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PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Three Pinellas County, Florida, men were arrested after an anonymous caller reported the group using a “small pickaxe” to hunt an alligator in Holiday, Wednesday evening. According to an arrest report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the anonymous caller witnessed the three men harvesting an alligator measuring 5.5 feet. After locating the individuals, authorities said the men admitted to the “illegal take” of the alligator. Two of the men accused the third of using a “weapon that appeared to be a small pickaxe to dispatch the alligator,” the report added. The gator...

A fairly new drug is finding its way into the U.S., and law enforcement personnel say it’s 20 times more potent than fentanyl. It’s called ISO, which is short for isotonitazene. The Drug Enforcement Administration says drug dealers are mixing it with other illegal drugs, making them more potent. “It is here. It’s present, and how potent this is — it’s not worth the one time they might use it. It’s not worth that extra high they might get because that could be their only time or their last time,” said Britney Morris, public information officer for the Pasco County...

The retired Florida police captain who fatally shot a man inside a movie theater in 2014 was acquitted of murder by a jury late Friday. Curtis Reeves, 79, was charged with second-degree murder after he gunned down 43-year-old Chad Oulson during a matinee screening of “Lone Survivor” in suburban Pasco County. Defense lawyers and prosecutors were in agreement that Reeves asked Oulson to stop texting during the movie previews — which started an argument that ended with the former Tampa police captain opening fire. Reeves pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self-defense. His lawyers successfully argued that police training...

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A man has been arrested after throwing a bottle of Fireball during a road rage incident. The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office says Robert Winfough’s wife cut off the victim’s vehicle at the intersection of Little Road and State Road 52. According to deputies, the victim argued with the couple for a short distance. Winfough who was in the passenger seat at the time threw a small bottle at the victim’s car causing them to swerve and crash into another vehicle.

WESLEY CHAPEL — Over the last several years, the developers of the Cypress Creek Town Center have spent $25 million for road improvements in the fast growing State Road 56 corridor near the Interstate 75 interchange. Other nearby businesses have also paid their share. But for those who traverse the area regularly, the months-long delays in promised improvements at that interchange, the so-called diverging diamond, have meant ongoing congestion with no end in sight. Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore knows this well, since he travels the road daily. Prompted by a letter from merchants frustrated with road work delays,...

This wasn’t supposed to happen! Black Lives Matter were having a perfectly fine protest against cops in Florida on Friday when several members of the local motorcycle club interrupted their march by revving their engines as they drove through the protest. Of course, the cop-hating BLM activists complained to the police and demanded they be arrested on noise charges. They hate cops until they need cops.

As a Pasco County Sheriff’s Deputy, Sean Kennedy spent 25-years following the law and enforcing it. Now he’s found himself in a position where he feels he must break the law. More specifically, a by-law for his community association. Kennedy lives with his wife and children in the Foxwood subdivision in New Port Richey. It’s a deed-restricted community where lawns are neatly mowed and cars are parked in garages. Over Kennedy’s garage flies a blue lives matter flag, the homeowners association recently told him he had to take it down. Kennedy lives with his wife and children in the Foxwood...

A driver was injured in a head-on crash on Tuesday after several rocks were thrown from the back of an SUV. According to Pasco County Fire Rescue, crews responded to a crash at the intersection of State Road 56 and Hueland Pond Boulevard. Fire Rescue said several rocks weighing approximately 15 pounds were thrown from the back of an SUV, through the front window of another vehicle. Firefighters said the rocks were unsecured in the back of an SUV. The driver of the vehicle was taken with serious injuries from the scene by a helicopter. Further information was not immediately...

A school resource officer in Florida threatened to shoot a student as he was trying to make it to an orthodontist appointment. Nedra Miller, whose 17-year-old son, William, was the high schooler in question, shared bodycam footage from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office on her Facebook page, where it went viral. People called it "shameful" and "outrageous," accusing the adults involved of "grotesque power trips." The incident occurred in December and the video shows William driving a pickup truck and attempting to leave the parking lot of River Ridge High School in New Port Richey. An officer with the sheriff's...

The driver of an International semi-trailer truck came upon the stopped line of traffic and swerved from the outside lane to the center lane to avoid a collision with one car but crashed into the back of another, a Chevy SUV, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The force of that collision pushed the Chevy into a Buick sedan. The Buick then struck a BMW sedan. Pasco Fire Rescue crews arrived and extinguished the blaze. Investigators didn’t realize until several hours after arriving on scene that the first semi had come [to]rest on top of a car, said Sgt. Steve...

Clueless star Stacey Dash, 52, is arrested for domestic battery after she 'pushed and slapped' her new husband at their Florida home Stacey Dash, 52, was arrested in Florida on Sunday night for domestic battery Police were called to her home in Pasco County, Florida following reports of a domestic dispute with husband Jeffrey Marty Dash is accused of pushing and slapping her husband in the face She was charged with domestic battery and is being held on a $500 bond Her manager said on Monday that she was acting in self defense and that her husband had allegedly tried...

For the first time, Pasco County now has memorial for 9/11. New 9/11 memorial unveiled at Tampa Premium Outlets 9/11 first responder helped spearhead the project Memorial honors victims, those affected by illnesses from 9/11 The new memorial was dedicated Saturday morning at the Tampa Premium Outlets in Wesley Chapel. It was a 9/11 first responder who got it all started. For the first time, Stephen Spelman is telling his story of survival. He answered the call to the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. If not for one fateful minute that morning, he may not even be here...

<p>TRINITY, Fla. (AP) — Authorities in Florida say an armed domestic violence suspect was shot and killed by a neighbor who intervened and helped the victim and several children escape the scene. Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco told reporters the man heard his neighbor screaming for help Wednesday and arrived to find the neighbor lowering the children out of a second-story window. He says the man helped the children and attempted to diffuse the situation, but the suspect "wasn't having anything to do with it." He says the man returned to his home, and the suspected followed and shot at him. He says the man returned fire and killed the suspect.</p>

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — A Pasco County deputy was shot overnight while responding to a call in New Port Richey that turned into an intense gun fight. Pasco deputy shot in leg overnight in New Port RicheyDeputy was responding to domestic violence callDeputy is expected to recover, suspect in custody According to authorities, the deputy responded to a home in the 7300 block of Humboldt Avenue just before 12:30 a.m. when several shots were fired. The deputy was shot in the leg and the suspect barricaded himself in the home.  The suspect, identified as 62-year-old Terrance J. Peterson, remained in...

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — A New Port Richey man has been arrested on a first-degree murder charge 18 years after the homicide occurred. Officials with the New Port Richey Police Department said Randy Petersilge, 51, killed Simon Clark, 41, in 2001. No arrests were made, but police said they had investigated Petersilge as a suspect in the case. In 2017, New Port Richey detectives reopened the case and on Jan. 11, 2018, a grand jury indicted Petersilge on one count of first-degree murder. Petersilge was incarcerated in federal prison during the time of his indictment and a detainer was...

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (WFLA) - A run down looking Dale Massad walked into courtroom 3-A at the Pasco County Courthouse in a jail jumpsuit. It's a fall from grace for the former Port Richey mayor removed from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Pasco County Sheriff's Office deputies went to his home in February to arrest him for practicing medicine without a license, they said. While there, they claim he opened fire. "He never shot at any officers," said attorney Bjorn Brunvand. "There were never officers in the path of any bullets. Did he fire bullets? Yes. But not toward...

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned – and that proved true after a woman in central Florida beat her husband after he allegedly forgot their wedding anniversary. According to Pasco County sheriffs, Carol Stone, 35, smacked the victim several times on his head and face area, leaving red marks on his face, along with minor scratches to his neck and chest. The victim provided video of the incident to police, which he recorded on his cell phone. Police said it shows Stone beating the victim. When sheriff’s deputies interviewed Stone, she admitted to beating him because he forgot...

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. - A first grader in Pasco County chose to take a knee during the Pledge of Allegiance, and his mother is upset with how the teacher, the school and the Pasco County school district responded. At school on Monday, a local first grader went down on one knee during the Pledge of Allegiance, he was then told by his teacher to stand up and stop it, in front of all his classmates. His choice came after countless NFL players took a knee during the national anthem on Sunday, setting off a storm nationwide, sparking discussions in homes...

DADE CITY - Dozens of undocumented farm workers in Pasco County were kicked out of their government-subsidized homes this week following an audit by the Pasco County Housing Authority. The workers were involved in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program, which is run through the Housing Authority and provides affordable, subsidized rents to low-income families. The Housing Authority began auditing the Cypress Farms tenants in December. That included some assistance from the Department of Homeland Security, which notified the agency one of the workers was using a fraudulent Social Security card; the Social Security number was also being...

You would normally consider a library a safe place for kids, right? Unfortunately, one Pasco County mother learned the hard way that's not always the case. Her 12-year-old son reported to supervisors that an 18-year-old boy was pointing a knife at him and others inside Regents Park Library. But what that supervisor did next could have cost the little boy his life.