BRADENTON BEACH – Police officers Eric Hill and Charles Marose got more than they bargained for when they responded to a burglary call on Nov. 5. At 4:30 p.m., the officers were dispatched to 1202 Gulf Drive N. where they met the property manager, who said the house was being occupied despite the fact it hadn’t been booked for rent and nobody had permission to be in the home at the time.
Hill and Marose went up the stairs to the unit, making contact with a male suspect identified as Kevin Downes of Sarasota. Downes told the officers he had rented the home from an Airbnb website and offered to show Hill his receipt, which he said was on his phone inside the home.
When Hill asked him if there were any other people or weapons in the house, the suspect said there was a pistol and a woman inside.
Both officers and a Holmes Beach officer who had responded as backup entered the home to secure the pistol, make contact with the other occupant and see the receipt the suspect claimed to have for the rental.
Upon entering the home, the officers made contact with a female suspect later identified as Christine Cicco who was standing near a glass pipe commonly used to smoke narcotics. They also saw a steel wool pad that had been taken apart, likely to clean the pipe, and an open vitamin bottle containing a white substance that later tested positive for methamphetamine. Within minutes the officers had enough evidence for felony arrests, but what they found next would make this one of the biggest busts in recent memory.
According to Marose’s report, laying on the same table as the drugs and paraphernalia were several sheets of freshly printed counterfeit U.S. $20 bills. Downes told the officers the currency was part of an art project he was working on, also saying he could not provide a receipt for the rental contract he claimed to have because his phone had died.
“I observed a laptop computer wired to a printer sitting in a chair next to the table, which was being used to print counterfeit money, along with the paper used to print the money,” Marose wrote in his report. “It was evident that Downes was set up for a counterfeit money operation, which is against Florida state statute.”
Downes was detained while Hill spoke to the female suspect who claimed to have no identification, and gave a false name and date of birth when asked to identify herself. A warrants check came back to Christine Cicco who had an open warrant out of Sarasota for violation of drug court. When presented with this information, Cicco confirmed that was her correct identity. She was then placed into custody and asked about the meth, which she said belonged to Downes and was not hers.
Both suspects were arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia. They were also charged with armed burglary, smuggling contraband (for bringing forged bank notes into the home) and possession of tools for forgery/counterfeiting. All of the charges are felonies under Florida law. Police seized the firearm, drugs, paraphernalia, counterfeiting supplies and the counterfeit currency, which was booked into evidence.
The is a Bradenton Beach police arrest and investigation, but the U.S. Secret Service is the government agency in charge of counterfeit currency investigations. According to Bradenton Beach Police Lt. Lenard Diaz, in cases such as these where there is a relatively small amount of currency, the Secret Service does not investigate the case, rather having the department that made the arrest destroy the money after it is no longer needed for evidence in prosecution.
Both suspects were taken to Manatee County Jail and are in custody. Cicco is being held on $31,000 bond; Downes’ bond amount was not available.
