Free Republic

The Feds raided Alfie Oakes’ Naples, Florida home and farm with a battering ram on Thursday. Alfie Oakes is an outspoken Trump supporter and owner of Seed to Table grocery store. The raid was conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service which investigates criminal behavior with the Department of Defense. --snip-- According to reports, the Feds used a battering ram to bust the door down at Alfie Oakes’ home while his wife and daughter were home. IRS agents were seen carrying boxes out of Alfie Oakes’ home.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A man was arrested for trafficking a lethal amount of fentanyl in a cookie jar after deputies stopped him during a traffic stop around 10:15 p.m. on Thursday, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. Larry Chapman, 23, had 9.8 grams of fentanyl hidden in a container labeled “Cookies.” Authorities discovered the container tucked in the driver’s seat back pocket. In addition to the fentanyl, deputies found around 10 grams of cocaine in Chapman’s car. “The DEA says 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be deadly; our deputies recovered nearly 10 grams of this lethal drug during...

Florida currency trader is accused in staggering $35M Ponzi scheme targeting elderly church members for their savings - and 'blew the money on luxury cars and private plane trips' Brent Seaman of Naples, Florida was charged in an SEC complaint on Thursday He allegedly fleeced fellow church members in a $35 million Ponzi scheme SEC officials say Seaman guaranteed 'safe' returns but blew the money on luxury lifestyle A currency trader in Florida has been charged with running a $35 million Ponzi scheme targeting elderly and retired churchgoers from his congregation. In a complaint filed by the US Securities and...

GOLDEN GATES ESTATES, Fla. — A Naples man attempted to take off with a hefty payload after stealing a heavy equipment truck in Golden Gates Estates. According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), a Caterpillar front loader was stolen from a property on the 5800 block of Everglades Boulevard North on Sunday. At around 7 a.m. on Sunday, deputies spotted Lazaro Urquiaga Perez driving a truck pulling the front loader on a flatbed trailer. Urquiaga Perez was arrested after deputies matched the front loader with the one stolen earlier in the day. The company from which the front loader...

NAPLES, Fla. — A Florida man is accused of pulling a gun on restaurant employees when his online order of chicken wings was nearly an hour late, authorities said. Matthew James Davis, 35, of Naples, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to Collier County Sheriff’s Office online booking records. The sheriff’s office said that Davis threatened employees at a Wingstop restaurant in Naples, WINK-TV reported. According to an arrest affidavit, Davis placed an online order for chicken wings at 8:39 p.m. on Aug. 27, 2021. The store promised that...

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) -Florida Fish and Wildlife officers have arrested a Collier County man for five misdemeanor charges related to violations against endangered or threatened species. Officials say the incident occurred on Jan 9, on Marco Island. Officers say Renardo Stewart accelerated and ran a golf cart through a flock of black skimmers resting on the beach. Marco Island Police Department detained Stewart and he admitted to driving the golf cart through the flock of birds. The black skimmer is protected by the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It is also protected as State Threatened by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened...

A Florida man was arrested after deputies discovered a large quantity of crack cocaine and trafficking amounts of fentanyl and heroin following a vehicle pursuit. “Holley Delton Jones, 46, of Lehigh Acres, Florida, is charged with 15 felonies, most of them narcotics related. At the time of his arrest Jones was on parole for trafficking ecstasy,” said Collier County Sheriff’s Office. According to deputies, Jones was driving a bronze GMC Yukon on Wiggins Pass Road near U.S. 41 N. around midnight when deputies tried to pull him over for a traffic violation. Jones decided to accelerate and drove recklessly through...

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man they say started a fire on a bench and inside several cars. Deputies arrested 54-year-old Craig Lumb on Sunday for setting the fires. According to deputies, they responded to a report of someone lighting cars on fire along Long Shore Way East. Deputies say when they arrived, they found a bench on fire with Lumb and another man standing nearby. Deputies suspected Lumb was responsible and detained him while they put out the fire on the bench. While extinguishing that fire, deputies say they noticed smoke inside a nearby car. The...

A man involved in a deadly road rage incident last year in Golden Gate Estates is immune from civil action under the “Stand Your Ground” law, a judge in the 20th Judicial Circuit Court in Collier County ruled. Circuit Judge Blake Adams dismissed a wrongful death suit on Friday, filed by the family of David Norgard, 24, of Golden Gate Estates, who died after he sustained two gunshot wounds to the chest near 16th Avenue Southwest and 23rd Street Southwest around 9 p.m. March 1, 2019. The shooter was cleared of criminal wrongdoing a few months after the incident by...

Sixth graders in a quiet Florida town saw a lot more vocabulary-lesson excitement than usual recently after a fill-in-the-blank question about porn magazines and the ethical considerations of sperm donation cropped up on an assignment. The kerfuffle occurred at Corkscrew Middle School, Fort Myers NBC affiliate WBBH reports. Here’s the question in full:

Here's a heads up to Florida freepers and other interested parties. There has been a new (and much needed) discussion/political forum developed for Southwest Florida by the Citizen Action Team. If you want to check it out go here. The people who are logging on are no where near as sophisticated as as FReepers, so if you get a chance, register and post a few articles/replies to get them started and show them how it's done. Just go easy on them as ya'll are pros!

Collier County Major Employers Company Name, Product Service, # of Employees Publix Super Market, Grocery, 2,021 The Ritz Carlton, Hotel, 1,150 Mariot, Hotel, 943 Island Walk Homeowners Ass., 900 Winn Dixie, Grocery, 815 Registry Resort, Hotel, 750 League Club Inc., Social services, 625 Symphony Rehabilitation Services, 607 Wal Mart, Retail, 594 Classic Bentley Village,Management, 550 Moorings Park,Geriatric Residential Care, 485 Hendry Correctional Ins.,Correctional Institution, 450 Boran Craig Barbr Engel Const. Construction 444 Classic Residence Management, 400 Naples Daily News (E.W. Scribbs Co.)News Paper Publishing, 396 AA Stucco & Drywall, 350 Better Roads Inc Road Construction, 350 HRS Collier Cnty Pub...

Richard Schlinder, second from right, gestures to support his point that a puddle has never formed on land he's owned in Golden Gate Estates for 22 years - so he doesn't want to see it flooded. Schlinder addresses Major John Chaput, project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, during a Southern Golden Gate Estates restoration workshop on Thursday night at the Collier County Government Complex. Romelio Carta, left, another Estates property owner, waits for his turn to talk to Chaput. Nanciann Regalado, outreach program coordinator for the Corps's Jacksonville district, stands by at right. Raucous crowd sounds off...