Cabbie insisted drunken man — with recent DUI — get jailed over $7 fare May 17, 2013

Some folks just can’t stay out of the slammer.

Especially when they get slammed.

On May 10th Nicholas Wayne Schwabenland was charged with a DUI by the St. Augustine Beach cops.
Ten days later, Schwabenland was back at the beach and drinking heavily.

But he must have learned his lesson about the dangers of drinking and driving because this time Schwabenland hailed a taxi on A1A in the wee hours of Thursday morning. After telling the cabbie to drive south, the 20-year-old man then directed the cabbie to turn around and head north, according to an arrest affidavit from the St. Augustine Beach Police Department.

After driving back and forth for a bit,  the cabbie pulled into a convenience store and demanded payment for the $7 fare.

But there was a problem: When the cabbie determined Schwabenland had no money and no wallet, a disturbance reportedly erupted and the cops were called.
A responding officer wrote in his report that Schwabenland was very drunk and sat in the passenger seat of of car in a “semi-conscious” state.

Although the officer tried to broker a peaceful deal between the two men by trying to contact Schwabenland’s buddies to pick him up and pay his fare,  the St. Augustine man was “uncooperative and offered no assistance,” the cop wrote in his report.

The cabbie then insisted that Schwabenland be charged with theft of service becausetime is money. The cabbie told the cop that even though the fare was a mere $7, the drunken man cost him money in missed opportunities during the time his cab tied up, the affidavit stated.

Before being hauled to the pokey, Schwabenland was first taken to a hospital for medical clearance,  where he peed himself before stripping off his clothes — and then urinated some more in a bed,  the arrest report stated.

The cop then gathered his urine-drenched clothes and gave him a fare-free lift — to the jail.

Teen tries to rob home; residents beat, kick and tased him … wait till you see this guy’s face! May 16, 2013

PALM BAY, Fla. -  Residents inside a Palm Bay home beat, kicked and used a Taser to shock a 19-year-old during a home invasion.

Michael Maxwell, of Palm Bay, was charged with one count of home invasion robbery with a firearm or deadly weapon and four counts of battery after police were called about 1 a.m. Wednesday to investigate a disturbance at a home in the 700 block of Monterey Drive.

Maxwell was being held on a $51,000 bond at the Brevard County Jail Complex in Sharpes.  Police also arrested a 17-year-old companion of Maxwell on the same charges.

Police said that several men, including Maxwell, arrived at the home in a gold 2004 Chevrolet Malibu and stormed the home, but the residents inside managed to fight off the attack.

Maxwell, who police said works as a tattoo artist, was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne for treatment after he was repeatedly kicked, Tased and struck by the victims, according to police reports.

Police questioned the victims but did not immediately report whether they knew Maxwell, the teen or the other men.

Woman In Starbucks Drops Purse With Forgotten Gun Inside, Shoots Friend In The Leg May 14, 2013

A Florida woman accidentally shot her friend in the leg while waiting in line at a Starbucks on Saturday.

Police say Pamela Beck and Amie Peterson were getting coffee at the Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg when Beck moved to set her bags down in order to pay for her drink.

Her purse “hit the ground hard,” St. Petersburg Police spokesman Mike Puetz told The Huffington Post, and a fully loaded .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun that was in the bottom of the handbag fired, striking Peterson above the knee.

Beck told investigators that her father had given her the gun about a year ago, and she hadn’t intended to bring it out in public. “She had forgotten about it,” Puetz said.

Beck does not have a concealed carry weapons permit, according to police, and the case has been referred to prosecutors.

Peterson was treated and released at a nearby trauma center. Other victims of recent accidental shootings have not been so fortunate: this month a three-year-old boy in Tampa fatally shot himself after finding his uncle’s gun in a bedroom, a 2-year-old Kentucky girl died after being accidentally shot by her brother, and a six-year-old girl was critically wounded outside Fort Lauderdale after her brother found a handgun.

Strangely, the incident isn’t the first time a gun has fired from inside a woman’s purse at Starbucks. The Associated Press reported a 2011 incident in which an underaged girl, encouraged to carry a gun by her father, was cited after it fired inside her purse and narrowly missed customers.

Recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show almost seven people are wounded by gunfire every 60 minutes in the U.S.

Shoplifter tried to run over officers during getaway May 13, 2013

A woman suspected of shoplifting $300 worth of merchandise from Kohl’s and speeding through the parking lot to avoid police was arrested Monday night.

Cassandra Carson, 50, was charged by the Gainesville Police Department with two counts of aggravated assault on a officer, grand theft, resisting arrest without violence, fleeing an officer and leaving the scene of an accident, according to an arrest report.

The incident happened about 8:53 p.m. at Kohl’s at Archer Road and Southwest 34th Street. The report states that a loss prevention officer saw Carson in the store for about two hours cutting the price tags off merchandise and concealing the items.

Carson left the store without paying for the goods and was confronted by two GPD officers who had been called to the store, the report states.

Instead of stopping for police, she got into her car and quickly backed it up toward one of the officers, who had to get out of the way. The report states that Carson drove toward another officer while careening through the parking lot at high speed. Carson drove recklessly through the parking lot, sideswiping another car before leaving the parking lot, police reported.

Carson eventually was stopped nearby by other officers and arrested.

Newspaper deliveryman shot drunken man tapping on window with gun

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – After allegedly firing off his gun four times Sunday  morning, Brian Scott Dickey II walked up to two newspaper deliverers, tapped on  the window with the gun and demanded they opened the door, according to Winter  Haven Police. But, the people in the car weren’t who he thought they were.

One of the newspaper deliverers, Douglas Romeo, reached into a lockbox,  pulled out his own gun and shot Dickey three times through the window.

WHPD spokesperson Jamie Brown said the altercation began when Dickey  started following Romeo and Tiffany Simo as they delivered Lakeland Ledger  newspapers in the area of West Lake Cannon Terrace in Winter Haven around 2:50  a.m. Sunday.

“The carriers stopped to prepare a few more papers for  delivery when they heard four pops,” Brown said. Dickey had allegedly discharged  four rounds from a .380 Bersa handgun. “Before they realized what was happening,  Dickey was at the driver’s side banging on the window.”

A person in the  area heard the shots and called 911, followed by a 911 call from the victims. By  the time police arrived, Dickey had left the scene, Brown said. He had been  wounded three times: under the right collarbone, below that wound and a third  round grazed his right arm.

“A short time later, another call to 911 was  received about a man who … at Dickey’s resident,” with gunshot wounds, Brown  said — less than half a mile from the shooting scene. Officers found Dickey at  the home and he was transported to Lakeland Regional Medical Center by  ambulance.

“After interviewing other residents at the home,” Brown said,  “it was determined that Dickey had consumed a large amount of alcohol earlier in  the evening.”
Investigators said Dickey got into a verbal argument with  his girlfriend and she contacted Dickey’s brother to come and intervene. When  Dickey’s brother arrived at the home, they argued and it escalated. The brother  left the home and Dickey got then gun and drove off to locate his brother.

He followed a vehicle, which he thought was his brother’s vehicle, but  it wasn’t.

“This guy got much more than he bargained for,” Winter Haven  Police Chief Gary Hester said in a statement Sunday. “These victims feared for  their lives and did exactly what they needed to do. This could have turned out  so much worse than it did.”

Dickey remained at Lakeland Regional Medical  Center with non-life threatening injuries Sunday evening.

Brown  said he will be booked into the Polk County Jail on charges of aggravated  assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm in public.

Romeo is not facing charges. Brown said he possess a valid State of Florida  Concealed Weapons Permit

Man plagued by bedbugs steals sheets for kids May 12, 2013

CRESTVIEW — A man accused of taking two sets of sheets from WalMart April 11 and leaving the store withut paying for them told police his home had bedbugs and he needed the sheets for his children, according to his Crestview Police Department arrest report.

When an officer told him to stop, he kept running, the report said.

The 29-year-old man jumped two fences before being caught.

He was charged with resisting an officer without violence and retail theft.

You could say the jaws of justice took another bite out of crime May 10, 2013

Bryan Zuniga (Arrested) DOB: 09/07/1992 Address: 8481 54^th Street North, Pinellas Park Charges: Breaking or Injuring Fences, Fleeing and Eluding a Police Officer, Driving While Driver’s Licenses Suspended/Revoked and Resisting an Officer Without Violence

What: A Pinellas Park man was attacked by an alligator while fleeing Pinellas Deputies during a traffic stop.

When: The suspect fled from deputies at approximately 2:47 a.m. on Thursday, May 9, 2013. Deputies arrested the suspect at a local hospital at approximately 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 9, 2013.

Where: The suspect fled from deputies near the 7100 block of 78^th Avenue N. The suspect was attacked by the alligator near a water treatment plant between Westchester Blvd and 71^st Street N.

Why/How: According to deputies, the suspect fled during a routine traffic stop at approximately 2:47 a.m. on May 9, 2013. Deputies attempted to pull over the suspect’s vehicle for failing to maintain a single lane. The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Bryan Zuniga, brought the vehicle to a stop and jumped out of the passenger side door. While fleeing, Zuniga broke a vinyl fence by kicking the fence line to make a hole for him to escape.

Zuniga was found a few hours later at a local hospital where he was being treated for multiple puncture wounds to his face, arm and armpit area. Zuniga advised deputies he was attacked by an alligator near a water treatment plant in unincorporated St. Petersburg.

The suspect was released from the hospital and was transported to the Pinellas County Jail without further incident.

Zuniga is being charged with Breaking or Injuring Fences, Fleeing and Eluding a Police Officer, Driving While Driver’s Licenses Suspended/Revoked and Resisting an Officer Without Violence.

The investigation continues.

Bear destroyed car after getting trapped inside May 9, 2013

Heather Bybee knows that black bears often roam her neighborhood in Paisley, in rural Lake County, but she didn’t expect that one of the animals could get into her car.

But a bear did get inside the Toyota Matrix and caused $17,000 in damage to the interior as it tore apart the seats, the consoles and the interior roof.

Bybee, 27, said Wednesday she doesn’t think the door was open and doesn’t think that anything inside the car, such as leftover food, would have attracted the bear.

• 
• Video: Bear destroys car in Lake County
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• A Lake County bear destroyed Heather Dawn Bybee’s Toyota Matrix after getting inside and locking the doors
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  Car torn apart by black bear

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  Heather Bybee in front of her car that was destroyed by a bear.

“I guess I didn’t lock it up,” she said. “But there’s nothing in the car for them to want. I have no idea how this happened.”

It was early Monday when Bybee’s father spotted the bear inside the car.

“My father woke me up at 2:30 in the morning telling me that there was a bear inside my car,” she said. Her father opened the car door and spook the bear to get out and leave the area. Bybee estimated the bear was about 450 pounds.

But the damage was already done.

The driver’s seat was chewed off. There are bite marks and claw marks all over the door panels. The bear clawed through the interior roof, exposing the insulation inside. The various consoles have been ripped apart and scattered inside.

What frustrates Bybee is that she doesn’t have a car, making it tough for the single mother with a disabled child to manage without transportation. She has a dispute with her insurance about how much the company will cover.

It’s not the first time that Bybee has had bear trouble. The family used to have a 30-pound pig in its yard, but a bear apparently took off with the pig, she said. Another time, she said a bear tried to get into her dad’s truck but couldn’t because it was locked.

“I know we’re in their habitat but there’s nothing inside the car that it would have wanted,” she said.

A California family had a similar encounter in September 2011 when a bear got into their Toyota Prius and tore the interior apart at Lake Tahoe, according to news accounts.

The bear got into the car in the early morning hours and ripped apart the seats, the steering wheel and the glove box, one report said. The bear also pushed the gear shift into neutral, causing the car to roll down the inclined driveway into a neighbor’s porch, according to the account.

Like Bybee, the California family was perplexed about the bear encounter, since the car doors were closed and there wasn’t food inside, the report said.

Dumbass of the Day ….. Man lost fingers in homemade bomb blast

Tampa Police, FBI and ATF Executed Search Warrant at the Scene

911 call located at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a4FyLVc1Gg

Bomb Awareness Video located at http://youtu.be/VWkJDMtiAVQ

WHEN: Wednesday, May 08, 2013

SUSPECT: James Lee Minyard, DOB: L 11/20/1971, W/M, 1212 East Crawford, Tampa, Florida, 33604

CHARGES: Six Counts Manufacturing and Possession of Homemade Explosive Devices

DETAILS: An employee from the BP gas station in the 6900 block of Nebraska Avenue called 911 at 2:45 p.m. on 5/7/13 saying there was a man in the parking lot who had injured his hand with fireworks. Officers found the suspect in the 900 block of Sligh Avenue and officers discovered black residue on his hands. The tips of his left middle and ring finger were missing. Tampa Fire Rescue transported him to Tampa General Hospital. Officers searched the area for evidence and discovered two homemade explosive devices. Last night at approximately 11 p.m., Tampa Police officers and Tampa Firefighters along with agents from the FBI and ATF executed a search warrant of the suspect’s home. Four additional homemade explosive devices were found inside a makeshift laboratory. Agents also found remnants of bomb blasts in the backyard.

The suspect was released from the hospital late this morning and questioned by TPD Detectives along with agents from the FBI and ATF. He admitted to constructing the devices to simply prove he could. The suspect has been transported to the Hillsborough County Jail and booked on the six counts of manufacturing and possessing homemade explosive devices.

This times it’s more like off-the-road rage … May 8, 2013

In the wee hours of Sunday morning, a man and his buddy were walking along a road when a small red convertible and Ranger Rover stopped near them at a traffic light.

Words were then exchanged between the driver of the convertible and the two pedestrians, according to a news release from the Daytona Beach Police Department.
The driver of the red convertible then got out of his car and the three men got into a tussle, according to cops.

The fight broke up and the two drivers left the scene after another driver in a Ranger Rover stepped out of the SUV urged the other driver to leave, telling him “it’s not worth it,” the release stated.

The two pedestrians continued to walk towards a nearby parking lot where the red convertible suddenly appeared again.
The driver then began to chase the two pedestrians as they split up and fled, fatally striking one of the men, knocking him into the air, according to the report.

Too bad this man didn’t take the other driver’s advice: It’s. Not. Worth. It.