A loud explosion shook the neighborhood around 28 Poppy Lane in Palm Coast early this morning, drawing a response from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, a road closure and the summoning of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s bomb squad.
Cops/Courts
With One Exception, Flagler Beach Commissioners Leery of Alternating July 4 Fireworks With Palm Coast
Between logistics and tradition, five of the six members of the Flagler Beach City Commission, including the mayor, are either hesitant or opposed to giving up on July 4 fireworks even if Palm Coast wants to hold them on that day only in alternate years. But officials are also saying the whole discussion may be premature, given the impending disappearance of the Flagler Beach pier for two years, when July 4 fireworks will likely have to be in Palm Coast anyway.
Convict Slavery: The 13th Amendment’s Fatal Flaw
The 13th Amendment, considered one of the crowning achievements of American democracy, set “free” an estimated 4 million enslaved people and seemed to demonstrate American claims to equality and freedom. But the amendment did not apply to those convicted of a crime.
Judge Re-Commits Richard Dunn, Who Killed His Father in 2006, to State Hospital After Bizarre Incidents
Circuit Judge Terence Perkins termed the re-commitment of Richard Dunn, 61, to a state hospital a “close call.” A change in Dunn’s medication had caused him to act in bizarre ways that worried counselors and health care providers, because some of the behavior and hallucinations mirrored those he exhibited around the time he killed his father in Palm Coast in 2006.
‘Incredibly Manipulative’ Bryan Loveland Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison After Repeat Contempt
Since his arrest in 2017 on second-degree felony charges after he was accused of fondling the 12-year-old daughter of his then-girlfriend, Bryan Patrick Loveland has been engaged in a cat-and-mouse game that he’d been largely winning against detectives, prosecutors and the court: he’d managed to stay out of prison. That ended today.
Ex-Deputy Dedorius Varnes Pleads to Lesser Charges of Aggravated Stalking, Faces Up to 5 Years in Prison
Ex-Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy Dedorius Varnes accumulated six criminal charges in two cases, including two second-degree felonies, and faced potentially up to 40 years in prison. Instead, he will be sentenced to two third-degree felonies and little prison time, if any, based on a plea he entered today.
When Hearing Fleetwood Mac Is a Homicidal Red Flag: Dr. Wants Man Who Killed His Father Back in State Hospital
Richard Dunn, 60, who killed his father in Palm Coast in 2006 and was found not guilty by reason of insanity, had slowly regained degrees of freedom until last September when he started behaving again as he had before the killing. A judge has been holding hearings to decide his fate as he’s sat at the Flagler County jail since September.
Federal Judge Slams UF Over Muzzling Professors: ‘Stop Acting Like Your Contemporaries in Hong Kong’
In a scathing ruling Friday, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker blocked the University of Florida from enforcing a controversial conflict-of-interest policy that gave school administrators discretion over allowing professors to serve as expert witnesses in litigation.
Days After He’s Named Bunnell’s Police Chief, Walker Opts Out of Job, and Interim Snead Says He’s ‘Done’
There’s no public explanation behind Michael Walker’s decision not to take the police chief’s job. Brannon Snead is linking his decision not to stay to the effects on his reputation from revelations of what led to his resignation from the Florida Highway Patrol in 2016.
20 Arrested in Sheriff’s Operations Targeting Local Drug Traffickers
Suspects in the operation range in ages from 23 to 69 years of age. One of those facing charges, Michael McIntyre, is already facing time in prison on a first-degree murder conviction for selling a fatal dose of illegal drugs. He is charged with Trafficking Methamphetamine as a result of this operation.
Sheriff Hires Don Foley, Ex-TV Producer and Mayoral PR, to Lead Public Affairs Office
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office announces the hiring of a new Public Affairs lead in 2022. Sheriff Rick Staly has recruited Don Foley to his administrative team. Foley comes to Northeast Florida by way of the Mayor’s Office in Huntsville, Alabama where he served as a communications specialist.
Sheriff’s Deputies Investigating an Apparent Self-Inflicted Death at Herschel King Park
A resident of the River Club at Grand Haven called authorities at around 6:20 p.m. on Sunday and asked them to send emergency units to Herschel King Park. When authorities arrived, the man had stabbed himself. He died a few hours later at the hospital.
Sheriff Staly on Simultaneous July 4 Fireworks in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach: ‘It Will Certainly Strain Our Resources’
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly is cautioning the two cities that simultaneous July 4 fireworks will mean his agency might not be able to support Flagler Beach as it has before on that day. But a Palm Coast City Council member has now shifted position, and favors continuing July 4 and July 3 shows, giving each city July 4 in alternate years. But would Flagler Beach agree to hold its shows on July 3 every other year?
‘Boxer’ Targets Kay Jewelers for Theft, and is Taken Down Minutes Later on FPC Campus
Dominic Conte, 20, told authorities he targeted Kay Jewelers in the Target shopping center in Palm Coast because he figured it would have fewer customers and stays open later. He may have been right. But he did not figure on 24-hour policing.
‘Be a Witness. Don’t Be a Defendant,” Sheriff Tells Potential Informants as Reward in Smith Killing Ups to $10,000
Flagler County Sheriff Staly this afternoon urged potential witnesses or people with information in the Jan. 12 shooting death of 16-year-old Noah Smith in Bunnell to “be a witness. Don’t be a defendant” and said the reward for valuable information has been raised to $10,000.
Sheriff Takes Over Noah Smith Murder Investigation and Sternly Warns Against Retaliatory Vigilantism
An emphatic Sheriff Rick Staly late this evening took to Facebook Live to broadcast a warning against anyone who may be planning a retaliatory hit on the perpetrator or perpetrators of the shooting death of 16-year-old Noah Smith on a Bunnell street Wednesday night.
FPC Student Noah Smith, 16, Is Gunned Down in Drive-By Shooting in Bunnell
Noah Smith, a 16-year-old student at Flagler Palm Coast High School and a Bunnell resident, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting late Wednesday night in Bunnell. Smith died later at the hospital.
Flagler Emergency Management Chief Jonathan Lord Wins State Award for ‘Dedicated, Unselfish’ Service
Flagler County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord will be presented the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association (FEPA) “Gary Arnold Award” at its annual meeting in February. This award is provided to an individual for dedicated, unselfish and enthusiastic service to improving the emergency management community in Florida.
Cops and Firefighters Discover Power of GIS in Search and Rescue Drill at Princess Place Preserve
Flagler County Fire Rescue personnel joined with Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies, Flagler County Emergency Management and the county’s IT and GIS teams this morning and into the middle of the afternoon at Princess Place Preserve for the first joint exercise in more than half a decade. Some 75 participants were involved.
District Court Rejects Vitaly Tsabak’s Latest Appeal of 20-Year Sentence in F-Section Arson and Burglary
Vitaly Tsabak was 28 and the bearer of a lengthy prison record, felony convictions and prison stints when he was arrested on charges of first-degree arson, burglary, grand theft and possession of burglary tools in November 2016 after setting fire to a duplex on Fenimore Lane.
Flagler Access Center for Mental Health and Substance Disorders Opens as Glimmer of Help in Crisis
Flagler Access will provide guidance and services to people with mental health or substance disorders through a partnership involving SMA Healthcare and Flagler Health+, and mostly state funds, operating from the building that used to house the Bunnell Branch Library and Sally’s Safe Haven on State Road 100 and U.S. 1.
Senate Panel Backs Change That Would Make Drug Overdose Prosecutions Easier
A bill that seeks to change the burden of proof in first-degree murder cases involving drug overdose deaths began moving through the Senate on Monday as the 2022 legislative session is set to kick off. The measure (SB 190), sponsored by Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, was approved in a 7-3 vote by the Judiciary Committee.
Prosecution Drops Felony Fraud Case Against Terry McManus of Flagler Beach’s Ocean Palms Golf Club
Terry McManus, whose company runs the Flagler Beach city-owned Ocean Palms Golf Course, was convicted on a DUI charge and sentenced to four years in prison last fall. He was scheduled to go on trial on a felony fraud charge this morning. The prosecution dropped it in exchange for his plea to a misdemeanor charge. He claimed the state did not have the evidence to convict him on the fraud charge.
Palm Coast Man Who ‘Tortured’ His Child Draws Character Letter from NFL’s Emmitt Smith, and 20 Years in Prison
Deviaun Toler, the 30-year-old former Palm Coast resident a jury found guilty of burning his infant son’s arm with boiling water, leaving him black and blue with marks from whippings and breaking his skull in brutal beatings over “weeks of abuse,” as the prosecutor described it, was sentenced to 20years in prison today, followed by 10 years on probation.
Jimaya Baker, Ringleader in Armed Robberies and Shooting that Left a Man Paralyzed, Is Sentenced to 15 Years
Jimaya Baker, 20, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the maximum prosecutors asked for, in her role as ringleader of two armed robberies in Palm Coast, in 2018 and 2019, one of them leaving an 18-year-old man half paralyzed and an invalid for the rest of his life. She was one of six co-conspirators in the two robberies. All have pleaded to prison time.
Flagler County Firefighters Jon Moscowitz and Jimmy Melady Deliver Baby on New Year’s (Not Theirs)
Flagler County Fire Rescue Lieutenant Jon Moscowitz and Firefighter/Paramedic Jimmy Melady started 2022 on a joyous, unplanned note this weekend, when they responded to mom-to-be Traci Kuehn’s call on New Year’s Day.
For 3rd Time in 7 Months, Deputies and Paramedics Talk 17 Year Old Off I-95 Overpass
For the third time in seven months, Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies and members of the Palm Coast Fire Department late Tuesday night talked a 17-year-old girl down from the I-95 overpass at Palm Coast Parkway.
Ex-Lake Helen Police Chief Michael Walker Takes Over a Bunnell Police Department in Turmoil After Rapid Search
Michael Anthony Walker, 57, Lake Helen’s police chief for 11 years, today was named Bunnell police chief, replacing Tom Foster in a department buffeted by low morale and the loss of its top three highest-ranked officers in a matter of weeks. Brannon Snead, the interim chief since Foster’s departure in early December, was not among the five applicants for the top job.
Military Career Over, Ex-Palm Coast Airman Isaac Becker Is Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison Over Rape of Minor
If he’d gone to trial and been convicted, Isaac Becker faced up to 90 years in prison for raping a girl he had a familial relationship with, starting when she was 13 and ending when she was 15. This afternoon, Circuit Judge Terence Perkins sentenced Becker, 22, to eight years in prison, followed by 10 years’ probation and a lifetime designation as a sexual predator.
Sheriff Confirms Zaire Roberts, 23, Was Killed in Regent Lane Shootout, and Another Man Wounded
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office today confirmed what it had not for several days after the Dec. 29 shooting that left a man dead and another wounded at 8 Regent Lane in Palm Coast: that the man who was killed was 23-year-old Zaire Roberts, who had been released from prison just weeks earlier.
Out on Bond Over One Felony, Justin Anthony, 21, Is Arrested on Statutory Rape Charge Involving 13-Year-Old Girl
Justin J. Anthony, a 21-year-old resident of 5791 Cherry Lane in Bunnell, was already facing a felony charge stemming from what a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy described as his “propensity for continued violence” when he was re-arrested on New Year’s Eve on a statutory rape charge.
A Motorcyclist Is Killed on I-95, Crashing Into Guardrail; 6 of 9 Fatalities This Year Were Motorcyclists or Cyclists
A man was killed in a motorcycle crash on I-95 this morning shortly after sunup, just south of the intersection with Palm Coast Parkway. No other vehicles were involved, based on preliminary indications. The fatality is the ninth on Flagler roads this year–the lowest yearly tally in 27 years.
Ghislaine Maxwell Guilty in Epstein Sex Trafficking Trial: What the Case Revealed About Female Sex Offenders
The majority of sex offenders are believed to be male. Charges lodged against women may include sexual abuse of children but often involve grooming or trafficking girls without engaging in the act of sexually abusing the child.
Two Men Are Shot in Confrontation on Regent Lane in Palm Coast, One of Them Just Out of Prison
A shootout at 8 Regent Lane in Palm Coast Wednesday evening sent two men to the hospital, one of them airlifted, and triggered an elaborate and ongoing investigation by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. No one is in custody for now. One of the men is 23, the other is 20. Others, possibly several others, may have been involved.
19-Year-Old Palm Coast Man Arrested in Bunnell Shooting Spree That Included Ex-Sheriff Sgt. Larry Jones’s Car
Josiah Aaron Feimster, 19, faces four felony charges, the result of an shooting spree in South Bunnell. Two parked and vacant vehicles were struck, including that of retired Flagler County Sheriff’s Sgt. Larry Jones, a two-time candidate for sheriff. Jones, a Palm Coast resident, was not in town at the time. He was not hurt.
FPL Rate Fight Goes to Florida Supreme Court
The group Floridians Against Increased Rates filed a notice this week that it is appealing a decision by the state Public Service Commission to approve a settlement that will lead to FPL rate increases starting in January.
DeSantis Tells Cops He Won’t Treat Them as Political Tools as He Distributes Bonus Checks in Campaign Video
The short ad, posted Sunday to DeSantis’ Facebook feed, features footage of recent appearances in which the Republican governor merged his political role with campaigning, flanked by cops and political supporters.
Sheriff’s Real Time Crime Center Supervisor Nichole North Graduates from FDLE Analyst Academy
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Real Time Crime Center Supervisor, Nichole North graduated from the Florida Law Enforcement Analyst Academy. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) announced the graduation of 21 law enforcement analysts from 10 criminal justice agencies throughout the state who all serve in crime intelligence analyst roles.
He Was Filming on His Phone. Then an Officer Attacked Him and Charged Him With Resisting Arrest.
Police can arrest people for “cover charges,” like resisting arrest, to justify their use of excessive force and shield themselves from liability. In Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, 73 percent of the time someone is arrested on a “cover charge” alone, they’re Black.
Sheriff’s Deputies Provide Gifts to Daytona North/Mondex Children
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) attended an event at the Country Store in Bunnell to spread holiday cheer for the local youth. Chief Williams, Commander Miceli, Deputy First Class (DFC) Dawson and Deputy Beausoleil were excited to distribute gifts to the children.
Biden Names Nancy Abudu to 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1st Black Woman on Bench that Hears Florida Cases
Pointing to an effort to ensure diversity in the court system, President Joe Biden on Thursday nominated Southern Poverty Law Center attorney Nancy Gbana Abudu for a seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Abdu is the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, a graduate of Columbia University and Tulane University Law School.
Sheriff Staly Says Target’s Ties to Shop With a Cop Irreparably Destroyed as Company’s Statements Vacillate
What started with an email from target to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Shop with a Cop charity in October and a puzzled response that went unanswered has turned into a full-bore and continuing assault on the company by Sheriff Rick Staly, who has been lambasting Target for “talking out of both sides of their mouths” after abruptly severing a 13-year relationship with what had previously been known as Christmas with a Deputy.
Proposal to Let Death Row Inmates Represent Themselves on Appeal Sparks Sharp Opposition
The proposal, which was released in May, has spurred opposition from a wide range of groups that argue Death Row inmates are not qualified to represent themselves in the often-complicated proceedings, including many inmates who have mental illnesses.
Palm Coast Firefighters Spread Holiday Cheer with 3rd Annual Heroes & Helpers Holiday Celebration
The Palm Coast Fire Department along with Professional Firefighters Local 4807 were successful in spreading holiday cheer by hosting the 3rd annual Heroes & Helpers Holiday Celebration on Saturday, December 18. The event was hosted by the Palm Coast Professional Firefighters Local 4807 and their local charity, Palm Coast Firefighters Benevolent Fund Inc.
Off Duty Flagler County Fire Rescue Staffers, and One Retiree, Join Santa Collecting and Distributing Gifts
Firefighters Conlan Pottinger, Andy Thomas, Rob Zerbino, Lt. John Krall, Community Paramedic Caryn Prather, Chief Mike Tucker, and retired Flight Medic Roy Longo joined the Moscowitzes in their gift-giving mission.
Woman, 27, Crashes on I-95, Passes Out, and Is Arrested for Child Neglect and Fentanyl Possession
Shelby Vise, 27, was at the wheel of a gray Toyota late Tuesday, driving on I-95 in Palm Coast, when she crashed into the woodline. Her child was strapped to a car seat in the back. He appeared uninjured.
Sheriff Among Responders to a Repeat-Overdose Victim, Who Joins ‘Leave at Home Narcan Program’
Authorities have often spoken of treating addicts at scenes, at times the same addict in the same 24-hour period, only to hear them say that as long as they have access to Narcan, they feel secure. Authorities in this case referred to the “Leave at home Narcan program.”
2 Weeks After Retiring as Tamarac Fire Chief, Percy Sayles Is Named Deputy Fire Chief in Flagler
Both Chief Mike Tucker’s appointment in summer and, in turn, that of Percy Sayles now, reflects a change in direction for a department that for many years drew its leadership from within. It is also no small thing that Sayles will be the highest appointment of a Black firefighter-paramedic to a leadership position in past or present fire departments in the county–in a profession where the proportion of Blacks is not high.
Flagler County Community Paramedicine, Led by Caryn Prather, Wins 3rd Award
The Flagler County Community Paramedicine program has received national, state, and regional accolades for utilizing best practices and providing the highest quality services to its residents.
Flagler County Fire Rescue Accountant Suzanne Eubanks Deploys to Kentucky
Flagler County Fire Rescue Accountant Suzanne Eubanks deployed with the Northeast Florida Region 3 All-Hazards Incident Management Team to support recovery efforts in Kentucky in the aftermath of the tornadoes that hit late last week.