El Salvador native charged with using fraudulent resident, Social Security cards

A man arrested by Sarasota deputies in January faces an additional charge because detectives say he presented them with fake permanent resident and Social Security cards at the time of his arrest.

Carlos Josue Echeverria-Pena, 23, was first arrested on Jan. 6 and charged with battery and burglary. He had been identified as the suspect who broke a driver’s window at the intersection of Tamiami Trail and River Road and began punching the driver before the driver fired a gun in self defense, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.

Through a later investigation, detectives working with the Department of Homeland Security were able to determine that the permanent resident card and Social Security card he gave when arrested were fraudulent, according to an arrest report.

“This is the second time our taxpayer dollars have gone toward feeding and providing medical services to an illegal alien prone to violence,” said Sarasota Sheriff Tom Knight said in a statement. “During Echeverria-Pena’s first arrest, which by all accounts is considered ‘violent’ in my book, we called on the federal government to deport him.”

Echeverria-Pena was arrested in Nokomis by the sheriff’s office Fugitive Apprehension Unit with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force. He was charged with criminal use of personal identification and is being held at the Sarasota County jail on a $20,000 bond.

“Today we are still waiting on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take a look at his criminal history that connects him to crimes around the country and for our purposes, asking that his removal is made a priority for the safety of our community,” Knight said.

This story was originally published March 2, 2017 at 10:34 AM with the headline "El Salvador native charged with using fraudulent resident, Social Security cards."