Pinecrest passes resolutions that will protect wildlife; applause ‘alert’ UPS driver

On Tuesday, Jan. 12, Pinecrest council members passed two resolutions that would protect wildlife in the village. They also recognized a UPS driver for helping catch two burglars.

The main item

Pinecrest council members recognized a UPS driver who helped police catch two men who tried to break into a house.

The driver didn’t want to be identified. He was not present, so a UPS representative attended the meeting and received his recognition.

On Tuesday, Dec. 15, the driver called police when he saw two men jumping over a fence in the 6300 block of 92nd Street.

One of the men arrested is Jeremiah Davis, 19, who was wanted by South Miami Police for dozens of serial car burglaries. The other man arrested is Markeith Robert Nickels, 21, who has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement both as an adult and juvenile, Pinecrest police said in a news release.

Both men were charged with burglary to an unoccupied dwelling and criminal mischief.

“The investigation of the property’s backyard revealed that the men entered the home’s sun porch via an unlocked door, and used a clay brick to smash an impact resistant glass rear door and door handle,” spokeswoman Michelle Hammontree said. “The men were not able to make entry inside the home. The damage to the house was estimated to be $2,000.”

Other business

▪ Bears: Unanimously, the council passed a resolution to oppose the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in issuing permits to hunt bears in the state.

“The Village Council hereby urges the FFWC to refrain from issuing future bear hunt permits and requests that Governor and Florida Legislature intervene as may be appropriate to address this matter,” the resolution reads.

In 2012, the wildlife commission removed the Florida black bear from Florida’s endangered and threatened species list. In 2015, the commission adopted a “bear management plan rule” that included issuing permits for bear hunts.

“Measures were not put in place to ensure that thousands of anticipated hunters would cease their efforts when reaching the limits imposed by the rule,” the resolution read. “During the 2015 hunt, actual kill rates far exceeded approved quotas; and... future bear hunts may thwart and undo past efforts to promote this previously endangered species.”

In the past, Palmetto Bay and South Miami passed similar resolutions.

▪ Beetles: Council members unanimously passed a resolution urging the wildlife commission to include the Miami tiger beetle on the state-designated threatened species list.

The day before the council passed the resolution, federal wildlife managers held a public hearing on a proposal to add the feisty Miami tiger beetle to the endangered species list.

Members of the Pinecrest council contend that “one of the last tracts of endangered pine rockland within Miami-Dade County is located along Coral Reef Drive and Southwest 127 Avenue in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.”

One of the rare inhabitants of the rockland is the Miami tiger beetle.

“The village council is concerned that the rare Miami tiger beetle will become extinct within Miami-Dade County,” the resolution reads. “Rockland is a globally imperiled habitat containing an array of rare plants, animals, and insects which are rare and exclusive to that habitat. Preservation of the native rockland, and the species for which it provides a home, is of great importance for the protection of our native forest’s unique and endangered environment.”

The Miami tiger beetle was presumed extinct until a recent independent survey detected the species in the rockland. After the study, council members urged the wildlife commission to include the insect on its threatened species list.

The next meeting

▪ When: 6 p.m. Feb. 16

▪ Where: 12645 Pinecrest Pkwy.

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Pinecrest passes resolutions that will protect wildlife; applause ‘alert’ UPS driver."