MARATHON — All this 33-year-old fisherman wanted was some Christmas Eve stone crabs at a good price, but Santa did not deliver, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
Ricardo Gonzalez of Marathon was charged with third-degree felony battery on an officer, misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor disorderly intoxication after he reportedly threatened a fish house manager over stone crabs.
Deputies were called to the Keys Fisheries on Gulfview Avenue at 1 p.m. where they found Gonzalez drunk and disruptive, reports say.
The manager told them that Gonzalez walked up to him, asked why the bar upstairs was closed and if he could get “cheap stone crab,” reports say. The manager told him the bar was closed due to the holidays, but the stone crab were available next door.
Gonzalez reportedly told the manager that, “if he didn’t get give him a good price” he would knock him out before grabbing his chin and raising a fist toward him.
When deputies detained Gonzalez, he reportedly spit at them and began banging his head against the patrol car. While en route to the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island, Gonzalez reportedly told deputies he had been drinking on an empty stomach that day.
He was released from jail Christmas Day, but whether he ever got his stone crab was not stated in reports.
Information in the Crime Report is obtained from reports provided by area law enforcement agencies.
If you have information that could help solve a crime in the Florida Keys, call Crime Stoppers, 800-346-TIPS.