Brian Spencer, a 36-year-old ex-felon released less than two years ago from state prison after serving sentence for domestic battery by strangulation, was arrested again as he chased a woman on a Palm Coast street in the middle of the night–in front of a cop.
domestic violence
Despite 18 Investigations, DCF Claims Man’s 7 Murders in Bell Couldn’t Have Been Foreseen
The murders drew national attention to the small town of Bell and led to questions about whether the Department of Children and Families could have done more to protect the children. The department and the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office visited the family’s home as recently as Sept. 2.
More Secrecy, Harsher Punishment for Pregnant-Women Beaters, Parasailing Regulations: 32 New Laws Go In Effect
A number of the new Florida laws going in effect Wednesday involve public-records exemptions, including one to allow some university boards to meet in private to discuss donors and research funding.
Domestic Violence: Challenges Go Beyond A Brute’s Fists or White, Middle-Class Women
Because the movement to help battered women largely has been driven by white, middle-class women, the attention has generally been on generic domestic violence, with absent attention to the nuances of race and class.
Flagler Deputy Sees Man Choking a Woman After Pulling Him Over For Erratic Driving
Sheriff’s Cmdr. Paul Bovino noticed William Murphy fighting with a woman as they drove north on U.S. 1 Tuesday evening, and pulled him over, only to then see Murphy allegedly escalate the confrontation.
How the NFL Protects Wife-Beaters: Ray Rice’s Laughable Suspension
Baltimore Ravens’s Ray Rice got a mere two-game suspension for beating his fiancee (now wife) unconscious in an elevator a few months ago. The mockery of punishment shows why goons can always depend on a perverted degree of hero-worship in this country.
Palm Coast Man, Angered Over PlayStation, Accused of Battering Pregnant Wife; Rash of B-Section Burglaries End in Arrest
Cody J. Lynch, 21, faces an aggravated battery charge for allegedly battering his pregnant wife when he couldn’t find his PlayStation 4. Some half dozen break-ins involving mostly unlocked cars in Palm Coast’s B Section ended with the arrest of Michael Shawn McRoberts Jr., 18, who lives in the same neighborhood.
Brief Standoff on Filbert Lane Ends in Man’s Arrest on Assault and Strangulation Charges
Matthew Degraw has three arrests in the last 15 months in Flagler County, all for battery or domestic violence. On Wednesday, Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies had to establish a perimeter around his house at 22 Filbert Lane in Palm Coast in a brief stand-off as he refused to come out, and was known to have weapons in his possession inside.
Armed With Assault Rifle, Palm Coast Man Jailed After Threatening to Kill an Ex and Her Boyfriend
Andrew Dandurand of Palm Coast is being held on $500,000 bond after his arrest Sunday after he eluded cops on U.S. 1 in St, Johns County. A loaded assault rifle was in his pick-up truck. He’d threatened to kill an ex-gilfriend, her boyfriend and himself.
Palm Coast Man Accused of Violating Injunction and Injuring His Disabled Wife for “Smacking” His Car
Daniel Muller, a 30-year-old resident of 7 Lindberg Place in Palm Coast, is accused of bruising his wheelchair-bound wife during an argument over money. He told police she had “smacked” him and his car and he was tired of her disrespect.
Two Conjugal Quarrels Lead to Violence and Arrests on Child Abuse Charges for Man and Woman
Two separate incidents on Thursday and Saturday involving two unrelated couples led to the arrests of a Flagler Beach man and a Palm Coast woman when each was alleged to escalate a domestic spat into violent acts involving children.
Jamal “Jamie” Nejame, 3-Time Candidate for Office in Flagler Beach, Jailed on Stalking and Injunction Violation Charges
Jamal “Jamie” Nejame, who three times ran for public office in Flagler Beach and had been a frequent and vocal presence at city commission meetings, was arrested and jailed Wednesday evening on charges of aggravated stalking and violation of an injunction. He also faced a stalking charge in 2009.
On Old Haw Creek Road, a Confrontation So Hostile That a Cop Asks For It To Be Videotaped
Stuart Denison, who’d been arrested three times in the last few months on domestic battery charges, allegedly threatened to kill his girlfriend and the cops who arrested him Sunday; separately, Michael Testa was arrested for the ninth time.
Violence at Home, Moments Into the New Year: Shotgun, Knife and Fights Land 2 in Jail
The very first hours of the new year in Palm Coast were punctured by two separate domestic violence incidents, one of them involving a stabbing, the other involving a shotgun and a knife and unfolding in front of a 14-year-old girl.
Warning Shot Bill: Public Defenders Back a Revised Version of Marissa Alexander-Inspired Measure
Polk County Rep. Neil Combee sponsored the 2013 bill after hearing about Marissa Alexander, a Jacksonville woman who was sentenced to 20 years in prison under the 10-20-Life sentencing law for firing a gun into a wall during a fight with her husband. Combee said her sentence was an example of the “negative unintended consequences” of 10-20-Life, which requires mandatory-minimum prison terms for gun-related crimes.
Charged With Assault, Thomas Merrill, 69, Denies Threatening a Woman With a Gun
Thomas R. Merrill, a 69-year-old resident of Beaverdam Lane in Palm Coast, was booked at the Flagler County jail on an assault charge after getting in an alleged altercation involving a gun with a woman who was living with him. He is the father of William Carson Merrill, the man sentenced to 25 years in prison for accidentally shooting and killing his wife in Palm Coast early last year.
When Domestic Violence Hits the Workplace: Businesses Contend With Collateral Damage
Gathered in a community where the city and county have approved workplace policies banning domestic and sexual violence, experts said Thursday that all employers should be aware that workplace violence affects not only victims but business profits.
When Pets Are the Overlooked Victims of Domestic-Violence Cases
One of the common features of domestic violence is isolation; often the very circumstances that enable such violence to reach a point where a woman needs shelter are the same that mean there is nowhere for her pets to go.
A Man Is Accused of Dragging and Running Over His Girlfriend Off Palm Coast Parkway
When Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy Frank Gamarra arrived at the Palm Coast Parkway scene at 8 p.m. Thursday, Toni Bater, a 50-year-old Palm Coast resident, was lying on the ground with severe injuries to her legs, arms and head and bruising to her right eye. She was in the parking lot of West Point Plaza, […]
Accused of Abusing a 4-Year-Old Boy With a Belt in April, He’s Arrested Only Wednesday
Luis Betancourt-Rodriguez was charged with child abuse after allegedly hitting a 4-year-old with a belt buckle in April, and with aggravated battery after allegedly striking a man in the face and causing him to almost lose his vision in one eye, but Betancourt-Rodriguez was not arrested until a traffic stop on Wednesday that revealed two arrest warrants.
Labor Day Weekend Violence: Pointing a Gun at a Stepson, Punching a Pregnant Woman
Charles Lockhart, 23, of Palm Coast was jailed after allegedly punching his girlfriend, 34 weeks pregnant, and threatening a murder suicide, and Robert Knoblaugh, 63, of Bunnell was jailed for threatening his stepson with a gun front of grandchildren.
Mystery Burglar in B-Section, Counterfeit-Topped Pizza in Ps, and Strangulation in the Rs
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies contended with at least two mystery men and one case of domestic violence that ended with a suspect hiding in a bathtub with a knife Wednesday in three separate incidents that stretched from the B Section in North Palm Coast to the P and R sections further south.
Weekend Mayhem: Machete Attack Over Voodoo, Child Abuse, Hit-and-Run; 3 Jailed
Three unrelated but violent incidents in Palm Coast capped a July 4 weekend by landing three of their alleged perpetrators–Jordan Marrero, Sean Goodison and Roodlyn Mompremier–at the Flagler County jail. All three incidents took place within a span of seven hours on Friday (July 5), between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m, but one of the suspect was not arrested until the next day, and another suspect remains at large.
Two Women, Caught on Video, Sought in Palm Coast Robbery; More Guns Drawn
Sheriff’s investigators are looking for two women caught on a home surveillance video where a burglary was reported; a hit-and-run at Grand Haven; a family quarrel ends in a gun being fired; death threats from a drunk man on Columbia Lane; and more. Includes jail bookings.
Ronn Rauber, 20-Year Flagler Sheriff’s Veteran, Arrested on Domestic Battery Charge
Ron Rauber, 42, was arrested by a fellow-deputy Sunday evening after his ex-wife Amanda Kaznocha said he’d pinned her to the wall during an argument in front of the couple’s three young children.
A Shooting in Woodlands Leads to Arrest, 2nd Shooting at Madison Green Does Not
Flagler County sheriff’s deputies and paramedics were busy Wednesday night with two shootings in Palm Coast. One, in the Woodlands, was related to a domestic fight between a married couple, and led to the husband’s arrest. The other took place at Madison Green Apartments, injuring a man. The shooter, in that case, is still at […]
Trouble on Matanzas and Rymfire School Buses, A Fight at Palm Coast’s Homeless Camp: Flagler 911
Allegations of a racist assault on a Matanzas school bus, a fight at the homeless camp along Palm Coast Parkway, a 3-year-old girl is attacked by a Humane Society pit bull mix at PetSmart, the Mondex is the scene of an angry, bloodied couple’s arrest, and more from the blotter since the new year.
Man Arrested for Firing a Gun at Parents’ House Where His Children and Girlfriend Hid
Christopher Avellar, 30, is accused of firing a .45-caliber gun at his parents’ house on Waywood Place in Palm Coast, where his girlfriend and two children, ages 4 and 5, were hiding from him after a domestic argument Friday evening.
Man Punches 12-Year-Old Son in R Section, Knife-Wielding Man Chases Grandson in P’s
Scott Cadek of Richland Lane in palm Coast is accused of punching a 12-year-old boy during an argument, while John Stacy chased after grandson Thomas Bernardini with a 16-inch curved and serrated blade down Plainview Drive in Palm Coast. Both men were jailed.
Go Ahead, Steal His Email:
Florida Court Rules It’s Not Cyberstalking
The First Circuit Court of Appeal found that a wife stealing her husband’s email and locking him out of his own account did not amount either to cyberstalking or to a form of domestic violence. The case involves Michael and Cheryl Young of Alachua County.
SWAT Called Out to Buffalo Grove Drive Domestic Situation
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team was called out to 53 Buffalo Grove Drive Sunday morning, where a domestic disturbance unfolded after 7:30. James White, 52, was arrested and jailed.
A Stabbing at European Village, a Spate of Domestic Violence and Arrests in Palm Coast
An unusually pronounced series of unrelated domestic and neighborhood issues, including a drug-related stabbing at European Village, resulted in the arrest of 5 people in Palm Coast between Friday and Tuesday.
Cop Chase Through F Section Nets Arrest of a Chronic Injunction Violator
Barry Gallagher was jailed several times on drunk driving and domestic violence charge when, on Sunday, he broke his injunction, sought out his wife’s car and led police on a chase that finally ended near Freneau Lane.
Domestic Violence Summit for Flagler, Volusia and St. Johns on March 23
The summit, sponsored by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and the 7th Judicial Circuit, is designed to better prepare law enforcement officers, prosecutors and other community agency representatives who work in the field of domestic violence with investigating and prosecuting domestic violence cases.
R-Section Argument Escalates, Girlfriend Hits Boyfriend With a Car, and Faces Charges
A 24-year-old man was air-lifted with traumatic injuries from Palm Coast’s R-Section this evening after an argument on Rylin Lane between him and his girlfriend went out of control.
As Investigation Into Fatal Shooting Continues, Disturbing Details from a Prior Domestic Fight
William Merrill, who fatally shot his wife on Tuesday while inspecting a rifle, was arrested in 2006 for head-butting her and throwing her on a bed during a heated argument. Charges were not pursued in that case.
Flagler 911: Child Abuse, Aggravated Assault, and a Target Shoplifting Spree
A man is jailed for allegedly beating up his wife and bruising his 10-year-old daughter, a pair of alleged shoplifters from Port Orange are caught in the act at the Palm Coast Target, and innumerable lesser incidents.
A Fight Over a Cat Escalates Into Violence, Police Chases and a 6th Jailing 3 Days Later
Gregory Wright, a resident of the Mondex, didn’t want a cat sharing his bed with his girlfriend because of dander, though that was only one pretext leading to an alleged series of violent outbursts, threats and a case of false imprisonment.
Domestic Fight Over a Truck in P Section Turns Into a 4-Hour Ordeal of Violence, and a Jailing
Richard Lorusso, 44, of Pine Crest Lane in Palm Coast, is accused of torturing his wife for four hours–beating her, cutting her, spitting on her and keeping her prisoner–before he fled the scene and turned himself in to authorities two hours later.
Bryan Watts, a Postal Inspector, Charged With False Imprisonment–Of His Brother
Bryan Watts, 39, had traveled to Palm Coast to help his brother settle the estate of the two men’s late father, who lived on Village Circle. The pair ended up arguing, with Watts arming himself with a semi-automatic handgun.
Another Violent Domestic Assault in Palm Coast Lands a Fugitive in Jail
In the second violent domestic assault case in three days, a 30-year-old Palm Coast resident of Parkview Drive allegedly threatened to kill his girlfriend rather than let her leave him.
Arrested for Trying to Take a Child While Impersonating Police
One of the two men is the father of a child barely a few months old, whom the two men tried to take away from her grandmother.
