Free Republic

former U.S. prosecutor from Tampa who helped the federal government indict Florida residents accused of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol is about to stand trial himself. According to court records, Patrick Douglas Scruggs is expected at the Pinellas County Justice Center on May 3 at 8:30 a.m. for a pre-trial hearing on allegations that he stabbed a 35-year-old man with a pocket knife during a road rage incident last year. Mr. Scruggs, 38, who has been released on bond, was arrested last September and faces three felony counts of armed burglary, aggravated battery and...

A Florida woman has found herself behind bars after she allegedly barged into a gas station while naked and drunk, threatening to kill staff members with a peeler/corer knife. Celia Barrett, 35, was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault, disorderly intoxication, criminal mischief, exposure of sexual organs and trespassing after the incident that unfolded at the RaceTrac at 2551 54th Ave. in St. Petersburg, according to an arrest affidavit from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Barrett, who was previously trespassed from this gas station back in November, returned on Sunday evening after taking six shots of liquor,...

The woman whose lifeless body was found clenched between a 14-foot alligator’s jaws was arrested just two months earlier for trespassing on county wetland property. Sabrina Peckham, 41, was identified by police Saturday as the victim being dragged by the beast in a canal along a residential street in Largo, a small community just four miles south of Clearwater. The homeless woman was caught by Pinellas County deputies around 6:30 a.m. on July 14 for trespassing onto county wetland just half a mile from where she was found dead Friday, court records show. Peckman ignored posted signage warning against unlaw...

A Florida man who allegedly sneaked into a woman’s backyard and watched her through a bathroom window while he was naked from the waist down was arrested this week for voyeurism and burglary. After his arrest Thursday, 71-year-old David Henning allegedly admitted to detectives that he regularly watched his neighbor through the window because he was "curious and sexually motivated to see her naked," according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. "Can I please get dressed?" Henning could be heard telling deputies during his arrest, according to body camera footage obtained by FOX 13. Henning was arrested a day after...

For those out there unaware, when you’re being booked into jail the hidden bullet behind your testicles counts as contraband. So when you’re asked if you have any “drugs or contraband” the answer to that question is “yes, I have a bullet hidden behind my testicles.” Otherwise when the strip search reveals your hidden testicle bullet you’re going to get another charge placed on top of whatever it is you’ve been taken to jail for. Unfortunately, Michael Keanu Brennen learned this lesson the hard way. The 24-year-old was hit with a felony for possession of contraband in a county facility....

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...

CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) — Two paramedics with the Clearwater Fire & Rescue Department were suspended after a man they pronounced dead last week was found to be breathing. The agency said two medics from Station 47 responded to a home in an unincorporated area of Pinellas County Wednesday morning after Thomas Maxwell reportedly suffered cardiac arrest. “His lips were blue and he was cold but I was doing CPR, and my friend was there and she was doing chest compressions,” said his daughter, Phebe Maxwell told WFLA. “His chest was going up and down and he was making noises, so...

On Jan. 26, 2023, detectives assigned to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Robbery/Homicide – Cold Case Unit arrested 55-year-old Michael Lapniewski, Jr., for a murder that occurred in 1987. Detectives conducted an extensive investigation over a period of several years. A suspect was developed after advancements in DNA testing. According to detectives, on Feb. 9, 1987, deputies responded to a residence in unincorporated St. Petersburg for a deceased person. The victim, 82-year-old Opal Weil was located deceased by her sister-in-law after not answering her telephone. Weil had obvious and visible signs of trauma. Deputies discovered the suspect fled the...

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A 32-year-old sheriff’s deputy in Florida was fired after he was found “slumped over” behind the wheel in an agency-issued cruiser last month “obviously drunk” with alcohol bottles littered throughout his vehicle. According to documents obtained by Nexstar’s WFLA, 32-year-old Christopher Greene, who had been with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office since June 2019, was found unconscious inside his marked cruiser at a Hillsborough County intersection on the evening of Dec. 18. After stopping at a red light, he fell unconscious. “Deputy Greene remained stationary,” documents stated. Documents show a full light cycle passed before traffic...

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A Florida man has been charged after a night of drinking with his buddy took a turn. According to the Pinellas Park Police Department, officers responded to a disturbance in the 10300 block of Oakhaven Drive around 7:46 p.m. on Wednesday. When police arrived on the scene, they determined that Van Vui Duong, 56, of Pinellas Park had invited his friend over to his place for some drinks. Authorities stated that while Duong and his friend were drinking alcoholic beverages, a verbal argument broke out that resulted in Duong stabbing his friend with a knife...

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...

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida man is facing charges after police said he assaulted a police horse. St. Petersburg Police said Alisha Lalani, 27, walked up to them while they were on duty on Saturday and used an open hand to slap the rear of the animal. According to a arrest report, the horses were wearing police insignia and flashing blue lights when Lalani approached them. Police said Lalani told them he didn’t know he was not allowed to hit the horses. Lalani was arrested and faces a charge of battery on a police horse.

A Florida woman was arrested on Thanksgiving after driving recklessly toward a closed course for a 5K turkey trot that was in progress, according to WESH. Some 3,000 runners were participating in the Coffee Pot Turkey Trot in St. Petersburg, Florida, when Ashlee Lauren Morgan, 38, was “driving recklessly south on Coffee Pot Boulevard Northeast, approaching the Snell Isle Bridge,” according to the St. Petersburg police department. She was pulled over and three officers requested her credentials. She refused, according to reports, and fled the scene “at a high rate of speed onto the race course.” Another officer attempted to...

A Florida man is behind bars after his girlfriend, who was allegedly abused by him, slipped a note to a store clerk asking for help, according to Fox 13 Tampa Bay. Mark Frumosu, 37, was arrested Tuesday and slapped with eight charges ranging from felon in possession of a firearm to aggravated assault in connection with the case. He's in jail on over $108,000 bond. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said Frumosu also put the woman through a "terrifying ordeal" earlier in the day, which included being held at gunpoint. Fox 13 Tampa Bay reported a five-page arrest affidavit explained...

A 50-year-old Florida man was arrested after deputies questioned him for loitering and things became “methed” up. Robert Lawson, 50, was questioned by Pinellas County Deputies on Wednesday after he was spotted loitering near a wooded area in Clearwater. Deputies say that during a “consensual encounter,” Lawson reportedly gave investigators permission to search him and his bags. According to an affidavit, Lawson produced a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and a small baggie containing a “crystal substance” that field tested positive for methamphetamine. In a grocery bag, the deputy located an uncapped syringe with a brown liquid residue. After...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Three teens found an easy vehicle to steal when they discovered an unlocked Maserati with the keys inside in a driveway in northeast Pinellas County early Sunday morning, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. One of the teens ended up dying after crashing the car, and another may not survive, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said during a press conference near the scene of the crash. Three boys, 15-year-old Keondrick Lang, Mario Bonilla, 15, and Malachi Daniels, 16, were checking door handles for unlocked cars in the neighborhood of 29th Street N and 58th Avenue...

A 15-year-old died when a group allegedly stole a Maserati and crashed it early Sunday in Florida. According to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, 15-year-old Keondrick Lang, 15-year-old Mario Bonilla, and 16-year-old Malachi Daniels had been looking for unlocked cars in the Saint Petersburg area, Insider reported Sunday. The group apparently located an unlocked Maserati with the keys still inside the vehicle.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Clearwater man who was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence had a blood alcohol level more than five times the legal limit, according to deputies. According to an affidavit, deputies got a number of 911 calls about Michael Sewell, 42, driving a Nissan erratically in the area of East Lake Road and Eagle Cove Boulevard around 9:50 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10. The deputy who pulled over Sewell noted his breath smelled like alcohol, he was unsteady on his feet and he had glassy and bloodshot eyes. He was unable to perform a field...

A Madeira Beach woman ended up in handcuffs after trying to impress a Pinellas County deputy with pirouettes during a field sobriety test following a car crash. According to an arrest report, Amy Harrington, 38, had rear-ended another vehicle along Gulf Boulevard shortly before 10:30 p.m. on April 27. A deputy responding to the crash said Harrington had slurred speech, glassy eyes and was unsteady on her feet. The affidavit also states that the deputy smelled alcohol on Harrington, who refused to provide a breath test. In body camera video, the deputy can be heard giving Harrington explicit instructions to...

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) — A Clearwater woman was accused of berating employees at an Indian Rocks Beach ice cream shop, flipping them off, stealing their tips and hitting the owner with the empty tip jar. According to a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, Michelle Haag, 55, entered the Tropical Ice Cream at around 9:20 p.m. on July 27 and began cursing at the workers and flipping them off. Deputies said Haag took approximately $50 out of a plastic tip jar and hit the store’s owner on the head with it.