BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A former Brevard County corrections deputy returned to the county jail but on the wrong side of the law.
David Barber, 35, was booked at the jail Wednesday morning, the day after a car was found on fire and 72-year-old Jessie Kirk never met up with the friend she went on a walk with every day.
For the time being, Titusville police said they’ve arrested Barber for stealing Kirk’s car and then for loitering at an apartment building across the street from her condo on US-1.
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said Barber worked at the jail from 2018 to 2022 and left on his own terms and never got in any trouble, but as Kirk is still missing, Judge Michelle Baker ordered that Barber stay in jail without a bond.
“I do find probable cause for the arrest,” Baker said, appointing the public defender to represent Barber.
An arrest report from police reads that Barber’s ex-girlfriend is Kirk’s niece.
When police found Barber and confronted him, the report reads he was asked why he tried to avoid them.
It said Barber replied, “I don’t feel I should answer that at this time.”
“A lot of suspicious activity as far as moving the cars around,” Judge Baker said, reading the affidavit.
An attorney with the public defender’s office counterargued the judge.
“I don’t see where the owner of the vehicle, the alleged victim in the case, had not given him permission or had actively told him that she did not want him driving the car,” Gabriel Jacobs said.
“It was reported stolen,” Baker said. “I think that takes it out of any doubt.”
By being arrested, Barber broke the conditions of his release from an arrest just a couple months ago.
According to Rockledge police, Barber was caught in December on a doorbell camera trying to break into the old apartment he shared with Kirk’s niece.
She told police Barber was stalking her.