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<p> An Ormond Beach woman was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of stealing $4,000 from her son -- a U.S. Marine -- while he was deployed in Afghanistan.</p><p> Paula Barker, 43, was arrested on charges of fraudulent use of personal identification information.</p><p> According to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, Chadwick Barker, who was deployed for more than six months, discovered upon his return home in September that thousands of dollars had been taken from his bank account.</p><p> Deputies said Chadwick Barker suspected his mother of stealing his money, and an investigation was launched.</p><p> He told a Volusia deputy that he believed his mother had obtained his account information before he had deployed and used it while he was gone.</p><p> Deputies said Paula Barker used the money to buy an airplane ticket and send cash to herself through Western Union.</p><p> Deputies said she denied knowing about the charges made to her son's bank account, but a judge signed a warrant and she was arrested at her home.</p><p> [DID YOU SEE? Orlando-area mug shot hall of shame]</p><p> Paula Barker was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach on $5,000 bond.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:39:06 GMT
<p> A judge on Wednesday set the bond of a Titusville firefighter accused of trying to poison a fellow firefighter at $80,000.</p><p> Firefighter/paramedic Randy Moore faces charges of aggravated stalking and poisoning food or water. He appeared before a judge at Brevard County Jail, where he kept quiet.</p><p> According to Titusville police, Moore admitted to putting a petroleum-based solvent known as Gunk inside Lt. Phil Jones' canteen. Gunk is an aerosol cleaning substance commonly used as an engine degreaser. On the can, it warns that the product is flammable and harmful or fatal if swallowed.</p><p> Investigators said the canteen was used as part of Jones' wildland gear bag, which is carried while fighting brush fires.</p><p> Jones, a decorated 28-year TFD lieutenant, said he noticed the smell in his canteen and told supervisors, who called police.</p><p> Moore admitted to investigators that he laced the canteen, police said. According to police, Moore had targeted Jones for six months and this was just the latest prank.</p><p> Moore, who claimed he was upset over other issues, said he did not intend to kill Jones, according to police.</p><p> "I'm totally in shock. He's a good-hearted, decent human-being," said Moore's former neighbor, who asked to not be named. "He's not a begrudging person. He's very much a joker. A silly, funny, happy guy."</p><p> Moore, a 12-year TFD veteran, was booked into the Brevard County Jail at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday and police said he could face additional charges.</p><p> Fire officials would not comment about the arrest due to an ongoing internal investigation, but released a statement saying, "Titusville Fire and Emergency Services does not condone any malicious activity that places it's employees or the public in harms way."</p><p> Police said they believe Moore wasn't doing this by himself and that they are investigating charges against another firefighter they think was involved.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:51:22 GMT
You see them hanging from the cars of newlyweds, but sometimes "Just Married" signs need a little help before walking down the aisle.
Published: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:37:50 GMT
Hundreds are dead following a massive prison fire in Honduras. Here are the 12 deadliest fires and explosions in U.S. history.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:18:48 GMT
<p> Marion County residents are outraged at a sign referring to drag racing that was recently put up on a marquis by a fencing company near the scene of a fatal car accident.</p><p> Friends of the three that were killed in the Ocala car crash on Maricamp Boulevard on Saturday night say the message that Hercules fence company posted two miles away from the site reading "Maricamp Dragstrip ahead, Awards given at County Road 25, wear seatbelts" is insulting.</p><p> "What's funny about somebody's child getting killed? If that were they son or daughter or cousin or friend, how would they feel about it?" said Trasz Clayton, a friend of one of the survivors.</p><p> Clayton is good friends with Nick Bryon who survived the crash and suffered critical injuries including a broken neck, and he said the message was in poor taste.</p><p> "I just think that wasn't really appropriate, you know, not for a business to to be putting that kind of sign up about a car accident that killed some young guys, you know."</p><p> The outrage led to vandalism. Someone spray painted rest in peace and wrote the name or initials of the three who died.</p><p> The fence company promptly fixed the sign and put back the same words as before.</p><p> Greg Bullard, a friend of one of the crash victims, said some of the victims' friends organized a protest at the business but the owner isn't backing down.</p><p> Bullard said he's concerned whoever vandalized the sign may take it a step further.</p><p> "They were all best friends and you know you can't just add fuel to the fire like this," Bullard said. "People got to try and get over this and mourn for the loss. And by someone doing something like this it's stupid you know, you're gonna lead to people getting hurt."</p><p> The owner of the fencing company told Local 6 he doesn't comment on messages he puts on his sign.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:54:28 GMT
<p> Orange County deputies have arrested a man they say neglected a 16-month-old child, who later died.</p><p> Deputies said Clifton Alexander, 30, is charged with aggravated child neglect after he took his girlfriend's 16-month-old baby, Torey, on a walk Tuesday near their home on Pine Hawk Lane.</p><p> The child's mother, Rosalia Poirier, told deputies her son had never been alone with Frazier and they were gone for about two hours.</p><p> When they got home, Poirier said she immediately noticed there was something wrong with her son. She said his face was purple and blue and he seemed "lifeless" according to the report.</p><p> Frazier said the child was fine and told her he had fallen twice. He did CPR on the child and Poirier called 911.</p><p> Deputies said the child didn't have a pulse for 65 minutes and he was airlifted from Florida Hospital East to Arnold Palmer Hospital. He sustained severe trauma, the report said.</p><p> Poirier said she was in a domestic relationship with Frazier and that he had previously been abusive to her in front of the child. She said Frazier has anger problems and is addicted to crack cocaine and alcohol, according to the report.</p><p> Frazier told deputies he thought the kid was "whiny" and wasn't taking to him as he would have liked. He said he had previously taken him out for a walk before and that the child was walking along the sidewalk pushing his own stroller when he fell and hit his head twice.</p><p> Deputies said Frazier made no attempt to help the child and neglected the child. Frazier is being held on no bail.</p><p> The case is still under investigation, with more charges pending.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:08:06 GMT
<p> A 12-year-old student from Indian Trails Middle School has been suspended for 10 days after bringing a bowl full of gummy bears soaked in tequila to school, Flagler deputies say.</p><p> According to the incident report, all of the gummy bears had been discarded either by consumption or by being thrown away by the other students.</p><p> When initially confronted by his teacher for a strong odor coming from the Tupperware bowl, the student claimed he found the gummies at a truck stop.</p><p> However, later the boy told deputies he did indeed take them to school once the investigation was underway. It's not clear how or where the boy got the gummies.</p><p> Two students were given a breathe analyzer test and both student blew a BAC of .000%.</p><p> No charges will be filed.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:32:52 GMT
<p> The case against former Orange County school teacher Delores Laster, who was on trial in the 1988 death of her husband, has been thrown out.</p><p> Laster, 64, was freed from custody after Judge O.H. Eaton ruled that the state did not offer enough evidence for the case to continue.</p><p> Laster declined comment to Local 6 as she was being ushered out of the court room.</p><p> The state rested Wednesday morning after prosecutors read aloud the 2009 grand jury testimony from Laster's daughter, Kristy Dandridge, in which she admitted that she saw her mother cover her father, Clarence, in plastic. She also told jurors her mother threw their clothes in the Dumpster and coached her to lie to police.</p><p> When Dandridge was on the stand earlier Wednesday morning, she said her grand jury testimony was inaccurate. To explain her contradicting stories, she said her father's death occurred 24 years ago and she doesn't have a clear recollection.</p><p> She said she regrets telling grand jury things she couldn't remember with certainty.</p><p> Jurors heard from Laster's son, Clyde, in a taped testimony from October 2011 in which he says he doesn't really remember what happened the night his father, Clarence, died.</p><p> In his testimony, Clyde Laster begins by saying that he was 10-years-old, he remembers waking up to find his father hurt in the bedroom.</p><p> He said he then helped his mom carry his father's body into the garage, believing they were going to take him to the hospital. But instead, they left Clarence Laster in the garage and took off for an overnight trip to Gainesville, he said.</p><p> In cross-examination, Clyde Laster said his memory of that night 24 years ago is foggy, and maybe it didn't happen as he recalls.</p><p> Laster was arrested in 2009 after her children came forward and said they helped her cover up their father's death 21 years earlier.</p><p> Prosecutors have called this "almost the perfect crime." Prosecutors believed Delores Laster shot and killed her husband, but admitted there was no physical evidence linking her to the murder, only her testimony from her now adult children, who were 10 and 11 at the time.</p><p> The judge said the state didn't prove that it was premeditated murder.</p><p> "You don't charge somebody with first degree murder, you've got to prove it," Eaton said in court Wednesday. Eaton said what the prosecution presented didn't justify the case going to the jury--before the defense even presented its case.</p><p> Normally, prosecutors could have continued to pursue second degree murder charges, but since the crime occurred 24 years ago the statute of limitation had expired on any lesser charges.</p><p> Prosecutors said they felt they presented enough evidence of premeditations to let a jury determine Laster's fate rather than the judge.</p><p> Laster's attorney said cold case detectives never should have arrested her in the first place.</p><p> Laster resigned from her teaching position, so she could reapply and go back to teaching now that the trial is over.</p><p> Check back with Local 6 and ClickOrlando.com for more information.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:36:40 GMT
<p> Two pet owners in Honolulu have filed a lawsuit against their local Petco location after they said their dogs were maimed during grooming.</p><p> Gladys Kapuwai said she dropped off her Pomeranian-Maltese mix at the Petco store in Kaneohe for some simple grooming, and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when she picked up her puppy Dodo, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported.</p><p> However, Kapuwai's attorney, Michael Green, said within a matter of weeks, pieces of the dog's ears fell off onto the floor, and upon examination by a veterinarian, it was discovered that the bottom portions of the dog's ears had been cut off and reattached with tape, according to the publication.</p><p> The newspaper said in the second case, Green said his wife Estelle dropped off their dog for grooming and when Petco returned it, the tip of the dog's tail had been cut off and its toe nails were cut too short. He said the dog was bleeding from both areas.</p><p> The store has not commented on the lawsuit. </p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:28:06 GMT
The excitement ends at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show as a Pekingese takes Best in Show and six new breeds debuted.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:30:02 GMT
UPDATED DAILY: Here's a look at some of the individuals who have been arrested recently in Central Florida.
Published: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:11:24 GMT
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