Navarre man arrested for theft of paddle board

Julio Manuel Ramos Perez

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office has arrested Julio Manuel Ramos Perez, 33, in connection to a paddle board theft from a Navarre residence. Ramos Perez, a resident of Fort Walton Beach, is facing multiple charges of larceny, burglary and one count of criminal mischief.

According to his arrest report, the investigation into theft began on April 18 when a Navarre resident contacted the sheriff’s office after noticing their paddle board, which was locked to wall in the covered  parking area under the property owner’s town house was gone and the lock broken.  The owner valued the paddle board at $2,500.

Security footage from outside the residence showed a black four-door vehicle backing up to the unit where the paddle board was taken. Deputies were unable to identify the vehicle. On the 23rd of the same month, deputies received video from a related case in which a black Toyota Corolla was identified with a temporary license tag. Deputies were unable to identify the tag, due to surveillance video quality.

A break in the case occurred when the deputy was contacted by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, which was investigating  Ramos Perez through pawn shop transactions. During this time, investigators discovered Ramos Perez owned a 2005 Toyota Corolla. In the report, investigators with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office stated Ramos Perez pawned several paddle boards in Okaloosa County.

On the day the owner reported the paddle board being stolen, the deputy found a transaction at the Cash America Pawn in Fort Walton Beach in which the deputy was able to identify as the stolen paddle board through pictures from the pawn business and the property owner. Ramos Perez sold the paddle board for $300.

In the report, the deputy attempted to contact Ramos Perez via the six telephone numbers which were provide to the pawn shops where he had conducted business. While three of the phone numbers were not active, the other three contact numbers were wrong numbers, the report said. Ramos Perez also provided multiple addresses as well.

 Ramos Perez was booked into  Santa Rosa County Jail on Thursday, where currently remains incarcerated with a $37,000 bond. 

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Navarre man arrested for theft of paddle board