Bruce Plummer has been adjudicated guilty of two counts of Burglary While Armed, Grand Theft, Possession of a Bulletproof Vest During the Commission of a Felony, and Armed Trespassing, for a crime involving stealing a plane.
He was sentenced to 144 months in prison followed by 60 months on state probation. He was also ordered to pay $261,748.83 in restitution to Endurance American Insurance Company. Restitution was ordered and reserved for three other victims as well as Page Field Airport. The defendant was also ordered to pay court costs, the cost of prosecution, forfeit any firearms, and undergo a mental health evaluation.
Assistant State Attorney Ryan Pomponio prosecuted the case.
On February 26, 2024, at approximately 6:30 a.m., Lee County Port Authority Police responded to an aviation ramp at Page Field Airport in Fort Myers, about a stolen plane. Maintenance personnel arrived at the airport that morning and found an airplane that was moved and damaged. The officer was shown a plane that had crashed into a light pole and the perimeter fence of the airport. The plane had a broken wing and was sitting in the grass, just off the ramp.
The single door to the aircraft was open and in the second row of seats, the pilot operating handbook was laying on the seat. Multiple switches and lights were in the on position and the throttle for one engine was pushed forward, between idle and full power. An airport employee found a gun and tactical ballistic vest not far from the crash site, over a fence. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office then joined the investigation.
Surveillance video from the airport showed a man arriving in a black Dodge Charger, then scaling a barbed wire fence. He then attempted to start and move two different planes before successfully starting and crashing the damaged plane. Surveillance video from a nearby convenience store showed the same man leading to the identification of the defendant.
A search warrant was served at his residence and detectives located clothing and shoes worn by the defendant during the crime. The black jacket he wore, which was torn, was found in the Dodge Charger. A piece of material that was ripped and left on the barbed wire fence when he scaled it, matched the jacket material.
Samantha Syoen – State Attorney’s Office Communications Director