An absconded sex offender is behind bars, thanks to a Collier County Sheriff’s Office pilot program that lets deputies electronically fingerprint people while they're out on the road.
Joe Castillo, 59, a convicted sex offender, was arrested last week on two outstanding warrants.
Arrest reports say Castillo was going through a Dumpster behind a shopping plaza at 1602 Lake Trafford Road in Immokalee around 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 6 when a CCSO deputy came into contact with him.
When the deputy asked him for identification, Castillo said he was homeless and gave the deputy a name that further investigation revealed was fake. He was also unable to provide the deputy with photo identification.
He gave the deputy permission to take his fingerprints with the deputy's portable “Rapid ID” fingerprint scanner, reports said.
Within a few minutes the device showed a match and Castillo’s true name, birthdate and criminal history were on display on the screen of the deputy’s in-car computer, reports said.
It also showed Castillo had two active warrants out of Collier County.
One of the warrants was issued in 1999 charging him with violating his state probation for his 1997 conviction on a charge of lewd and lascivious act in the presence of a child, reports said.
The other was a capias warrant issued in 2004 for his failure to register as a sex offender, reports said.
Castillo is also an absconder of sex offender probation per the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
CCSO deputies have been using Rapid ID since August as part of a pilot program through FDLE. The device electronically scans two fingerprint images which are then sent to FDLE and entered into a statewide fingerprint database. If there’s a match, that person’s criminal history and any warrants he or she may have will be delivered electronically within 45 seconds to a minute. The statewide database covers anybody who has been arrested and fingerprinted in Florida.
FDLE is supplying the devices at no cost to CCSO through a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
