On January 3, 2005 there were 2 small fires burning on Little Knockemdown Key at 2:00 in the afternoon. I saw it from Kemp Channel bridge on my way to the gas station with Johnny, my son. The fires were contained and looked like tires burning, the smoke was black, like smoke from burning rubber. No brush was burning and the island is thick with vegetation. So I assumed someone was there burning debris, nevertheless I called Preston. By the way, the fires never did spread; though all of the means to spread were there, with wind and dead limbs, etc. The fires were controlled by "someone" to get rid of "something."

I called Preston at 2:20 and told him to go out there and see if anyone needed help or a boat, etc. He and his friends tried to go the island, but got stuck on the flats. They were questioned by a neighbor who was already there as to who they were.. He said he didn’t want them in trouble for the fires and asked their names.

Preston thought it seemed weird he would say this, and gave him a fake name. The other boys gave them their real names, pushed their boat back off the flats and came home and told me about this.

Months later my phone calls were subpoenaed and confirmed by MCSO.

Detective Manny Cuervo.
Even then, this Jan 3rd event would be fabricated into a "case of arsons and burglaries on Little Knockemdown" which never even existed. The contents of my son’s friend "missing wallet" would mysteriously be found on Little Knockemdown days after the fire by Detective Cuervo. Detective Cuervo would attempt to coerce the boy into saying my son Preston had started fires, and threaten the boy if he did not say this. He would haul all of the 5 boys in and threaten them, and tell them to name my son. No one ever did.

With no evidence to back any of Cuervo’s allegations, the case would be closed by Catherine Vogel for lack of evidence of these crimes.

Nevertheless, with no evidence and a case that was closed months prior, my son would be arrested on April 26th, 2005 on 3 felony counts and $50,000 bond with a warrant signed by Judge Perry Fowler the very day I asked for a restraining order against Cudjoe Detective, Manny Cuervo. Judge Fowler would have no evidence, nor anything that would place my son setting fires or committing burglaries, nevertheless she signed this fraudulent warrant for his arrest. The Judge, who reviewed the case the next morning would throw the charges out and release my son. And the falsified documents by Manny Cuervo signed under penalty of perjury, of $100,000.00 homes being burglarized would never be addressed. The evidence would never appear to support his claim, and the only properties that were intact on Little Knockemdown, were not harmed.

On January 9th of 2005, the weekend after the fires, the boys would once again go to the church to play basketball. 5 of them, the best of friends. More friends joined them. They played all afternoon.

Right at dark, a couple of the boys decided to go to the school to play Hide and Go Seek. But they had a cooler name for it, they called it "Manhunt". It was the exact same game though. Preston and some of his friends were reluctant to go to the school property, so they stayed at the church. Their cars were parked at the church.

A neighbor called in to 911 to say he saw teens running around the school grounds, and a couple of cars were at the church. SWAT Team assault on the school began minutes afterward. Numerous patrol cars raced into Sugarloaf, and circled the school.

The deputies got out and surrounded the property. They got bull horns and called for the kids to come out. Surely not the hide and go seek the teens had hoped to play!! The officers called the assistant Principal, and had him unlock the school. They went through the entire school to see if the kids had been in there. They had not. The deputies went through all of the buses out back and 3 times called in No Damage, Negative Damage. Other deputies went through the buses again. Same results. Nothing was damaged, the kids were hiding….the deputies finally spotted a teen. He was the son of 2 teachers who worked there at the school. He told the deputies the kids names who were with him, and said that he had been hiding on the roof, but had come down to get a drink of water. There was no one else on the roof, and no damage. The boy received a stern warning and was sent home. The other boys followed.

This is a misdemeanor offense of trespassing ONLY if the kids had been given a prior warning to not play at the school. Some of the boys had been given a warning, others had not. An Officer could only make an arrest in this instance if the teen they caught was previously warned, and the Officer actually saw the teen commit this offense of trespassing. The teen caught had not been previously warned. However, he had told the Officers when he was apprehended, the names of the others that were with him, and some of them had been warned. He did not name my son.

The Officers at this time, had the right to go to these homes and give these "previously warned" teens a Notice to Appear in Court on Trespassing Charges. This had to take place in "fresh pursuit". Once that "fresh pursuit" expires no arrest can be made. Even then it would have been questionable because the Officers did not actually have the misdemeanor committed in their presence as is required. But they could have tried to press the issue with a Judge if this witness would testify in Court. The expense to take this to Court, and the likelihood of the charge of trespassing holding in Court was slim so the Officers told the boys to tell his friends to never play there again, and they gave warnings to those that had not received them before. . Since the Officers knew where the teens were that night, they knew where their homes were, they knew where they would be the next day, and the schools they attended "fresh pursuit" would expire by morning. If they would have been arrested, this is not an offense that would have put them in a jail. They would not have met the detention requirements mandated by law to hold a juvenile.

On January 12th, 2005, my daughter-in law had a gran mal seizure in the bathtub at our home. She was not breathing. My son Preston called 911 as my other son and I tried to revive her. The call was listed Medical Emergency, Priority 1, no backup. Ten minutes after the paramedics had arrived and had been working on her, I was asked to leave the crowded room so they had an easier time maneuvering. I was really shook up and joined my family members downstairs. There were two adult men, 2 teenage sons, my young son and my husband. Plenty of muscle to help carry my daughter in law down to the ambulance if necessary.

Officers Kibbe and DelValle arrived at my home at this time, 10 or more minutes after the paramedics. They demanded entrance to our home. I told them my daughter in law had a seizure, the room is crowded, but most importantly she is naked, and they can’t go in. I explained how the paramedics had even asked for me to leave. These deputies then put me under arrest and told me I would be charged with "Domestic Violence". One officer held me downstairs and the other entered the home against the protests of my husband and my son, who is the daughter in laws’ husband. The officer makes his way into the upstairs bedroom and stands in the medical area refusing to leave and gazing at the naked girl for 5-10 minutes. Paramedics finally escorted him out. I called the police from a phone around the corner from where I was held, and screamed for an officer to come and remove these #*$&#@*. Sgt. Sommers came. He sent the deputies to the street and tried to understand what had happened. Later that night he took the statements of these invading officers.

I called Sheriff Roth the next day and asked what was going on?

Colonel Ramsay called me back and left a message on my answering machine that said "I have the reports right in front of me. The paramedics felt threatened for their life and had called for backup."

I took this message to the paramedics and let them listen to it, they were shocked, and suggested I get the call log to see who sent these deputies. They assured me they had not said this and would testify they had not called for backup or suggested in any way they felt endangered. They also said if there had been trouble, they would not have been able to enter the home and begin treatment without the deputies present. They said if Domestic Violence would have been called in, the call log would show backup needed, and they would not have been allowed to enter until after the Officers secured the home.

I requested the tapes from the Marathon call center.

January 14th, 2005, 2 days after the Medical Emergency and 5 days after Hide and Seek, I am in the kitchen making breakfast for Preston, when up to my home comes 3 Sheriff cars with 5 deputies and officers inside. They get out and begin coming toward the home. My son, Preston runs upstairs and tells me what is happening. A deputy enters my home without permission, going through 3 different doors to reach me and Preston. He tells me Preston is going to jail. He will not tell me what he is being charged with. He says he has a warrant, but will not and could not produce it. He did not read Preston his rights. He just grabbed him, handcuffed him, and took him to the patrol car. Two other cars waited behind to contain me so that I could not follow the car with Preston in it. They kidnapped my son.

The call log from that day does not show any of these cars at my address. It was early in the morning when they took my son. I had a spatula in my hand, and eggs on the stove. They stole my son.

Unbeknownst to me, they repeated this 3 more times, with Preston‘s friends. They took 2 other boys from their homes and then went to the school and took 2 more without permission from the high school staff. In all instances, they did not read the boys their rights, tell them what they were arrested for, nor produce a warrant. Five boys kidnapped, and no one would tell me where my son was.

The Officers committed felony offenses under color of law when they trespassed into my home without a warrant. Just the act of crossing the threshold of a home without a warrant is a felony offense under color of law and is punishable by jail and fines. They committed another felony offense when they seized a person inside the home without a warrant, punishable by jail time and fines. They violated the law by not reading the boys their Miranda Rights. They violated the law by not telling the boys what they were charged with. They violated the law in not telling the parent what the juvenile was being charged with. The Officers violated procedural rules by not reporting their whereabouts to the Call Center when they were pursuing and arresting juveniles. And all of these violations occurred before they even reached their secret destination.

I immediately dressed and drove to the Sheriff’s Office and the jail.

I went to the records department and requested all the documents they had that might lend insight as to what my son had been arrested for. I waited there at the Stock Island Detention Center most of the day trying to find my son. He was not in the Juvenile Jail as he should have been. I still did not know what he had done, what he had been arrested for, or where he was.

In the afternoon late, I began getting calls from Preston’s friend’s parents. They wanted to know if I had seen their son. It became clear that they were all taken that morning. None of us had received any phone calls to let us know where our sons were. If a juvenile is arrested, they must meet detention requirements to be held. The maximum a juvenile can be held outside the juvenile jail is 6 hours.

But we were well on our way to the 7th and 8th hours, and the kids were still missing. As soon as a juvenile is taken into custody, the Intake Officer MUST CALL a parent and allow the parent or attorney to be present. Every effort must be made immediately upon arrival to contact the parents of the minor, no exceptions. None of us were called.

Immediately upon a juvenile’s arrival at a jail, an assessment must be completed. Intake procedures must be strictly adhered to. In order to hold a juvenile for any time at all, they have to meet detention requirements. This means they have to rack up points as repeat offenders, felony charges, etc. You have to have 12 points. Otherwise the jail is supposed to notify the parent, that their child is there and what he/ she is charged with. The parent goes straightway to the jail. The juvenile is given a date to appear in Court, and there may be questioning of the juvenile with a parent present if the juvenile wants to talk. Boom, it’s over…just like that.

Now in the event the child can be detained by committing more serious crimes, then an assessment is done. They still have to do the same with the parent notification, allowing the parents to come with the child, etc. But if the child will be detained for 6 hours or longer, then a medical evaluation must take place, to ensure the child will not suffer if he does not receive medication, etc. They have to determine the physical health of the child, injuries, etc. They must do a suicide screening, to make the sure there is no possibility of risk. Then they fingerprint, take mug shots, etc. The incarcerated juvenile is allowed a phone call. After the juvenile is taken to the jail cell, the jailer has to monitor each confined person every 10 minutes, and log in the cell # and that he has observed the person.

This is done to prevent harm to the incarcerated, as well as to prevent escapes. None of this was done.

Let me see if I can make this easy for you to understand. There was no warrant for the entry into the homes nor for the arrest of anyone. The patrol cars whereabouts are not in the call log. 5 juveniles were kidnapped and held in the adult jail for 8-10 hours depending on the ones they let out first, second, etc. All the youth were denied their rights, assessments, phone calls, etc. None met any detention requirement whatsoever. None was charged with a crime, except for my son for trespassing at the school days earlier. No one was prosecuted except my son. No parent was called, and further Detective Cuervo used the jail as an interrogation facility which is a crime in the US. Also under the UN, the fact they were taken to the wrong jail, makes this an international crime…under The Enforced Disappearance of Persons.

There is no way to describe the felony offenses committed this day against the youth. There are so many, and so many who took part in it. Everyone involved from the initial pick up officers to the staff at the jail, to the hierarchy at the MCSO that covered it up and produced no records of their incarceration. No reports were written concerning it. These boys were flat out kidnapped by MCSO. The entire Sheriff’s Office upper level should be brought down by this.

Yet the FBI refused to investigate, FDLE threw my file out, and Cindy Peryam of Internal Affairs claimed no wrong doing on the part of any officer.

My son had his day in Court on April 25th. The Judge threw the case out. Detective Cuervo assaulted my son outside the Courtroom. I tried to make a complaint with City of Key West Police Office, and was denied. I tried to make a complaint with MCSO, denied. I then tried to get a restraining order and said I feared for my son’s life.

My son Preston, died on May 4th, 2005. Remember Dep. Drielsma who signed the false reports from the medical emergency? Oh yes, and in those reports the officers state they had heard from someone that I was involved in burglaries and narcotics. This is against the rules of MCSO, to spread gossip without an identifiable source.

Anyway Dep. Drielsma went to work at the State attorney Mark Kohl’s office in 2006. And 1 year after my son’s death, Dep. Drielsma now Investigator Drielsma, starts trying to implicate my son and husband in Preston’s death. Mark Kohl sends investigators to Gainesville who followed my son and his wife for three days, threatening them that they must give statements. They say my son "was involved in his brother’s death" in front of the professors that have given him a full scholarship. They harass them 800 miles away, and then get the State Attorney’s office up there to assist in this persecution. I called the Gainesville State Attorney, Bill Cervone, he knew nothing about what his Investigators in Gainesville were doing, and assured me the harassment would stop from his end.

Drielsma started calling my husband trying to schedule appointments to look at trees at remote locations. I recognized the name, told my husband not to go, and called Drielsma myself. I retained an attorney and was prepared for the next round, yet after my attorney called Mark Kohl, it stopped suddenly.

This is the same Mark Kohl that denied the prosecution of Pribramsky because he said he could not prove Pribramsky's "intent" to steal $60,000.00 from the former owners of the Appliance shop. He had forged checks and all, and still refused to prosecute. Yet this is the same Mark Kohl that prosecuted the Hide and Seek case, was going to prosecute Little Knockemdown, and now was attempting to prosecute us for my son’s death. Where was our "intent" that my son die?

This whole story is the most difficult thing to re-live, every bit of it, and I have left out many other lesser things they did to us. It is a sickening story, and it is true. God pray for us that this abuse stops. It will not until it is admitted. As long as the thieves of our rights and freedoms go unpunished, it will continue.

The corruption feeds on itself like a fire that can’t be quenched.