Tag: florida
Bystander shoots gunman who opened fire at back-to-school event
Shocking video shows pandemonium breaking out at a Florida back-to-school event as a gunman opens fire.
A bystander shot the gunman, who was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries Saturday after the incident at the “Peace in the City” event in Titusville, police said.
Facebook Live video shot by Dwight Harvey shows women and children rushing frantically into a park pavilion as rapid gunshots ring out.
People can be heard crying and shrieking and one woman in a red shirt can be seen shaking as she clutches a child’s hand and says: “It happened right where we were standing, right there.”
Police said the gunman got into a fistfight at Isaac Campbell Park and returned with a weapon several minutes later, unleashing 12 rounds, WFTV-9 reported.
The good Samaritan, an unidentified vendor, drew his licensed, concealed handgun and fired at the assailant, who was running toward the crowd, according to Florida Today.
The bystander waited for police and was cooperating with the probe, officials said. He was not expected to face any charges.
“We are extremely grateful that nobody else was injured in this incident,” said Deputy Chief Todd Hutchinson. “This suspect opened fire at a crowded public park, this could have been so much worse.”
“Peace in the City” was a backpack giveaway event organized by Harvey’s son, to honor a cousin who was found dead in a burning car in Mims in July.
In Harvey’s video, children can be seen rummaging through backpacks filled with school supplies shortly before the shots erupt.
“We were just trying to do something positive for the community,” he said.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/08/06/bystander-shoots-gunman-who-opened-fire-at-back-to-school-event/
Dad killed sleeping wife with hammer in front of son
A Florida man allegedly used a hammer to kill his wife while she was sleeping in bed with their young son, according to officials.
Marc Alan Berkowitz, 42, was arrested Thursday in the grisly murder of Anastasiya Savitskaya at their Plantation home, news station WBBH reported.
Police claim Berkowitz bludgeoned his 33-year-old wife because he was upset that she wanted to leave him and had exchanged texts with another man.
During the bloody assault, Berkowitz reportedly told his 7-year-old son who had awoken to “turn over” so he wouldn’t witness the scene.
The boy, however, later told investigators that he saw the “boo boo” on his mother’s head and watched his father drag her into the living room.
Authorities said the child told them that “mommy wouldn’t wake up” after the alleged assault.
Berkowitz admitted to police that he strangled his wife in the living room to “put her out of her misery.”
He then allegedly woke up his mother, Barbara Waterson, to confess to the horrific slaying, WBBH reported. Waterson called 911 but Berkowitz grabbed the phone and told the dispatcher, “I killed my wife.”
Berkowitz is being held without bail at the Broward County Jail on charges for premeditated murder.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/07/03/dad-killed-sleeping-wife-with-hammer-in-front-of-son-cops/
Disney World Bus Driver Accused of Luring 15-Year-Old Girl for Sex Through ‘Whisper’ App
A Walt Disney World bus driver has been arrested after deputies say he tried to lure a 15-year-old girl for sex, authorities said.
Kevin Van Orman, 35, was taken into custody on March 25 by undercover detectives when he arrived at a home in Bartow, Florida, where he planned to meet up with the teenage girl for sexual activities, television station WFTS in Tampa Bay reported on Monday.
Van Orman used the app “Whisper” to respond to a post that had been placed by an undercover detective pretending to be a 15-year-old girl, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
As the conversation continued, Van Orman asked the girl to meet up with him while she was on a trip to Disney World, according to the report.
Van Orman also solicited another undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl, the arrest report stated.
During the conversation, the user told him that she was 14-years-old.
Van Orman replied stating that he was 35-years-old, followed by: “But we can keep talking if you’d like.”
Following his arrest, Van Orman told detectives “I think I’m addicted to sex” and “for some reason tonight I was thinking with the wrong head,” according to the arrest report. He also said, “Some of the 16 years old I’m attracted to. I see them every day. The worst ones are the Brazilians.”
Van Orman was a bus driver at Walt Disney World, according to his booking information with the jail. A spokesperson with Disney said he is on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the charges.
The arrest report states that Van Orman is married and has a 5-year-old daughter, a 2-year-old son and his wife is currently four months pregnant.
He has been charged with lewd battery, using a computer to solicit a child and traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child.
Van Orman was released on bail.
Woman in ‘romantic’ relationship with brother charged after giving birth to his baby
A Florida woman reportedly in a “romantic sexual relationship” with her brother was charged after giving birth to his baby, officials said.
Pauline Elizabeth Martin, 33, told investigators she and her brother were living as a couple in Groveland when she became pregnant with his child, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Authorities said they began investigating the woman, who is a McDonald’s cashier, after the baby was born Nov. 21 with “severe medical problems.”
The newborn was immediately transferred to get specialized care at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, where genetic testing revealed the parents were related, the Daily Commercial reported.
Neither parent completed the information on the baby’s birth certificate, according to authorities.
Deputies interviewed the mom at her workplace last week in Leesburg, and she allegedly admitted she has been romantically involved with her brother for the past five years. The siblings reportedly last had sex March 21.
“She said she was going to end her relationship with her brother because she knows it is wrong,” the police report stated, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Martin was arrested Friday on charges of incest and resisting without violence, according to court records. She was released the following day from Lake County Jail on $3,000 bond.
The mom is next scheduled to appear in court April 16.
Officials said they plan to speak to her brother but have been unable to track him down, the Daily Commercial reported.
Florida Teen Fake Doctor Is Sentenced to 3 Years
FLORIDA TEEN WHO FAKED BEING A DOCTOR WITH HIS OWN MEDICAL PRACTICE SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS IN PRISON
Dr. Love, not to be confused with former P. Diddy Brother Love, Dr. Malachai Love Robinson received notoriety when he posed as a doctor with his own medical practice in West Palm Beach, Florida, three years ago.
He was just 17 at the time and a police report said he peeked in on at least one gynecological exam while at St. Mary’s Medical Center.
Well, the now 20-year-old is trading in his white lab coat for jail scrubs because he’s going away. According to the Miami Herald, he admitted to being a con and was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison with credit for 16 months served. He got off pretty good considering he was looking at up to 90 years behind bars.
On Thursday, January 4, he pled guilty to a number of charges, including practicing medicine without a license, using false statements to obtain credit, forgery and grand theft.
Amtrak train fatally strikes 11-year-old wearing headphones, looking at phone
HAINES CITY, Fla. – An 11-year-old Florida girl died Wednesday afternoon after she was hit by an Amtrak train while crossing the tracks, according to police.
The train’s engineer told investigators that the girl, identified as Yazmin White, of Haines City, had headphones in her ears and was looking at her cellphone when the train hit her, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Department.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, just a few hundred feet from her family’s home.
“She certainly didn’t hear the train or she wouldn’t have walked up on the track,” Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference Thursday. “The engineer blew that horn solid for probably a quarter of a mile.”
The train, with 12 passenger cars and two locomotives, was traveling at 68 mph at the time of the accident, according to officials.
The conductor, who isn’t expected to face charges, said he tried to brake and blew the horn multiple times but White never looked up, WFTS reported.
Relatives told the station that the middle schooler had dreams of a career in music and loved the piano.
Judd said he could think of at least five children who had died locally in the last couple years after being hit while listening to headphones.
“You don’t die when you’re 11 years old, you’re teflon, you’re going to live forever,” Judd said. “The absolute last thing she thought about was being run over by a train.”
He added that his words shouldn’t be taken as a condemnation of the young victims, who are not thinking about death when they’re listening to their favorite music.
“It rips our heart out,” Judd said. “That could be our child or grandchild, just as easy.”
Florida Man Arrested After ‘Rigging’ Door to Electrocute Pregnant Wife, Deputies Say
A Florida man was arrested this week in Palm Coast after deputies say he “rigged” his door in an attempt to electrocute his pregnant wife.
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to 110 White Hall Drive in Palm Coast on December 26 to conduct a security check of the property after the homeowner contacted authorities about suspicious statements made by his son-in-law regarding not letting a child touch the front door of the home, Tampa Bay television station WFTS reported Friday.
When deputies arrived they saw that the front door appeared to be barricaded and there were burn marks near the door handle. A deputy kicked the door and upon doing so, they saw a large spark.
Based on observations made by the deputies on scene, it was apparent that the suspect rigged electrical devices to the top door lock and lower door handle in an attempt to electrocute and cause serious bodily injury or even death to whoever attempted to unlock and open the front door of the residence.
After investigating thoroughly, deputies discovered that 32-year-old Michael Scott Wilson had rigged the door in an alleged attempt to harm his estranged wife, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.
He was also accused of stealing a gun from his father-in-law, the release stated.
An arrest warrant was issued for Wilson, and he was taken into custody early Thursday afternoon in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Wilson faces charges of aggravated battery on a pregnant person and grand theft of a firearm, authorities say.
He is being held on $150,000 bond.
Florida man says he punched ATM for giving too much cash
COCOA, Fla. — A Florida man told investigators he punched an automatic teller machine because it gave him too much cash.
An arrest report says 23-year-old Michael Joseph Oleksik man caused about $5,000 in damage to an ATM at a Wells Fargo bank branch in Cocoa on Nov. 29.
He was arrested Dec. 22 on a criminal mischief charge after bank officials decided to press charges.
Florida Today reports surveillance video captured Oleksik pummeling the touch screen.
An arrest report says that Oleksik told a bank manager he was angry that the machine was giving him too much money and he didn’t know what to do because he was in a hurry for work. He apologized for causing damage.
Jail records don’t list a lawyer for Oleksik.
via: http://pix11.com/2017/12/27/florida-man-says-he-punched-atm-for-giving-too-much-cash/
Mother accused of leaving 6-year-old child in chair to save her parking spot while she went to the store
A Florida mother was accused of forcing her child to sit in a chair alone and hold her parking spot while she went to the store.
Elda Solis, 48, was arrested and charged with child neglect after police said she used her 6-year-old child to guard a parking spot at the Eastwind Apartments in Marathon.
According to a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office press release, Solis left the complex around 10 p.m. on Dec. 7 to go to a nearby Publix.
She placed a chair in the vacant spot and made her young child sit there and wait there until she came back.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said it was alerted about the incident the following day.
When officers questioned Solis about it, she allegedly admitted that it was true.
Police say the child told investigators that it wasn’t the first time she had made them guard the spot while she ran errands.
Solis was booked and later released from jail on Thursday.
via: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mother-accused-child-guard-parking-spot-article-1.3701198
Missing Florida girl spotted with soccer coach
Caitlyn Frisina, 17, has been missing since Sunday. Police say she is with her high school’s boys’ soccer coach, Rian Rodriquez, 27.
Caitlyn Frisina’s parents discovered their 17-year-old daughter was missing from their Florida home Sunday morning. Now, police are tracking Frisina and a 27-year-old soccer coach across multiple states.
Police said Frisina is with Rian Rodriguez, 27, the boys’ soccer coach at her high school.
Article via: http://www