Formal charges are up to the prosecutor in Florida and, in Manatee County, it’s the 12th Circuit State Attorney.
Criminal cases are opened on arrests or referrals from police agencies.
Holmes Beach Police Detective Sgt. Brian Hall said he expects to present burglary cases based on stolen items found in a storage unit rented by a man arrested for a June 28 burglary and attack on a Holmes Beach woman — but charging the crimes will be up to the state attorney.
Hall is investigating a number of cases stemming from Mark Lee Snyder’s two arrests in July.
Snyder was arrested and jailed July 3 for attacking a 71-year-old woman and burglarizing her home in the 500 block of 75th Street five days earlier.
The second arrest came after Snyder was released from jail on a $41,620 bond. Detectives found numerous items, including a .38 caliber handgun stolen in a May 15 burglary in the 100 block of Crescent Drive in Anna Maria — but that case was dropped Aug. 24 by the prosecutor.
His bond was revoked after the second arrest.
Snyder returned to jail and the prosecutor upped his initial theft charge when the victim determined the value of her loss.
Hall said Sept. 12 in light of the dropped Anna Maria case, he doubts whether the state will pursue the cases he plans to present.
“But we’ll see,” he added.
According to a probable cause affidavit by MCSO Detective Christopher DeLuca, the 10-by-20-foot storage unit contained guns and bags of jewelry, as well as log books containing details of eBay transactions conducted by Snyder.
“Post-it-style notes with descriptions of houses as well as various names were located,” DeLuca wrote.
The report also states: “Mark Lee Snyder is the only person on the lease and has been renting it since 2012.”
The state closed the Anna Maria case despite the gun found in the storage unit.
“In this case, there is no evidence to prove that the defendant ever entered the dwelling of the victim and stole her firearm,” wrote assistant state attorneys, Payton Elizabeth Thompson and Cynthia Evers in the decline memo.
The prosecutors also pointed to an inability to prove only the defendant used the storage unit.
Like Hall, Dave Bristow, public information director for the sheriff’s office, initially predicted more arrests.
As of Sept. 13, however, Bristow said the MCSO investigations were closed.
Meanwhile, Snyder is in custody at the Manatee County jail on a $42,500 bond for the Holmes Beach burglary and attack.
Snyder is accused of entering the 75th Street home and striking the woman several times, causing her to fall. She was treated and recovered from her injuries.
Police report Snyder confessed to the Holmes Beach burglary-attack and discarding bags of jewelry stolen from the residence in the Manatee River and Bradenton dumpsters.
His next court date is 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 23, at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.