Flagler County plans to reopen some of its parks and trails even though every city in the county is opposed and the apex of the coronavirus emergency is still two weeks away, according to public health officials.
Cops/Courts
Covid-19 Tempers: How Palm Coast Residents With No Prior Records Are Ending Up In Jail on Domestic Violence Charges
Even as the sheriff stresses de-escalation before arrests, ordinary family members are losing tempers and acting violently at home in collateral consequences of the coronavirus emergency, as this weekend’s repeated examples from Palm Coast illustrate.
Flagler County’s Crime Rate Falls 19% in 2019, After 22% Drop Year Before; Staly Credits Innovations
Much of the crime drop was in non-violent crimes, burglaries and larcenies especially. Vehicle thefts increased 26 percent despite the increasing use of license-plate readers. Rapes increased, and murders matched the previous year’s total: three.
Night Fire Guts House at 21st and South Daytona Avenue in Flagler Beach
A fire that broke out before 9 p.m. Saturday had by later that night engulfed and consumed a three-story house at South Daytona Avenue and South 21st Street in Flagler Beach. No one was hurt.
Pedestrian “In the Middle of the Highway” Struck and Killed on I-95 South of SR100
The fatal crash took place just before dawn, on a straight but dark stretch of I-95, about a mile south of the intersection with State Road 100. The two occupants of the Mercedes that struck the pedestrian, who apparently stood in the middle of the road, were not hurt.
Ex-Employee and “Family Friend” of Sally’s Ice Cream in Flagler Beach Charged With Burglarizing the Business
Jason Charles Mesagaes Jr., a 19-year-old resident of Faith Lane in Palm Coast, had left drops of blood at the Sally’s Ice Cream window he’d allegedly broken to get in, enabling police to trace back the burglary to him.
42-Year-Old Palm Coast Woman Admits to Placing 400 Obscenely Incoherent Pamphlets in Mailboxes
Abril Cestoni, a Palm Coast resident and an employee at Publix in the Hammock, said she distributed 400 pamphlets to inform residents of what she considered to be problems with the local clergy. She said she was not showing signs of Covid-19 infection.
Jimaya Baker, Alleged Ringleader in Near-Fatal Robbery, Faces New Armed Robbery Charge Involving Teens
Jimaya Leann Baker is the 18-year-old Palm Coast resident who is alleged to be the ringleader behind the armed robbery that resulted in the shooting and disabling of of Carl Saint Felix on White Star Drive in 2018.
Mission Critical? Cooper the Dog Has Been Dead 15 Months. Owner, 73, Is Arrested on a 2018 Bite Charge.
Some arrests in the midst of the coronavirus public health emergency are more absurd than others, especially in light of state and local judicial orders to limit all proceedings to essentials. Dottye Benton’s arrest Sunday night at her Palm Coast home is one of those.
Jury Trials and All Other Non-Critical Court Proceedings Suspended at Least Until June
The order extended the suspension of criminal and civil jury trials, jury selection and grand-jury proceedings through May 29. It said circuit and county courts will “continue to perform essential court proceedings.”