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A pair of distinctive red Crocs landed a Florida man behind bars after he allegedly robbed the bakery where he was once employed, allegedly spending the stolen money on food and alcohol. A suspect wearing a black mask, a black sweatshirt, black pants, a brown and black backpack and bright red Crocs snuck into Crumbl Cookies in Brooksville on July 20 and removed cash from the bakery's safe and cash register, according to a Facebook post from the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. The store's manager told police that the thief was probably 18-year-old Jacob Ortega, a former employee who always...

A 35-year-old man was charged on Friday with the theft of the boat being used to dredge the Weeki Wachee River, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office. Charles William Fagerstrom, who had no address on paperwork filed with the court, was seen early Wednesday morning by workers who said he was sitting on a bucket on the boat eating potato chips, according to an arrest report. The boat had originally been docked at Rogers Park on Shoal Line Boulevard in Weeki Wachee. He had not gotten far down the river. “As patrol deputies responded to the area, the workers...

An overflow crowd attended the April 25th school board meeting, necessitating the opening of a remote viewing room. The meeting was an emotional rollercoaster, with moments of civic pride as attendees learned of generous community donations, contrasted with calls for the resignation of Superintendent John Stratton over a March incident at Fox Chapel Middle School. In that incident, a transgender teacher experiencing a mental crisis during school hours made statements that were perceived by some as threats against students. The teacher was removed and returned to the classroom in a matter of days, all without specific notification to parents. The...

UPDATE: The teacher in question was removed on Thursday, April 13.Parents of students at Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando County, Florida, are demanding answers from the district after a teacher made concerning comments allegedly made about harming children and themselves. Although the district investigated the comments and found them concerning, the teacher was not fired and is back in the classroom. Several parents contacted FOX 13, with each sharing the same story that the teacher made comments about harming students and then herself. Trans Florida teacher 'Ashlee' who allegedly said they were 'going to shoot the kids' then themselves...

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - A convicted felon found passed out in a car with illegal drugs and a rifle has been arrested in Hernando County. According to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, deputies found Jordan Styles passed out in the driver’s seat of a Chevy Silverado truck at the intersection of East Early Street and East Jefferson Street in Brooksville shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Deputies say the truck, which had a trailer attached, was still running and in drive. According to HCSO, investigators saw a piece of burnt aluminum foil and a small straw, which law enforcement says are...

A fight over a woman took a strange turn when one man accidentally stabbed himself while repeatedly stabbing someone else, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. How that happened isn’t clear, but both men ended up in a hospital, according to a news release. The fight erupted around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4, at a home on Fine Street in Weeki Wachee, about 55 miles north of Tampa, the sheriff’s office says. Neither of the men live at the home, but bad timing saw them bumping into each other there, and they “soon became engaged in...

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 man in Florida allegedly set a sheriff’s patrol car on fire and told deputies that he was “intoxicated” at the time. The incident happened just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, which said that Anthony Thomas Tarduno admitted to setting the patrol car on fire. Tarduno told detectives that he was drinking at a bar in Spring Gill, Florida and walked out shortly before 4:30 p.m. When he was walking, the man saw a patrol vehicle “and decided he’d like to set it on fire,” the sheriff’s office said. The man got a...

It wasn’t the first time Gary Jean Schryver was shot by a Hernando deputy. This time, though, the 61-year-old was killed. Hernando County sheriff’s deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave while state officials analyze how the agency’s attempt to serve an arrest warrant to a 61-year-old man early Saturday ended in his death. The agency has not named the deputy who fatally shot Gary Jean Schryver just before 3 a.m. Saturday morning, but stressed that it’s standard protocol for any law enforcement officer involved in a shooting to be placed on paid leave while the Florida Department of...

HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. (Gray News) – Three men in Florida have been charged after attempting to steal traffic lights using a saw, officials said. According to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, a detective was driving home around 1 a.m. Tuesday when he noticed a suspicious van stopped at an intersection with its headlights turned off. The detective then noticed sparks coming from the area where traffic lights were in the process of being installed. Additional deputies arrived at the scene, where they said they found three men using a saw to cut the traffic lights off the poles. By the...

A man in Hernando County, Florida is accused of stealing an ambulance, and getting it stuck in mud. We’re no experts in committing grand theft auto, but we’re pretty sure that could have gone way better. Trey Allen Cornwell, 29, was arrested Sunday, authorities say. According to deputies, the ambulance crew was inside the Oak Hill Hospital to drop off a patient. It was 12:27 p.m. Cornwell allegedly used this time to make off with the vehicle, which is owned by the Hernando County Fire & Emergency Services. Deputies say the defendant drove it to the Kass Circle neighborhood near...

County Commissioner Steve Champion says the Withlacoochee State Forest would make a good home. BROOKSVILLE — Hernando County commissioners are thinking about adding a new adventure to their Adventure Coast tourism campaign — a public gun range possibly in the Withlacoochee State Forest. Commissioners on Tuesday gave their unanimous support for their staff to begin investigating how to secure state approval and federal dollars through the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. The idea came from Commissioner Steve Champion, who pointed out that Hernando County has no public gun ranges where enthusiasts can shoot their guns and experts can provide...

BROOKSVILLE (FOX 13) - Some neighbors in Hernando County have had it with the noise. They say all-night construction on I-75 is keeping them awake, even shaking their homes. It's all related to a 6.5-mile, $95 million FDOT project that started last summer. Crews are currently widening Interstate 75 from four to six lanes, starting south of State Road 50 and finishing at the Hernando/Sumter County line. Lauretta Clemons, who lives on Shadywood Lane in Brooksville, remembers her backyard 30 years ago. "Beautiful," Clemons said. "Trees, ferns, flowers, birds and wild animals." Now, the trees are gone and she and...

It might be called the art of the drug deal: Florida authorities seized scores of individually wrapped heroin packets stamped with the image of President Donald Trump. As Tampa news station WFLA reports, law enforcement officers seized 5,550 packages of heroin Jan. 27 in Hernando County, culminating a months-long investigation into heroin distribution in the area. Some of the packets bore the names or likenesses of other notorious figures, such as Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar. Authorities couldn't explain the markings' purpose. Dealers often stamp heroin bags with street "brand names." Top...

A more detestable regime than Saudi Arabia could not be found. Arguably the most repressive regime on earth. An absolute monarchy. A Wahhabist theocratic nightmare that arms ISIS. Only North Korea may be worse, and North Korea does not put women in burqas or have any areas where female genital mutilation (FGM) is practiced. It is a close call. At least North Korea does not ban alcohol. Make no mistake about it: Shi'a Iran, as bad as it is, is nowhere near as oppressive as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). There are churches in Iran, albeit persecuted. There are...

A Florida Republican congressman who clashed with former House Speaker John Boehner said Monday that he will not run for re-election next year. Rep. Rich Nugent, a Republican whose 11th district covers Hernando, Citrus, Sumter and part of Marion counties, says the job has forced him to spend too much time away from his family. Nugent had been a member of the House Rules Committee. But in January, he was among 25 rebellious conservative Republicans who voted against re-electing Boehner, R-Ohio, as speaker. Soon after that vote, Nugent was removed from the Rules panel a committee over which the speaker...

SPRING HILL -- The daylong search for a man who Hernando County Sheriff’s deputies may know something about the murder of Lee Ann Shoeman, 55, of Spring Hill has ended. Hillsborough County Deputies responded to the Citrus Park Town Center Mall at around 5:30 p.m. Monday and found Jerome “Jerry” Sheridan, 49, in his car with self-inflicted wounds after he tried to take his own life. Emergency crews were able to rush him to the hospital where they said he was talking. Deputies had been searching for his car, a 1971 Pontiac GTO with no front fender and black stripes...

<p>BROOKSVILLE - Steven Langone was at the Publix supermarket on Mariner Boulevard on Thursday morning handing out flyers and asking people to join him in his efforts to kick County Commissioner Jeff Stabins out of office.</p> <p>This morning, he plans to do the same at the Sweetbay, just up the road from his Elgin home.</p>