Indian River County deputies arrested two men in separate cases involving alleged illegal saw palmetto berry harvesting over the Labor Day weekend, according to arrest affidavits.
Corey Michael Smith of Vero Beach was arrested Sept. 4 after deputies responded to a trespassing call at a BP gas station on 9th Street Southwest. A helicopter crew had spotted Smith on Indian River County School Board property near 800 20th Ave., and deputies found him at the gas station with five black bags containing saw palmetto stalks, according to the affidavit.
Smith allegedly showed deputies a palmetto berry harvesting permit that listed an address on 17th Avenue Southwest. The property owner told deputies Smith did not have permission to harvest on the property, which belongs to the Salvation Army. Smith was arrested on charges of using a false or forged palmetto berry harvest permit, disclosing police radio information to aid a suspect, and trespassing after a warning. A deputy heard dispatch traffic coming from a scanner app on Smith's phone while he was detained, the affidavit states.
A day later, deputies arrested Francis Ostrowski after a sheriff's office camera in the North County Conservation Area near 7800 130th St. captured a man carrying a bag filled with saw palmetto berries, according to his affidavit. Deputies located Ostrowski nearby with a bag of berries and asked whether he had a permit to harvest them. Ostrowski said he did not. Ostrowski was arrested on a felony charge of harvesting an endangered plant without a permit.
The arrests come amid a series of recent saw palmetto berry cases across the Treasure Coast. Recent arrests involved the alleged theft of about 200 pounds of berries in Martin County and about 150 pounds in Indian River County. In another recent case, a Boynton Beach man was arrested after deputies said they found about 500 pounds of saw palmetto berries.