PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The Port St. Lucie Police Department is looking for other businesses that may have fallen victim to extortion.
This comes after the arrest this month of Edward Manuel Santana, 52, who is accused of extorting a Port St. Lucie bar.
WPTV spoke with a restaurant owner who said he almost became one of those victims.
Police said Santana targeted Treasure Coast restaurants like Kyle G's Oyster and Wine Bar in Port St. Lucie.
Staff at the restaurant described the suspect as disruptive and rude.
"We had this confrontational guy," owner Kyle Greene said. "Finally after about the third or fourth time ... we asked him to leave and not return."
Greene thought the man's removal would end the issue, but it didn't.
"I just start getting this chain of crazy emails from this guy saying ... 'You have three days to give me $3,000 or I'm going to sue you for discriminating against hiring me,'" Greene said.
Port St Lucie
Port St. Lucie man accused of extortion of bar in city
That's when Greene called the police.
"(Santana) then went on to brag in those emails and text messages that he makes a living basically doing this," Port St. Lucie Police Chief Richard Del Toro said.
Police said Santana was threatening to sue Greene for $65,000.
In an email, police said Santana wrote the following:
"I've sued approximately 100 restaurants and got paid for every single one of them with the exception of Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Coral Gables," the email stated. "It doesn't cost me a penny to pursue these lawsuits against you. I KNOW at some point you WILL be paying me for Discrimination, Slander and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress."
Investigators believe this may not be an isolated incident.
"We've been contacted by both Outback and Carrabba's about potential extortion attempts," Del Toro said. "We're looking into that right now. It's currently under active investigation."
For now, Greene has a message for other businesses.
"I think it's more important that we stand up for just what's right and not get taken advantage of than it is to just allow this to continue," Greene said.
Santana is now facing one count of felony extortion.
The Port St. Lucie Police Department wants you to call them if you think your business or restaurant was also targeted.
