Charlie Frederick Ericksen Jr., the former Flagler County commissioner, U.S. Army Lieutenant and father of three who died on July 31 in Celebration, was laid to rest at Cape Canaveral National cemetery with military honors this afternoon following a solemn ceremony attended by family, a few friends, and a few Flagler County officials past and present.
Cops/Courts
Man Found Shot and Roped with Weights in Intracoastal in 1997 Is Identified as Robert Bruce McPhail
It took 26 years, but the man found murdered and floating in the Intracoastal Waterway in September 1997 has finally been identified as Robert Bruce McPhail, a 58-year-old boater originally from Kenora-Winnipeg area of Manitoba in Canada, who’d moved to South Florida in the mid-1990s. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Cold Case Unit’s detective Sarah Scalia cracked the case with Othram, a forensic sequencing laboratory.
Security First Insurance Accountant Samantha Rae Link Arrested in $1.5 Million Embezzlement Scheme
An investigation by the State Attorney’s Office and Ormond Beach police led to the arrest last week of Samantha Rae Link, a 31-year-old Daytona Beach resident and former accountant at Security First Insurance, on two first-degree felony counts of fraud and grand theft. The investigation revealed that Link allegedly stole $1.5 million from the Ormond Beach insurance company.
Homeowner, 85, Arrested on Murder Charge in Shooting Death of Mark Ruschmeier, 36, in Long-Running Dispute
Charles Kidd Jr., 85, was arrested on a second-degree murder charge this afternoon following the early morning shooting death of 36-year-old Mark Ruschmeier, who has lived with Kidd at Kidd’s Blare Drive home in Palm Coast’s Woodlands for at least a decade.
School District’s Cost for Security at Alternative School with 2 Teachers and 25 Students: $142,500
The Flagler County school district is paying $142,500 a year for security at its relatively new alternative school on the campus of Flagler Palm Coast High School–an alternative school with just two teachers and an average of 20 students per quarter, some of them virtual, and that operates only four days a week.
Sheriff’s Deputy Hospitalized During Investigation of DUI Suspect’s Cocktail of Drugs, Including Fentanyl
George Clemons, 61, was arrested on numerous charges for drugs, DUI and hit and run, while one of the deputies investigating the case, Nick Huzior, had to be hospitalized after talking ill while field testing the substances found in Clemons’s truck.
Minor Electrical Fire Outside Next Door Bistro Briefly Shuts Down Popular Restaurant in Flagler Beach
A small electrical fire outside the Next Door Beach Bistro in Flagler Beach late this afternoon sent smoke inside the restaurant and caused it to close for the rest of the evening. But crews quickly put out the fire. There were no injuries and damage was limited to the electrical equipment outside
DeSantis Ousts State Attorney Monique Worrell, a Black Democrat Elected with 67 Percent of Vote
Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended another elected prosecutor. This time it’s Monique Worrell of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, in Orange and Osceola counties, a Democrat who was elected in November 2020 and is the second African American to hold the position.
Flagler County Fire Rescue Paramedics Teach FPC Football Players Hands-Only CPR
Flagler-Palm Coast High School Football Head Coach Daniel Fish and Assistant Coach Jason Winkler invited Flagler County Fire Rescue Community Paramedics Rob Errett and Tracy Farmer to teach their players hands-only CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, because of recent incidents involving college athletes.
Sheriff’s Communications Supervisor Heather Robinson Is Line Supervisor of the Year
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Communications Supervisor Heather Robinson accepted the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International Line Supervisor of the Year award for 2023! Heather was recognized during the Opening General Session at APCO 2023, APCO’s Annual Conference & Expo in Nashville.