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A Florida man is under arrest for shining a laser into the cockpit of a police helicopter which temporarily blinded the pilot forcing him to hand the controls to another officer. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office pilot was temporarily blinded by a laser that was flashed into the cockpit multiple times as the officers assisted the Palm Bay Police Department in the search for a man who attacked his roommate, WOFL-TV reported. Police later determined where the laser was coming from and arrested 33-year-old Dean Gordon Beolet, who was not involved in the crime the helicopter had been tracking, and...

POINCIANA, Fla. (AP) - Two people in Florida were arrested after one of them made a 911 call to get help with moving their belongings from a home they were burglarizing, authorities said. Deputies responded to a home Saturday after a 911 call was made but nobody spoke, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said. At the home, the deputies concluded that nobody lived there, but they found a male suspect and his girlfriend inside the home after entering it through an unlocked door.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Brevard man was arrested after he assaulted an Uber driver and attempted to steal his car, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. According to the arrest report, the sheriff’s office received a call from the driver who said a man choked and kicked him out of his red Jeep. Deputies said the driver picked up Derek Strang, 33, on Wednesday in Merritt Island around 11:20 p.m. Strang sat in the back seat of the Jeep, on the passenger side. As the driver approached a Chili’s restaurant in Merritt Island, the man slid over to...

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man got arrested after driving drunk with so much alcohol in his system that he was four times the legal limit, according to deputies. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office released body cam video Friday showing a traffic stop on Dec. 22. Deputies said a concerned citizen called them after seeing a man driving recklessly in the area of State Road 100 West and County Road 202. During the traffic stop, the unnamed man admitted to being “f— up” and refused to do a sobriety test. “Cause you’ll probably make me do some dances,” the...

In Polk County Florida, a 30-year-old man is facing multiple charges after his attempt to start a house fire. The man was identified as Luke Neely from Lakeland, Florida. Here is all the craziness that went down: It started Sunday morning when Polk County Deputies received a 911 call at 8:11 AM about a man in a Northlake Neighborhood throwing a "Molotov Cocktail" incendiary weapon at a residence. When police arrived on the scene they witnessed Neely getting into a Chevrolet pickup truck and driving away. The deputies followed him and tried to conduct a traffic stop, but Neely was...

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — A repair technician working on a Florida woman’s phone found an “explicit video” among her files and made a copy for himself, authorities said. According to a news release from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Cody Austin Terry, 28, of North Port, was arrested on Monday. He was charged with accessing a computer or electronic device without authority, WINK-TV reported. According to the sheriff’s office, the victim took her iPhone to an I-Fix store in Port Charlotte and left it with the suspect for approximately two hours to be repaired. Deputies allege that Terry browsed the...

A 31-year-old man in Florida was arrested for allegedly holding a sewing needle to his neighbor’s neck and threatening to kill him before nearly beating his roommate’s raccoon to death with a hammer. Tevin Keason Williams was taken into custody last week and charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of aggravated animal cruelty, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Each of the charges against Williams are third-degree felonies punishable by a maximum five years in state prison. According to a sworn probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, deputies with the Lake County...

A Florida man was arrested after deputies discovered a large quantity of crack cocaine and trafficking amounts of fentanyl and heroin following a vehicle pursuit. “Holley Delton Jones, 46, of Lehigh Acres, Florida, is charged with 15 felonies, most of them narcotics related. At the time of his arrest Jones was on parole for trafficking ecstasy,” said Collier County Sheriff’s Office. According to deputies, Jones was driving a bronze GMC Yukon on Wiggins Pass Road near U.S. 41 N. around midnight when deputies tried to pull him over for a traffic violation. Jones decided to accelerate and drove recklessly through...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A Florida man is accused of being the driver of a vehicle when a pedestrian was killed last year, instead of the woman who was originally charged, authorities said. Adam Wayne Garabrant, 60, of Seminole, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of leaving the scene of a crash involving death, according to a news release from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. Thomas Rothwell, 70, of St. Petersburg, was crossing “in the area of a designated crosswalk” in Seminole at 12:49 a.m. EST on Dec. 16, 2021, when he was struck by the driver of a...

LAKE MARY, Fla. - A credit union customer, a man sitting in his driveway, a gas station clerk and a customer were all punched by a stranger, according to deputies in Florida. Devin Ray Wilbanks, 23, is facing several charges including battery, assault, burglary, and resisting arrest. Hernando County sheriff’s deputies said the first incident happened around noon at the Mid-Florida Credit Union, located at 11098 Spring Hill Drive in Spring Hill. When they arrived, they were met by a woman who was a customer at the credit union. She told deputies a strange man punched her in the forehead...

A 22-year-old woman in Florida is accused of intentionally using her car over the weekend to hit into another vehicle that she knew was occupied by young children before pinning a man to a fence and fleeing the scene. Sasha Keeshawn Lemons was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with five counts of aggravated battery on a person using a deadly weapon as well as one count each of child neglect and leaving the scene of a hit-and-run, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. According to arrest reports from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and the Sanford Police Department,...

A Florida man who swiped a Toys for Tots donation jar was behind bars, authorities said. William Thomas Smith, 34, was arrested and charged with theft, Marion County Sheriff's Office officials said in a Tuesday Facebook post. Deputies began investigating last week after the donation jar for the charity was stolen from a dollar store. There was around $800 in the jar that was supposed to go to the charity, authorities said. Investigators were able to identify Smith as the suspect and take him into custody. Authorities said the story has a happy ending, just in time for the holidays....

A Florida realtor was stunned to find a nude couple romping in the pool of a property she was preparing to show a client, police said. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported the startled agent pulled up to the empty home in Davenport on Dec. 5 and saw a mysterious car in the driveway around 9:45 a.m. Knowing that no one was authorized to be on the property, the suspicious broker called 911. Responding deputies found a naked and unafraid couple cavorting in the home’s pool. The uninhibited intruders told officers that they had specifically come to the property to...

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A wanted man hiding from deputies since Tuesday in a swamp near Yeehaw Junction has been captured, according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. It was announced on social media two days after Osceola deputies said they had “exhausted” search efforts for the man, identified as Cory Philippe, 32. According to photos posted to the sheriff’s office’s Facebook earlier in the week, search efforts began Tuesday while there was still daylight. The sheriff’s office sought Philippe in connection to an aggravated battery case. Deputies searched wooded areas and vacant homes about a half mile east of...

A heartless Florida man allegedly broke into a home, grabbed a bite, stole a hat – and killed the family puppy with a machete. Alexander Hernandez-Delgado, 25, has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals with a weapon and armed burglary in the break-in at the Dover home on Wheeler Road on Thursday. He allegedly entered the premises through an unlocked living room door, the Tampa Bay Times reported, citing the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. The apparently ravenous intruder helped himself to the family’s food at about 7 p.m. and proceeded to throw their belongings around the home, authorities said....

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (CBS12) — A team of sheriff's deputies "conducting an operation regarding illegal street racing" had their work cut out for them when one of the cars almost hit one of them, rammed his SUV, and led authorities on a chase. It all went down last Saturday night, Nov. 19, in Palm Beach Gardens and at one point flew by at 76 mph above the speed limit. Authorities followed "a group of vehicles to numerous locations” and eventually to Alternate A1A near Lighthouse Drive. According to the arrest report, “In excess of 100 vehicles entered the parking...

A man was arrested after he allegedly tried to steal from a Walmart in Florida while the store was filled with dozens of police officers. Osceola County Sheriff's Office, near Orlando, published a post on its Facebook page on Thursday saying it had arrested a man after he was caught trying to steal from a Walmart in St. Cloud. The incident happened during a "Shop with a Cop" event with local children. "Bad news, Brad!" the office wrote, adding: "Seriously we just can't make this up." The Walmart store was filled with nearly 40 deputies alongside the forensics team, the...

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WRKG) — A Pensacola woman is behind bars after allegedly pouring alcohol into her child’s baby bottle, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Cecil LaToya Bryant, 28, was charged with aggravated child abuse. On Nov. 1, deputies said they responded to a possible child abuse. Deputies said when they arrived, they talked with an investigator with the Department of Children and Family Services, who said the baby had a .142 blood alcohol level. Deputies then spoke with the reporting party who said on Oct. 31, 2022, she threw a Halloween party at her house. The reporting...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WFLA) — A Gainesville man is in jail after being accused of stealing from a Walmart store that he claimed he owned. According to Gainesville Police Department records obtained by WCJB, Steven Francis, 51, was caught stealing clothes from the Walmart located behind Butler Plaza in Gainesville. Upon arrival, officers said Francis told them he was the owner of the store after a “hostile takeover.” Francis said he had no remorse for taking the clothes because he already owned the store. According to WCJB, the items taken are estimated to be worth over $200. Francis is currently behind...

A Florida man has been arrested after deputies found him driving erratically and located a box of cookies that wasn’t what it seemed. 34-year-old Steven Robert Thomas was pulled over after a member of the Highland County Sheriff’s Office Tactical Anti-Crime Team saw him driving erratically on Lakeview Drive in Sebring around 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 10. Deputies say he drifted over the center line several times, and then almost clipped another car when he made a turn. Thomas claimed the car was having “steering issues,” which may have been true, but the bigger issue was that his license was...