A midnight armed robbery of the Mulligan’s Beach House in Sexton Plaza – which police at the scene originally described as “sketchy” – was elevated to an “inside job” last week when a 42-year-old Gifford man was arrested and cellphone records showed him in contact, both before and after the crime, with a restaurant employee who had worked that night.
It’s a miracle no one was hurt, but it’s even more of a miracle that Sederick Maurice Upton was out on the streets to commit the robbery in the first place. Indian River County Sheriff’s Office booking records show Upton – who is being held on $400,000 bond – had visited our county jail 13 times prior to his Oct. 16 arrest.
A peek into neighboring St. Lucie County’s court records shows 11 felony criminal cases from 2004 to 2020, plus two criminal traffic cases, 11 misdemeanor cases and a string of child support enforcement efforts, including a current case re-opened since he’s been incarcerated for the Mulligan’s robbery.
Upton has also served stints in state prison.
It would be impractical to review all of Upton’s prior cases to figure out how he was a free man the night he allegedly strolled into the popular Central Beach bar and grill just after closing in a black mask and held the manager at gunpoint to steal the evening’s cash receipts of nearly $5,000. But a look at one of his cases from 2017 offers some clue into how the justice system has worked for Upton.
In June 2017, Upton was charged in St. Lucie County with possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
His sentencing worksheet lists 12 priors, including one arrest for theft, two for battery, possession of marijuana, and two felonies for possessing and selling cocaine. When added together, Upton’s “points” would have allowed a sentence of up to 10 years in one of Florida’s lovely state prisons, meaning he would have still been locked up in August.
Instead he was sentenced to 90 days in county jail.
Once free, Upton apparently also branched out to Brevard County where he was arrested in 2018 for possession of methamphetamine, cannabis and drug paraphernalia, and found guilty. There are also cases on the books earlier that year on out-of-county warrants for failure to appear in court and violation of probation.
Indian River County was a bit more harsh on Upton after he was arrested in 2020 for felony habitual and repeated driving with a revoked or suspended driver license, imposing an 18-month sentence, but he got out of prison in September 2022, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
With all this experience as a convicted criminal, Upton still does not appear to have gained much street smarts. After visiting Mulligan’s, police reports say he ditched his Samsung Galaxy cellphone, along with the mask he wore and clothing with his DNA on it, not in a Dumpster or even in the bushes, but all together in the bed of a pickup truck in the parking lot of the hotel next to the restaurant.
From the text data and emails on the cellphone, police were able to determine Upton’s identity, and that he had let the Mulligan’s employee know his whereabouts, on Cypress next to a two-story complex.
Upton did not know his way around Ocean Drive according to his replies arranging his pickup location after the robbery (Typos are the defendant’s, as documented in arrest affidavit).
“Is it any address so I can com straight to da street ion wanna raise suspension?” (11:37 p.m.)
“Ima da address in my maps cause of top this shit new ot me ion no where the street at” (11:39 p.m.)
“But I guess I can put the street ni Google should bring me there” (11:40 p.m.)
The robbery took place minutes after Mulligan’s closed at midnight, and surveillance camera footage shows Upton nonchalantly talking on his phone as he strode into the unlocked door of the closed restaurant. The suspect employee had clocked out at 11:50 p.m.
The text messages pointed police toward surveillance camera footage from businesses in and near the two-story building, and a location that corresponded with where the restaurant manager’s stolen Apple watch was found at 856 Cypress Road in Central Beach.
The Mulligan’s employee police believe assisted Upton with information about the restaurant layout and closing procedures has yet to be arrested. But remember, Upton had to ask the Holiday Inn security guard for directions to Mulligan’s, so it was pretty clear from the get-go that he had not personally cased the business and thus was not acting alone.
This time around, Upton is charged with two first-degree felonies, robbery with a firearm and burglary with assault or battery, plus two third-degree felonies, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, and kidnapping with false imprisonment of an adult. Upton is accused of tying the restaurant manager up with shoestrings in the cash office.
Circuit Court Judge Robert Meadows has been known to impose rather lengthy sentences for habitual offenders since taking over the felony criminal docket, and Sederick Maurice Upton will undoubtedly be on State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl’s radar this time, so this case will be one to watch.