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PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (WFLA) — A man was arrested in Punta Gorda after stabbing another man with scissors over 40 times Monday, according to deputies. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said the stabbing happened at the Trading Post at Burnt Store Marina. Surveillance video showed the suspect, 36-year-old Edmond Clarke, standing at a counter when he grabbed a pair of scissors from a cup and is seen moving toward the victim. The video released by deputies cuts out before the stabbing is showed. Deputies said the “brutal” attack came without warning and lasted for several minutes as the suspect continued...

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – A Florida man was caught in the middle of an escape attempt when a detective found him hanging from the ceiling of an interview room following a burglary arrest, authorities said. Terence Meehan, 29, of Punta Gorda was arrested Monday after a homeowner reported he was pacing on their lanai a day after stealing cash from a child’s bedroom, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). Deputies responded to the home on Abrade Avenue in Port Charlotte where a perimeter was set up to look for Meehan who took off running after authorities arrived. Neighbors...

United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama announced that Thomas Matthew McVicker, 39, of Punta Gorda, Florida, was sentenced today in federal court on a charge of Interstate Transmission of Threat to Injure.  McVicker pled guilty to the charge in April of 2020. According to court documents filed in connection with his guilty plea, in August 2019 McVicker sent an acquaintance, who lived in Baldwin County, Alabama, a series of text messages about conducting a mass shooting.  McVicker wrote “I was thinking about shooting a church up but I’m afraid how it will affect my...

Mods, this is such a vanity! Please move or remove as you see fit, if necessary. Could use some moving to Florida advice. Retiring in a few years from the DC, Maryland area. Have looked at Ocala because of the cool 55+ communities there, but the crime rate is scary. Also looking at Lake Mary and surrounding area. Costs are a lot less than in Maryland, and I admit to being a pathetic Disney junky. Advice, Floridians?

A woman is dead after she was accidentally shot by a Florida police officer in a citizen training academy roleplay scenario gone wrong. Mary Knowlton was one of two participants randomly selected from a group of 35 for a shoot-don’t shoot simulation during a two-hour training Tuesday at the Punta Gorda Police Department, Chief Tom Lewis told reporters at a press conference. “During the first scenario, in a horrible accident participant Mary Knowlton was mistakenly struck by a live round,” Lewis said. She was transported to the local hospital where she was pronounced dead. “I am asking that if you...

PUNTA GORDA -- Beneath a drab and tattered Confederate flag, a noose droops from a tall wooden pole, just yards from the brilliant blues and yellows of a playground on Scott Street. For three years, neighbors shrugged their shoulders and called the noose free speech. Now it is causing an uproar. First Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church pastor Carl Brooks led his congregation by the Scott Street home of Michael Whiteaker on Sunday "to see this hangman's noose in the year 2007." "It brings to the surface what I've already known -- that racism is alive and doing well," Brooks said....

Two years after Hurricane Charley, some storm victims still haven't escaped a FEMA trailer city. A cloud of white dust rises from the sand road of FEMA's trailer city as a U-Haul van pulls out with a screech of wheels. Down the street, a frustrated mother of five sits in front of a computer in her trailer searching for a housing grant and a way out. In another trailer, a 61-year-old waitress packs up her belongings to move to South Carolina this weekend. As the 2006 hurricane season gets under way, many residents here are still trying to figure out...

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) - Step by small step, life is returning to normal in this town hardest hit by Hurricane Charley. Things as simple as making a cell phone call or having a cold beer in a neighborhood pub are helping residents cope with the massive cleanup and repair efforts. That can be an important development in the recovery process. "I've heard people that have lost everything and they celebrate simple things like they have a dial tone or their cell phone chirped for the first time," said Craig Fugate, the state's emergency management director. "Businesses are coming back...

Today President Bush visited with the familes and business people who were victims of Hurricaine Charley in Punta Gorda, Florida. He assured the people there that help was on the way and that much of it was already on the ground ENJOY YOUR VISIT TO SANITY ISLAND