UPDATE: Deputies arrested a 36-year-old man Monday in connection with a May 16 fondling case.Samuel Garcia, 1815 40th Terrace S.W., Golden Gate, was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation.
Arrest reports say Garcia was arrested after investigators developed new leads after re-interviewing the girl and her mother.
The girl and her mother told investigators they saw a pickup that looked similar to the truck the suspect was driving at the time of the incident parked outside a hardware store in Golden Gate. The mother used her cell phone to take a photograph of the truck’s license plate.
Further investigation revealed the truck was registered to a business in Golden Gate. The business owner told deputies that the truck was assigned to Garcia, reports said.
The girl told deputies that Garcia was the man who fondled her, reports said.
Original news release posted May 16, 2008:
Deputies Search For Man in Fondling Case
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office needs the public’s help in finding a man who fondled a teen at a Golden Gate Estates bus stop on Friday morning.
Deputies say between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m., a man approached a 14-year-old girl at her bus stop on the corner of Wilson Boulevard and 20th Avenue Northwest.
Reports give this account:
The man started talking to the girl and then fondled her breasts and genitals over her clothing.
The suspect was described as a Hispanic man in his 30s, approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall, with a thin build. He has short black hair, a short, trimmed mustache and beard and a mole on the left side of his face, near his lip. He was last seen wearing jeans and a white shirt with a green logo on the front.
The man approached the girl driving a white pick up, which is believed to be a newer model. The truck was possibly a work truck.
The suspect spoke only Spanish to the girl.
Anyone with information should call the Sheriff’s Office at 793-9300.
