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Police: Homeless man's path to jail starts at Treasure Island condos

 
Published Oct. 7, 2012

TREASURE ISLAND — Police say Edgard A. Santiago has a routine.

Every time the homeless man wants to go to jail, he walks up to the same condominium complex — Mansions by the Sea, 7650 Bayshore Drive. He calls up to a random unit and asks whoever answers to call the police.

He's done it about 30 times since 2009, jail records show, as often as twice a month and a couple of times with an added burglary charge. Sometimes, he racks up multiple counts of trespassing in one trip. Sometimes he gives his first name as "Edger."

Before he became a regular at Mansions by the Sea, he trespassed six times one summer in Hillsborough County.

Early Sunday — not four full days out of Pinellas County jail from his last arrest — Treasure Island police say Santiago remained faithful to his routine. He didn't seem to be drunk, on drugs or crazy, an affidavit noted. Around 5:30 a.m., 58-year-old Santiago went back to jail.