Man accused of burglary at North Fort Myers Fire Station, damaging property at nearby home

NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. —

A man was arrested Saturday in North Fort Myers after being accused of stealing items from a fire station and then causing property damage to a house.

According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to reports of a burglary at the North Fort Myers Fire Station No. 3 at around 3:05 a.m.

Upon arriving at the scene, deputies spoke to multiple people at the fire station. One individual told them he had walked out of the fire station at around 2:55 a.m., and had noticed a woman standing near his personal truck, LCSO said.

The individual yelled at the woman, who walked away. When he approached his truck, he saw that the driver's side front and rear doors were open, and the contents of the truck were scattered on the inside of the truck and on the ground outside the truck, as if someone had rummaged through his vehicle, LCSO said.

Deputies reviewed surveillance footage that showed a man, later identified as Edgar Barrios, 38, enter the fire station brandishing a large metal pipe over his head as if he was about to hit someone with it, LCSO said.

Barrios is then seen leaving the station wearing a firefighter jacket and carrying a plastic tote. Barrios then tried to open several parked vehicles and was able to open the doors on a truck, from which he took items and put them in the plastic tote, LCSO said.

While responding to the fire station, deputies found Barrios on the roadway, carrying a North Fort Myers Fire Department jacket and suspenders. Deputies noticed Barrios was out of breath and detained him.

Deputies then responded to a house across the street from the fire station, due to people in the house being previously awoken by a loud bang from outside, LCSO said.

After the loud bang, one of the occupants of the house looked outside and saw Barrios standing in the front yard. Two of the occupants of the house confronted Barrios in the front yard. Barrios threw up his hands and shouted, "It wasn't me! I didn't do anything," according to LCSO.

The two men then chased Barrios off the property, and upon returning, discovered that a nearby vehicle had been robbed, with an emergency glass window breaker, a car vacuum, a scented car freshener bottle and a car coin holder all missing, LCSO said.

The coin holder was found on the north side of the house, on top of the A/C unit, and the other items were found on the front porch, which had sustained damage, including a cut made in the north side screen, the screen on the porch door being pushed in at the seams, an overturned bar stool and wicker chair, and a smashed statue, LCSO said.

Deputies conducted a show-up with the occupants of the house, and the two men confirmed Barrios was the man they had chased from the yard, LCSO said.

Barrios was arrested and faces charges of burglary of an occupied dwelling (unarmed), criminal mischief less than $2,000, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and petit theft.

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