How to retrieve your son’s severed finger from your dog’s stomach March 30, 2013

BRADENTON, Fla. – An 11-year-old boy has been hospitalized after a dog bite at his home that severed a finger.

It happened just after 6pm Friday at a home in the 5200 block of 22nd Street Court East in the Oneco area.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the boy reached to pet the dog, who was in its cage, through the slots in the cage door.  The dog bit the boy’s left hand, completely severing the pinky and possibly breaking his forearm.

The child’s father then removed the dog from its cage and shot it multiple times, killing it.  While waiting for EMS to arrive, he retrieved the finger from the dog’s stomach.

The boy was flown to All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg via helicopter.  There is no word yet on his condition.

Deputies say an initial investigation supports the father’s account and they believe the incident was an accident.

The dog’s remains were taken into possession by Animal Control.

81-year-old Florida arrested in shooting after argument with neighbor March 29, 2013

Seminole, Florida — An argument between neighbors in an upscale Seminole neighborhood ended in gunfire late Wednesday, and now the 81-year-old who pulled the trigger faces serious charges.

His 47 year-old shooting victim also faces a long recovery from a bullet that barely missed his heart.

So what started all the trouble at the gated Kapok Grand Community?

Donald Hindes, 81, certainly doesn’t fit the profile of your typical aggravated assault suspect. But detectives say last night Hindes pointed a gun out his car window and shot his neighbor’s ex-husband, 47-year-old Richard Wacker, in the chest.

While the two men have had an ongoing dispute, investigators decided it was not a case of self defense.

“He basically indicated to the detectives when he spoke to them that he was not in fear of his life and that he could have pretty much gotten away,” said Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Cecilia Barreda.

Detectives say Wacker first tried going over to Hindes’ apartment two doors down, at around 9:00 p.m. to confront him. But after getting no answer, Wacker, they say, walked to the community’s front gate and waited there for the 81-year-old to leave.

A few minutes later, when Hindes pulled his car up to the gate they say Wacker jumped out of the bushes, banged on Hindes’ window, and got shot.

“I think it was an argument and there was no reason to pull out a gun,” said Peggy Wacker, the victim’s ex-wife.

“I got the phone call and I thought my dad was dead,” said Wacker’s 26-year-old step-daughter Amber.

Amber Wacker says the dispute between the two men has to do with Hindes allegedly making inappropriate advances toward her.

Flirting. Propositions, she says.

“Looked at me and made passes and stuff and my dad didn’t like it, you know, obviously,” said Amber.

But neighbors say Wacker — whose jail record shows a long list of arrests including drug charges, burglary and battery — is the one in their community more likely to get in trouble.

Hindes’ next-door neighbor says the 81-year-old is a former businessman with eight kids of his own and had never shown signs of such violence before last night.

“He’s a great guy. He’s a Christian guy,” said neighbor Carole Bowers, “I can’t even imagine.”

Hindes has been released on a $5,000 bond.

Wacker, who lives not far from the community with a girlfriend, was released from the hospital with the bullet still lodged in his side.

9-year-old finds, shoots Orlando police officer’s gun; no charges filed March 28, 2013

ORLANDO,  Fla. —For the fourth time in over a week, a central Florida child got a  hold of a gun, and this time the weapon belonged to a police officer.

The child was visiting the  officer’s home, looking around for video games when he came upon the pistol.

The shooting happened  inside the townhome rented by Orlando police officer Thomas O’Day.

According to the police  report, his girlfriend and children were visiting on Monday when her 9-year-old  son apparently found the officer’s personal .38-caliber pistol and pulled the  trigger.

No one was hurt, but  failing to secure the weapon could be illegal, yet Orlando police are not filing  charges.

“The officer had the gun  in a place where children would not normally access it,” said Orlando police  Sgt. Jim Young. “They don’t live there, and he had the gun in the closet well  hidden.”

The law reads, “A person  who stores or leaves on a premises under his or her control a loaded firearm and  who knows that a minor is likely to gain access shall keep the firearm in a  secure locked box or container or shall secure it with a trigger lock.”

Any violation of the law  could result in a second-degree misdemeanor.

The police report  indicates a woman right next to the townhome unit thought there could be gunfire  coming through the wall.

Other neighbors said they  have similar concerns.

Cops say ticketed driver returned to scene on scooter, fired at officer

Soon, Cates returned, this time wearing a ski mask as he ran the sign and crashed the scooter between two rows of houses with Roberson in pursuit, Young said.

Baldwin Park, known for large homes, walking trails and family-friendly special events, became the scene of a violent confrontation Wednesday when a 63-year-old driver punched and shot at a police sergeant who had written him a ticket for running a stop sign, investigators said.

Sgt. Kevin Roberson stopped William Jasper Cates’ car just after 3 p.m. at Fox and Juel streets and wrote the citation, said Sgt. Jim Young, an Orlando police spokesman.

About half an hour later, Cates blew through the stop sign again, this time on a scooter, Young said. But Roberson let him go.

The situation escalated when Roberson went to see whether Cates was OK. That’s when Cates punched the sergeant several times in the face and pulled a “high-powered” handgun and shot at him twice, Young said. Roberson subdued Cates, who was arrested and taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Neither man was seriously hurt.

The confrontation happened in the 900 block of Hobbs Alley, a block from where Cates was ticketed. Investigators found a bullet lodged in the front of a house there.

“We’re very fortunate that no one was shot,” Young said.

Orange County court records show no previous arrests for Cates, who lives less than a mile away in Baldwin Park. Cates previously lived in Illinois, about 35 miles north of St. Louis, public records show.

Baldwin Park residents said they were surprised when they saw police lights and crime-scene tape and heard the drone of three news helicopters hovering overhead.

“I thought this was one of the safer parts of Orlando,” said Michelle Runzer, who passed the crime scene as she took a walk.

 

Apparently shooting those damn noisy neighbor kids with a BB gun is against the law now March 19, 2013

PORT RICHEY — A group of about seven kids ran around their Holiday Hill neighborhood on Saturday. They liked to dart in and out of back yards along Camelot Road and chase after each other.

Twenty-one-year-old Joshua O’Dell lives a street over, on Lancelot Road. He didn’t like the noise that day, neighbor Jaime Caudle said. She said O’Dell yelled and threatened the kids, then went into his house and grabbed a BB gun. He came out and shot into the air, Caudle said, and the kids ran.

Her daughter Kaylee Caudle, a kindergartener, was in the group.

The kids fled and O’Dell pointed his gun at them while they ran off. He fired three rounds, neighbors said.

Kaylee Caudle was the only one who got hit. The kids ran to the Caudles’ house screaming, “The baby’s been shot,” over and over.

Jaime Caudle said her daughter was crying uncontrollably, so she took her inside and comforted her. She said Kaylee didn’t want to leave her room after the shooting.

Caudle lifted her daughter’s shirt Monday and showed the damage: two red lines along the side of Kaylee’s belly.

“It was a chaotic scene, and Kaylee was hysterical,” neighbor Tiffany Bourenina said.

Bourenina lives next door to the Caudles and said the kids might run around, but they’re respectful and would’ve quieted down if asked.

“All (O’Dell) had to say was ‘Hey, can you not play in my property?’ ”

Pasco County sheriff’s deputies arrested O’Dell on Saturday on a charge of aggravated battery. The people at O’Dell’s house declined to comment on Monday.

Jaime Caudle said that after the shooting, the grandfather of another kid went and talked to O’Dell, and O’Dell threatened him with a hammer and told him to “get off my property.”

The sheriff’s report said O’Dell denied firing the gun at anyone and told deputies he only showed the kids the gun and told them to leave. O’Dell posted $10,000 bail and was released from jail hours after his arrest.

Kaylee said she is still scared, but she smiled and seemed cheerful on Monday afternoon near her family in front of her house. Jaime Caudle didn’t share her daughter’s enthusiasm, and said she’s afraid something else will happen.

“Now I’m waiting for retribution,” she said. “I went up to him when he was in the police car and I said, ‘You’re the one who shot my baby,’ and he just laughed at me.”

Child’s Birthday Party At Chuck E. Cheese’s Ends In Brawl

BOYNTON BEACH, FL – A child’s birthday party at a Florida  Chuck E. Cheese’s ended with the arrests of at least three people, including the  birthday boy’s mother, after a large brawl broke out and someone got shot.

The fight started after two men in the restroom exchanged words, then  escalated into an 18-man brawl inside the dining area of the restaurant in  which, according to the store manager, the birthday boy’s grandmother was even  trampled.

Employees got the unruly crowd out of  the store where some of the men drove to a nearby location to continue their  fight, and where one man pulled out a gun and shot the passenger of another car.  The victim was taken to the hospital with  non-life-threatening injuries, the shooter is still at large.

While that was happening, the boy’s mother, Briana Walker, was being arrested  in the parking lot with two other men on drug charges and defrauding an  innkeeper. Police say they fled the restaurant without paying the almost $300  check.

Police also said Walker’s purse contained part of a Xanax pill and a small amount of marijuana, and that someone on her side of the car  had also thrown out packages containing marijuana, Xanax, crack cocaine and  morphine.

Investigators would later find empty vodka bottles at the scene, including  several that had been stashed in a diaper bag.

Fighting at a child’s birthday party is pretty low, but I can  excuse bringing alcohol and drugs to a Chuck E. Cheese’s. I’ve been forced to  attend a couple of birthday parties in those nightmare establishments and, just  like visiting family and weddings, drugs and alcohol were the only things  that kept me from committing cold-blooded murder.

Man feuding with his mom accused of opening fire on bystanders March 16, 2013

Tampa, FL March 11, 2013 -
INCIDENT DATE/TIME: 3/10/2013 at 8:07 PM

LOCATION: E. Estelle Ave / N. Scott Street

BUSINESS: Tampa Park Apartments

VICTIM: Rhonda Wallace, B/F, DOB:03/23/72
1710 Simon Court.
Tampa, FL 33605

SUSPECT:  Mikeil Terrell Royal, B/M, DOB: 04/09/92
2915 W. Saint Conrad Street
Tampa, FL 33607

VEHICLE: 2011 Cadillac, black and silver in color

Sergeant L. Houston was holding her squad’s roll call near the Tampa Park Apartments when the officers heard several gun shots. The entire squad responded to the location of Estelle Avenue and N. Scott Street. The officers quickly gave a bolo of the description of the two vehicles involved in the shooting through an interview of a witness.

Corporal D. Croteau observed one of the vehicles near N. 13th Street and E. 9th Avenue and the vehicle suddenly stopped in a parking garage. The defendant exited and fled into the garage. A perimeter was established and Sgt. C. Rodriguez’s ROC Squad arrested the defendant. Inside the vehicle was the handgun he used in the shooting.

The shooting began during a verbal argument between the defendant and his mother. The defendant fired several rounds into the air while arguing with his mother and several bystanders intervened. The defendant then fired several times in their direction striking an unoccupied-parked vehicle, as well as an occupied apartment located at 1710 Simon Court. One of the bystanders, who is still unidentified returned fire at the defendant missing him. No one was reported injured during the shooting.

Defendant Royal was charged with Shooting into an Occupied Dwelling, Shooting into an Unoccupied Conveyance, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Resist arrest without Violence, and Discharging a Firearm in Public. The defendant is on probation for Aggravated Battery and his probation was violated.

Spring Break Shootout: Woman mad at boyfriend fired 18 shots in hotel room March 15, 2013

More Spring Break fun.

Apparently this gal packed more than a bathing suit, suntan lotion and flip-flops for her Spring Break vacation — she also packed heat.

On Wednesday afternoon cops were dispatched to the Sun and Surf Motel after getting a report about a distraught and armed woman who had threatened suicide, according to a news release from the Daytona Beach Police Department.

Cops determined the woman, Heather D. Beaver of Sylvania, GA., and her boyfriend had been out drinking most of the day and a feud had erupted when the boyfriend began talking to another woman, the release stated.

After the couple returned to their hotel room, the 21-year-old woman reportedly continued to argue with her boyfriend, who then decided to call the cops.

When Beaver began throwing bullets at her boyfriend, he left the room.  As soon as the cops arrived, Beaver barricaded herself inside the room, refusing to exit, according to the release.

Then Beaver yippee-ki-yay’d the joint: As cops tried to negotiate with Beaver, she reportedly fired several rounds inside the room from a 45-caliber handgun — while opening and closing the door to her room several times and threatening suicide.

Man in Wheelchair Opens Fire in Miami Beach Restaurant March 12, 2013

Miami Beach Police are investigating after they say a man in a wheelchair opened fire inside a Lincoln Road Irish restaurant and bar late Monday night.

No one was injured when the man, later identified as 29-year-old Ernesto J. Velasquez, started shooting inside Finnegan’s Road at 942 Lincoln Road near Michigan Avenue, Miami Beach Police said.

According to an arrest report, Velasquez and his brother arrived at the restaurant around 10:30 p.m. and asked to be seated.

When the waitress suggested they sit outside because the tables are lower and might be more comfortable, Velasquez became irate and screamed “What? You don’t want to serve me?” the report said.

Velasquez pulled out a pistol and started waving it, pointing it at a manager and another bar patron, the report said.

The waitress and manager fled the restaurant and heard a gunshot come from inside the bar, the report said. Velasquez left the bar and fired another shot, the report said.

Police said they received several 911 calls of a man waving a gun at passersby and firing it into the air. When officers arrived, they found Velasquez in the area and took him into custody, the report said.

As Velasquez was being questioned, officers “smelled the odor of an alcohol like beverage emitting from his person as he spoke,” the report said.

“I’m sake bombed!” Velasquez said, according to the report. “I had too much to drink and I shot off a couple of rounds.”

Police said luckily no one was injured.

“The shots were fired inside of the restaurant and no one was injured,” Miami Beach Police spokeswoman Det. Vivian Hernandez said. “Officers, in addition to checking the restaurant and the parties inside, checked the additional area upstairs above the restaurant and there was also no injuries to anyone in the building or any of our officers.”

Police said another person was also taken into custody but that person hasn’t been identified.

Velasquez, who is a convicted felon, told police he bought the pistol on the street for $500, the report said.

He is facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm in public and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. It was unknown whether he has an attorney.

Police are still investigating the incident.

Woman ran into ex at Post Office, grabbed gun and fatally shot him

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -  A woman who police said shot and killed a man outside a Westside post office Sunday afternoon was the victim’s ex-girlfriend, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators said 22-year-old Arianne Myles just so happened to see her ex-boyfriend, 23-year-old Harold Davis Jr., while she was driving by. Police said she parked her car behind his, got a gun from the back seat and started firing.

Investigators said several witnesses, including the person in the car with Myles, saw her shoot Davis several times, killing him, then get back in her car and head north on Blanding Boulevard.

Retired JSO Officer Mark Shinholser was across the street and heard the shots. He saw Myles get in the car, and started following her, police said.

He called 911, alerting police to where she was, and officers started following her.

A person in the car with Myles told investigators they didn’t know Myles was going to shoot Davis, police said. That person stayed behind after Myles left, police said.

“Apparently they were traveling, and I guess as bad luck would have it, she looked over and saw his vehicle at the post office, turned in there,” JSO Lt. Rob Schoonover said. “Like I said, the witness said, ‘I had no idea she even had a gun in the car.”

Officers pursued Myles until she caused a crash at the intersection of Timuquana Road and Seaboard Avenue — about a mile from the shooting scene, police said. They said she struck a car carrying a woman with children in her car — before she was taken into custody.

Myles remained in a hospital Monday with a broken arm from the crash. She is charged with murder and will be booked into the Duval County jail when released from the hospital.

“This is not right. Kids are not supposed to die before their parents die,” Harold Davis Sr. said.

In less than 24 hours, Davis said he went from waiting for his son to come home to planning his funeral.

“My son knew what I wanted when I died. We talked about it in great length,” Davis said. “He knew exactly what to do. Now I’m burying my son. It ain’t right.”

Police said they have no clear motive right now, but they said the couple had been broken up for a few months. Investigators are still waiting to talk with Myles, but they don’t believe this shooting was planned.

“I want to know why why did she do this,” Davis Jr.’s mother, Lola Davis, said. “Why would she take a kid, my child? Why would you take my child away?”

Davis’ family said the couple’s breakup was hard for Myles to accept, and she harassed Davis, even confronting him at local gas station.

They said that about four months ago, she even went to their home and sat in the parking lot for hours, then banged on doors and windows.

Recently though, the Davises said Myles stopped making contact. They believed she’d moved on, as Davis had with Bobbie Jean Durham, his fiance.

“I’ve been with him every single day,” Durham said. “I’m used to him being in the bed every night and waking up with him every morning. The day before he died, he asked me to marry him, and I said yes.”

Although the family mourns the loss of one man, they say they are grateful for the courageousness of another — Shinholser.

He said he was driving to the post office when he witnessed the shooting. And he said he decided to follow her for one reason.