- April 24, 2024
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Vitaly Tsabak (Photo courtesy of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office)
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has arrested 28-year-old Palm Coast resident Vitaly Tsabak, of 63 Columbia Lane, on charges including arson and burglary after an apartment fire at 164B Fenimore Lane in Palm Coast.
Deputies initially received a 911 call early the morning of Nov. 25 to respond to 161A Fenimore Lane to investigate noises coming from the caller’s roof/attic, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.
The caller said she was scared because she believed that someone was trying to break into her home.
The caller also noted an alarm coming from apartment B next door.
After deputies arrived, they noticed smoke coming from apartment B of the duplex. They later determined that the noises the homeowner heard was the fire burning in apartment B.
No one was hurt or was inside apartment B during in the incident. Apartment B received minimal fire damage and significant smoke damage, and a firewall separating the two apartments spared apartment A from fire damage.
Meanwhile, as investigators were still at the fire scene, a deputy in the B section of Palm Coast was flagged down by a citizen who reported a person passed out in a vehicle on Columbia Lane.
The citizen said that when the citizen tried to check on the driver, he appeared to be passed out and would not wake up when the citizen knocked on the window.
When deputies arrived, they found a 2013 white Dodge Dart in the roadway in front of 59 Columbia Lane.
After deputies awakened the driver, later identified as Vitaly Tsabak, medical personnel arrived on scene, and, following a brief medical evaluation, they treated Tsabak for several minor injuries not sustained in the DUI.
Deputies then initiated a DUI investigation, and, following a series of field sobriety exercises, Tsabak was arrested for DUI.
At the time of his detainment, deputies located a screwdriver in Tsabak’s pocket. Tsabak was booked into the Flagler County Inmate Facility.
As part of the DUI investigation, deputies were conducting a routine inventory of the items inside the vehicle to prepare for the vehicle to be towed when it was discovered that one of the items inside the vehicle was related to the arson investigation at 164 Fenimore Lane.
This was based on the list of items which were missing from apartment B. This list included a MacBook computer and serial number which matched the one inventoried in the vehicle.
When deputies realized the item was possibly related, they immediately stopped the inventory and secured the vehicle so detectives could obtain a search warrant for the vehicle.
Based on the details of the investigation conducted by deputies, detectives, crime scene investigators and an investigator from the state Fire Marshal’s Office, Tsabak, who was still incarcerated at the inmate facility, was charged with arson, burglary, grand theft and possession of burglary tools.
Tsabak has been arrested multiple times in the past in Flagler County on charges including burglary, dealing in stolen property, petty theft, grand theft over $100,000, forgery, carrying a concealed weapon illegally and probation violation, according to county jail records.
Anyone with information about this crime, or any crime in Flagler County, is urged to contact the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office at 386-313-4911. Callers can also remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 by calling Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at (888) 277-8477 (TIPS)
