighting.

Elian Sirphia Everett, a 23-year-old man in Cape Coral, has been arrested after allegedly breaking into six different businesses in Southeast Cape Coral.

According to the Cape Coral Police Department, detectives arrested Everett Thursday night.

On Nov. 5, officers responded to the Superior Hemp Dispensary after a burglary alarm went off. Officers did not find anyone inside.

The same store was burglarized on Nov. 9, and the store reported that over $1300 in products and cash had been stolen. 

Surveillance video footage revealed a similar-looking man who committed both break-ins.

On Nov. 11, four different businesses were burglarized, including Luna Fashion. Detectives received video footage publicly released to help identify the suspect. 

One of the businesses affected showed the footage to a regular customer. The customer recognized the suspect and reported the information.

Detectives determined Everett’s whereabouts and address near the burglarized businesses.

The investigation revealed that Everett was responsible for all six smash-and-grab burglaries.

Some of the stolen products were returned to the different businesses. Detectives also determined that he was responsible for a burglary in Fort Myers.

Everett also had two outstanding extraditable warrants, one for burglary. 

Everett is being charged with burglary of an unoccupied structure unarmed, criminal mischief of $1,000 or more, grand theft of $750 to $5,000 and resisting without violence.

• RELATED: Cape Coral man accused of breaking into 6 different businesses

A Cape Coral woman has been arrested for aggravated battery after she ran her car into a truck multiple times.

According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, 35-year-old Abril Fernanda Velazaquez was arrested on Saturday.

According to the victim, he and Velazaquez planned to meet at Velazaquez’s house to pick up his children as part of a planned visit.

He says he brought his current wife, who is seven months pregnant, to the meeting.

The victim said while he was picking up his children, Velazaquez attempted to open the passenger door and appeared as if she was trying to look inside the passenger side window.

After picking up the children, the victim drove briefly and came to a stop light at Pine Island Road and Cleveland Ave.

He told deputies that as he was stopped, he felt an abrupt impact on the back of his truck and saw Velazaquez directly behind him in her car.

He said after the first impact, Velazaquez placed the car in reverse and hit his truck two or three more times, pushing his truck forward.

Due to the impacts, his pregnant wife had to be transported to the hospital for evaluation.

The incident report noted that Velazaquez knew his wife was pregnant.

She now faces charges of four counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Velazaquez has since been released from the Lee County Jail.

• RELATED: Cape Coral woman arrested for aggravated battery with a car

A Lehigh Acres man has been arrested after deputies found he was running a cockfighting ring near his home.

The Lee County Domestic Animal Services Department received a complaint on Nov. 5 referencing a possible cock fighting ring and tied up dead roosters on Texas Road.

On Friday, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office got involved and investigated the location.

They found evidence consistent with breeding and training for cockfights at the home of 54-year-old Carlos Antonio Alvarez.

We spoke to Dylan Breese, the founder of Ybor Misfits Micro Sanctuary, a wildlife sanctuary in Tampa that cares for feral street birds in Ybor.

He said, “Fighting any type of animal, of course, for entertainment or sport, is just an activity towards the bottom of how low people can go and what they do to entertain themselves.”

They recovered 11 chickens that were used in the ring, including steroids at the location.

All of the chickens had to be put down.

Sheriff Carmine Marceno released a statement that read, “It sickens me that people will use animals for entertainment purposes. I promise to always protect those who cannot defend themselves, and that includes animals of all kind. I am proud of my Agriculture Unit and Animal Cruelty Task Force for completing a quick and efficient investigation that resulted in an arrest. This is a great example of how ‘see it, say it, make the call’ can result in shutting down criminal activity.”

Alvarez was taken into custody Friday night and charged with five counts of using conservation animals for the purpose of animal fighting.

“I would say that cockfighting is probably more prevalent than we think it is. It’s something that happens in the shadows, and people are afraid to turn people in who are involved with it, but I think it’s something that deserves more attention,” Breese said.

Alvarez was released on Saturday after paying a bond of $1,250.

• RELATED: Lehigh Acres man arrested in connection to cockfighting