Couple forced teen to drive them past Florida Keys coronavirus checkpoint: cops

A Florida man was busted for kidnapping a teen and forcing her to drive him through a coronavirus checkpoint, local authorities said.

Alexander Michael Sardinas, 37, of Tavernier, and Michelle Lynne Peterson, 43, from Islamorada, attempted to enter the Florida Keys in a taxi Thursday morning but were turned away at the highway checkpoint because they didn’t have the proper paperwork indicating they lived or worked there, the Miami Herald reported, citing the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Through the end of May, only those with proof of residency are allowed to enter the Keys due to coronavirus concerns.

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper saw the pair arguing and gave them a “courtesy ride” to Florida City, sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt told the outlet.

Sardinas and Peterson ended up at a Publix supermarket in Homestead, where they approached the teen near her car, which had both a hurricane reentry sticker on her windshield and a Monroe County license plate, according to the report.

Sardinas threatened to harm the teen, a Florida Keys resident, if she didn’t give them a lift to the Keys or if she touched her phone, according to Linhardt.

The frightened teen drove the pair to the highway checkpoint, where she easily passed through with her driver’s license, which showed her Florida Keys address.

“The victim told detectives she did not say anything to deputies at the checkpoint about the man in the car threatening to harm her because she was scared,” Linhardt told the Herald.

But after dropping off both passengers, the teen told a family member who called the cops. She was not harmed.

Detectives found Sardinas near where the victim dropped him off and Peterson in Islamorada, the Herald reported.

Sardinas is charged with one count of kidnapping and is being held in county jail on $50,000 bond, the paper reported.

Peterson was not arrested. However, more arrests and charges may be pending, according to Linhardt.