He sneaked into a tourist’s hotel room to spy on a woman, then did more, police say
A Florida Keys man was jailed this month after police said in 2018 he spied on a woman as she slept in her hotel room and masturbated on her clothing.
The DNA evidence found on the victim’s clothing led to his arrest, police said.
Steve Encarnacion, 41, slipped inside the hotel room at The Reach, 1435 Simonton St., in Key West early Sept. 30, 2018, where the woman was sleeping after returning to the room alone after a night out with friends, according to the arrest report.
Key West police said the case was solved when Encarnacion came up as a match in November 2019 for the DNA found on the woman’s dress and underwear.
Encarnacion, who gave police a Stock Island address, was arrested Aug. 11 on charges of burglary with assault or battery and voyeurism and booked into the Plantation Key jail.
He was released from jail the same day after posting $150,000 bond, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Encarnacion entered the woman’s hotel room without having to break in or use a key card, police said.
The door was ajar with a towel that the woman had placed by the door earlier because crews were working on the air conditioning.
Police were called to the resort at 2:53 a.m. Sept. 30, 2018, where three women said they had seen a stranger walking out of their hotel room as they returned.
One woman confronted the stranger and he ran away after saying, “Oh, sorry,” police reported.
Two of their friends had returned to the room earlier and had gone to bed.
The victim said she did not feel like she had been further assaulted and she had no marks on her, police said.
On her phone, she found a video and a photo of herself apparently taken by the stranger.
The video shows the person taking it walking around the room and also shows the room’s door held open by the towel, police said.
Hotel security footage shows a man following the victim as she enters the hotel just after 1 a.m. At one point, the man hides behind a pickup parked at the hotel’s entrance.
At 2: 16 a.m., the same man is seen on video jogging away from the hotel as if he were in a rush to leave, police wrote. ‘
In March 2019, Key West police received a tip that the culprit was Encarnacion, a fisherman, through Crime Stoppers.
Police said they were unable to locate Encarnacion’s employer at the time.
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