The jury took barely 50 minutes to reach a verdict of guilty on all five felony counts in the case of Giuseppe Verdone, the 24-year-old Palm Coast resident who two years ago was accused of assaulting and kidnapping the co-owner of a Chinese food restaurant in November 2013.
Cops/Courts
Tractor Trailer Crashes Into 3 Parked, Mostly Empty School Buses on I-95, Four Injured
A tractor trailer on a route from Miami to Jacksonville crashed into three parked and empty school buses as the buses’ drivers were working on one of them on the side of I-95 just north of the Palm Coast Parkway exit at 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Flagler Court Clerk Throws a Switch, and Mass of Criminal and Civil Records Becomes Accessible Online
Flagler County court records, from arrest affidavits to civil, criminal, county and probate court are now all available online, 24 hours a day, in a vast improvement of public record access ordered by the Florida Supreme Court.
Masked, Armed and Apologetic Man Robs Kangaroo Station Off Old Kings Road
The Kangaroo gas station and convenience store at 3 Kingswood Drive, just off of Old Kings Road in Palm Coast, was the target of a robbery at close to 3 a.m. Sunday, by a man armed with a nightstick and masked by a bandanna.
1,200 Customers in Palm Coast’s P-Section Lose Power Due to Underground Cable Issue
A problem with an underground cable emanating from a Florida Power and Light substation toward the south end of Palm Coast cut off power to around 1,200 customers north of State Road 10 and west of I-95, especially in the city’s P-Section.
Trial Begins for Man Accused of Kidnapping and Brutalizing Chinese Food Delivery Driver
Palm Coast’s Giuseppe Verdone, 24, could face life in prison on charges stemming from the 2013 attack on King Palace co-owner Ming Gong. The trial is expected to last much of the week.
Flagler Sheriff’s Police Athletic League (P.A.L.) Offers Free Summer Activities for Youth
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Police Athletic League (P.A.L.) is now offering “KIDS, KOPS and K9” during the months of June and July. This free summertime program is being offered to children ages 4-18
Ex-Felon Duane Weeks, Former Elections Supervisor’s Son, Charged With 2 New Felonies
Duane Weeks Jr., 34, son Kimberle Weeks, is charged with brutalizing a 25-year-old woman, smashing her cell phone, and attempting to run her down with a farm vehicle on County Road 305, causing the woman to crash her own car into a trailer.
ACLU and Women’s Health Center Sue Florida Over 24-Hour Abortion Waiting Period
The lawsuit contends that for women — especially low-income women who must arrange for child care, time off work and overnight travel — the law can push them past the time it is legal to have abortions.
In Theoretical Mass Shooting at FPC, a Mass Exercise to Evaluate Vulnerabilities
A man denied custody of his children decides to take his rage out on FPC students in a shooting rampage: that was the scenario around which some 200 responders and volunteer actors recreated an emergency response this morning in a two-hour training exercise at the school.
SWAT Team Deployed Again, This Time for Marijuana Muffins and Chocolate
The SWAT team was deployed Wednesday morning against a Flagler Beach “grow house” where “several” muffins and chocolate laced in marijuana were seized.
Don’t Panic: FPC Will Be the Scene of a Large-Scale “Active Assailant” Exercise Thursday
Emergency management is not releasing more detailed information than that because the aim of the exercise is to simulate a stressful emergency as close to the real thing as possible.
Imprisoned for Burglarizing Joe’s Pizza in 2009, He Targets Oriental Garden Tuesday
Hugh W. McIntyre,a resident of Palm Coast’s B-Section, was arrested Tuesday shortly after burglarizing Oriental Garden. He was sentenced to two years in prison for burglarizing Joe’s New York Pizza to support a drug habit in 2009.
Arrested for Drunk Driving, She Tries to Roll Up Her Car Window on a Cop’s Arm
Erin Johnson, 26, of Palm Coast, was one mile from her Wellshire Lane house before she was arrested on charges of battery on a cop, resisting with violence and drunk driving.
Sheriff’s $2.5 Million Budget Request Increase Is Largest in 10 Years, With 5% Raise For Ranks
The increase reflects additional staffing at the new jail, money for 10 new patrol vehicles, a 5 percent across-the-board raise and state-required retirement contributions accounting for the bulk of the increase.
Stupid Pot Busts
The conviction for pot smoking of a Palm Coast resident who’d never had so much as a traffic ticket illustrates the sickness of a police and judicial system’s wrongheaded marijuana fixation.
Palm Coast Resident Accused of Operating A Crack-and-Pot Operation in Bunnell
Tyrone Patterson, a 37-year-old resident of Palm Coast’s R-section who was charged with child abuse in March, is being held on $720,000 bond for trafficking cocaine and growing pot near Carver Gym in Bunnell.
Judge William Parsons Is Resigning to Join Cobb Cole Firm in Daytona
Circuit Judge William Parsons, twice the chief judge in the judicial district that includes Flagler, will end 17 years on the bench to return to private practice next January.
When LOL Means Loss of Life: Flagler Students Rap Texting-and-Driving In Video
A coalition of local agencies initiated by Chiumento Selis Dwyer led to a student video project at Matanzas High School and a 150-second public service announcement video warning of the dangers of texting and driving, which premiered Wednesday.
Veteran Accused of Shooting His Wife Deemed Incompetent to Stand Trial, For Now
Jonathan Canales, 27, is accused of shooting his wife in their Mondex home in November as three young children slept. He denies shooting her, saying she shot herself.
Palm Coast Bragging Rights: City’s Fire Protection Rating Vaults to Near Highest
Palm Coast’s fire-protection ISO rating improves from 4 to 2, topping the county and yielding likely cheaper property insurance rates for commercial and residential property owners.
Sheriff, Seeking Public’s Help, Investigating Series of Car Break-Ins in Palm Coast’s B-Section
Targeted residents were on Birchwood Drive, Brooklyn Lane, Brookside Drive, and Birchview Place, but cars were left unlocked or unattended in every case.
Machete-Wielding Palm Coast Man Arrested Over Assaulting Roommate’s Boyfriend
Before his arrest Monday on two felony aggravated battery charges for allegedly cutting a man with a machete, Mayko Rodriguez, 58, has had a checkered past with the law, going back at least 13 years in Flagler County.
Flagler Firefighters Have Current Contract For 1st Time in 4 Years, With Some Pay Hikes
The firefighters’ union’s first contract since 2011 gives firefighters with more experience more money. For nine years, firefighters were hired at the same rate of pay as existing firefighters with many more years of service.
Daughter Fights Mom to Keep Her From Driving Drunk; Mom Is Charged With Child Abuse
Melissa Holloway of Palm Coast’s R-Section is accused of fighting with the daughter who tried to prevent her from driving her and her younger sister while intoxicated.
Elder Abuse: A Huge, Expensive and Lethal Problem
There is little doubt that elder abuse is growing, driven by growth in the elderly population. To address it, some governments are training police and social workers to investigate it.
After Victim Testifies of Being Raped, James McDevitt Is Sentenced To 40 Years in Prison
James McDevitt, the 23-year-old man who pleaded guilty to raping a woman in Flagler Beach in June 2013, was sentenced today to 40 years in prison Friday. He will be on probation for 20years, and will be branded a sexual predator for the rest of his life.
Sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Brandt Is Crime Stoppers’ Flagler Officer of the Year
Steve Brandt, an 21-year veteran of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office promoted just two weeks ago to Commander, was named just days later Flagler County Officer of the Year by Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida.
Sheriff’s Office Puts Up Reward in Search for George Contos, 58, Who Disappeared in Suspicious Circumstances May 9
George Contos, a 58-year-old Bunnell resident and a diabetic with a prosthetic leg, went missing on May 9. His car has been recovered. The disappearance is now considered suspicious, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
Behind Friday’s McDevitt Sentencing For Rape, the 911 Call That Told a Harrowing Story
Published here for the first time, the 9-minute 911 call from Rob Tier described what Tier, a Flagler Beach pastor, at one point termed a rape as the dispatcher repeatedly kept him from intervening. Tier’s house is across the street from the scene of the rape.
Fight at Matanzas High School Sends a 15-Year-Old Student to the Hospital
Charges are pending against a 14-year-old Matanzas High School student after he allegedly assaulted a 15-year-old boy who was making fun of him and his family.
In Split Decision, Sheriff’s Sergeant Fired 2 Years Ago Ordered Reinstated, With 9 Months’ Back Pay
Sheriff Manfre fired Sgt. Chris Ragazzo 2 years ago for accessing police databases for personal business. An arbitrator today ruled the firing was disproportionate to the offense and did not follow due process.
Palm Coast Man Faces Charges of “Branding” 11-Year-Old Boy With Burning Metal Object
Charles Swindell, 45, who faces child abuse and assault charges, had been on probation for threatening to burn his mother’s house–and her. His father had previously perished in a house fire.
15 Years After Palm Coast Double Murder, David Snelgrove Is Back in Court, Contesting Death Sentence
Snelgrove has twice been sentenced to death for for the murders of Glyn Fowler, 84, and his wife, Vivian, 79, in their Bannbury Lane home in Palm Coast in June 2000. He’s arguing ineffective representation.
Kimberle Weeks Secret Recordings Tapped Into Her Personal Life, Including a Funeral Director
FDLE investigation details revealed today show Weeks, the former Flagler elections supervisor, obsessively recording officials, at least one reporter, and others in her personal life, and editing the results.
R.J. Larizza Says No Charges Against Sheriff’s Deputy in Second Fatal Shooting in 2 Years
State Attorney R.J. Larizza said today no charges will be filed against Volusia County Sheriff’s deputy Joel Hernandez, who shot and killed a man who was allegedly reaching for a gun while sitting in his car at a towing yard in Daytona Beach in September 2014.
In LL-Section Fire, Puppy Rescue Gets All the Attention as a Father of 6 Struggles in ICU
Tuesday’s fire in the LL-Section left a 37-year-old father of 6 in the ICU since and split his children to relatives’ homes, but all the attention–and an award–has gone to firefighters’ rescue of two puppies and four older dogs.
Father Faces Child Abuse Charge Over 12-Year-Old Son’s Black Eye and Broom Violence
Angel Pablo Otero Diaz, 34, of Bunnell, was jailed Tuesday on a charge of child abuse after allegedly leaving his 12-year-old son with a black eye and striking him with a broom.
Crime Rate Falls to Historic Low in Flagler, Mirroring State and National Trend
Flagler’s crime rate is 40 percent lower than Florida’s, and in 2014 it was 29 percent lower than its peak in 2007. Bunnell continues to account for a disproportionate number of arrests.
If Violence Isn’t the Answer, Someone Should Clue In the Police
Nobody wants to see people hurt, businesses burned, or innocent lives disrupted by violence in their communities. But you can’t understand urban unrest in isolation from the violence residents face at the hands of their own government.
Flagler Beach Confrontation Sends Man to Hospital and Splash Car Wash Owner to Jail
The fight at the he Shell gas station on State Road 100 in Flagler Beach sent Ricardo Mercado of Palm Coast to jail on an aggravated assault charge, and Roman Miroshnik to the hospital.
2 Hospitalized, 6 Dogs Rescued From House Fire in Palm Coast’s LL Section
A father and his young daughter, about 5 years old, were hospitalized for smoke inhalation this morning after a fire in the garage at 6 Llach Court in Palm Coast inundated the house with smoke, but was contained before spreading further.
Florida’s Smallest Police Department Gets a Mine-Resistant Armored Vehicle
The Pentagon put more than 12,000 MRAPs into service in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Now many of those MRAPs are being unloaded to 780 domestic civilian law enforcement agencies.
Adam W. Ryone, 43, Is Killed on SR100 In One of 4 Flagler Wrecks in Less Than 24 Hours
Adam Wade Ryone, 43, who lived on Mahogany Boulevard in Daytona North, was killed on his motorcycle when a woman rear-ended him in a moment of inattention on State Road 100 Saturday afternoon.
Suicide Standoff Shuts Down Portion of Florida Park Drive and Brings Out Swat
A standoff on Florida Park Drive shut down a segment of the road in the heart of Palm Coast shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday evening as the SWAT team was called out and residents from Foster Lane to Forest Hill Drive were ordered to stay indoors.
Angered By Injunction, a Palm Coast Man, 25, Is Accused of Attacking His 72-Year-Old Grandmother
David Harris, 25, of Palm Coast’s L Section, is being held on $95,000 bond after allegedly attacking his grandmother and threatening her with a knife. He was angered by an injunction she’d taken out against him that same day.
As Mom Struggles to Recover From Burns, Community Rallies Around a Family Made Homeless
As Jessica Johnson, mom to three young children, remains in intensive care, Flagler Beach has rallied around her family to raise money and collect furniture and toys.
Accused of Raping 11-Year-Old, Karl Westgate Pleads and Gets 25 Years
Palm Coast’s Karl Westgate, 19, had faced life in prison on rape charges but pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to 25 years Thursday and a lifetime on sexual predator probation after that.
City of Palm Coast Employee Arrested on Charges of Impersonating Cop and Using Blue Light
Shaun Eric Fuller, a computer specialist with Palm Coast government, was arrested at city offices at City Marketplace in mid-afternoon Tuesday on charges of impersonating a police officer and using a blue light on his dashboard to pull over vehicles.
Rash of Assaults Helps Boost Jail Population; Burning Wick House Again Scene of a Bizarre Incident
The Flagler County jail population reached 160, higher than it’s been for most of the past four years, with a rash of domestic and other assaults contributing. A B-Section house that’s been a focus of trouble lately again drew police attention over the weekend.