Cape Coral worker arrested, caught on camera stealing $2K in HVAC gear

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Cape Coral police arrested an HVAC company employee after surveillance footage showed him unloading nearly $2,000 worth of stolen equipment into a storage facility.

Officers responded to a theft report at a storage facility located at 2555 Northeast Pine Island Road on March 11 around 1:20 p.m.

The investigation revealed that HVAC equipment had been unlawfully removed from a company vehicle and stored at the location earlier that morning. The suspect, identified as Cristian Kevin Felipe Ramos, 23, worked for an HVAC service company based in Fort Myers.

Surveillance footage showed Ramos driving a marked work van into the storage facility around 6:30 a.m. The video shows Ramos exiting the vehicle, meeting with several individuals already on scene and unloading multiple items from the van into nearby storage units.

Detectives later confronted Ramos with this footage, where he acknowledged he was the driver of the work van arriving at the storage facility. A search warrant was executed later that evening, and investigators recovered HVAC materials valued at approximately $1,985, including flex ducting, mastic buckets, straps and insulated boards.

During questioning, Ramos acknowledged being at the storage facility but denied removing any equipment, contradicting video evidence obtained during the investigation. Ramos was taken into custody later that evening at a business on Del Prado Boulevard North. He was arrested and charged with grand theft, a third-degree felony.