Free Republic

Anyone who takes even a cursory look at the news – regardless the source – has to be aware of fentanyl – the latest of the killer drugs assaulting our society. It wasn't too long ago that virtually no one had ever heard of it. Now, it seems to be everywhere, and from what we are told, it is a killer of staggering proportions. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is said to be 50 times more potent than heroin. While the drug is found in all states, California is particularly hard hit, and the source, it appears, is movement...

Hurtt had allegedly tried to abduct another child before the kidnapping, with the would-be victim later telling authorities Hurrt grabbed her wrist and said, “Let’s start a family.” Police were notified that a woman had climbed over a fence and abducted an eight-year-old girl from an elementary school playground and fled in her car, WXIN-TV reported, citing an arrest affidavit. Hurtt struck an officer’s vehicle and tried to “yank the door open” before officers handcuffed her and struggled to get her into the police car as she resisted, according to court records. Once in the vehicle, Hurtt is said to...

Gay adult film star Shawn Wolfe has died of a reported drug overdose. The death of Wolfe, whose real name was Shawn Paul Bertrand, Jr., was revealed last week in a heartfelt Facebook post by his mother, Valerie Wellner. Bertrand was 35. “We are completely devastated at the overwhelming loss in our lives, in our family, in our world,” Wellner posted to Facebook. “There are no words, just broken hearts and endless tears of sadness and grief.”

Gun sales have crossed into new and 'historic' territory,... averaging over 16 million 'sold annually' as buyers who are concerned about violent crime arm up. According to the FBI, the last three years have recorded new highs in gun sales and background checks....Gun store representatives have told Secrets that concerns about safety and fears of violent political division in the nation are helping to drive sales. Also, record numbers are getting concealed carry permits, which typically precede gun purchases.

A suspect has chewed off an elderly man's ear and some of his face in a horrific attack on a Portland train platform. The injuries were so severe that some of the 78-year-old man's skull was exposed after the violent attack in the suburb of Gresham in the state of Oregon on Tuesday morning. Police were able to intervene but not before the elderly man was left sickeningly maimed, authorities said after the attack. Police arrested 25-year-old suspect Koryn Kraemer and booked him on an accusation of assault in the second degree. Authorities are also investigating as to whether drug...

CHICAGO -- At least 30 people were shot, eight fatally, in shootings across Chicago over the weekend, police said. SUNDAY A 9-year-old boy has died after he was shot Sunday while inside a home on Chicago's South Side. The shooting happened in the 9400-block of S Wallace Street, according to police. The child was transported to Comer Children's Hospital in unknown condition. Area 2 Detectives are investigating. SATURDAY A 10-year-old boy was shot in the face Saturday night while sitting in a living room in Back of the Yards, police said. The boy was with several other children in the...

Published December 19, 2022 12:32am EST Two Florida women arrested after allegedly running 'traveling drug roadshow' Juanita Rose Fluckes and Lauren Ashley Rosetti were expecting to land a lucrative drug sale when they were arrested.' Two Florida women were taken into custody on drug charges after attempting to bring their "traveling drug roadshow" to South Florida, according to authorities. Juanita Rose Fluckes, 25, and Lauren Ashley Rosetti, 32, were identified by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office as key suspects in the ongoing sale and distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine in the Treasure Coast area. Detectives arrested the women Friday night,...

CHICAGO (CBS) – At least two people are dead and 13 others were wounded in shootings across Chicago over the Christmas weekend. The ages of the victims range from 17 to 55. In the first shooting of the holiday weekend, a 10-year-old girl accidentally shot herself in the hand around 5:20 p.m. Friday, after finding a gun inside a home in the 6500 block of South California Avenue. The girl was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in good condition. Less than a half hour later, a 48-year-old man suffered an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the hand in the 6800...

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – A Florida man is behind bars after he attempted to steal an airplane at the New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport so he could fly to California to meet his girlfriend while carrying nearly 500 grams of marijuana, according to the New Smyrna Beach Police Department. On Saturday, officers were alerted that a stolen vehicle had been found at the airport, and while in the process of locating that vehicle, officers were flagged down by a man who said it was his vehicle that was stolen. The victim told officers that a man unknown to him...

Rising Tennessee rapper Big Scarr, who was signed to Gucci Mane’s label 1017 Records, has died at age 22 of undisclosed causes. The wordsmith’s passing was confirmed by Mane in a Thursday Instagram post. “This hurt — I’m a miss you @bigscarr,” the “Poppin” singer wrote in the tribute, along with a photo gallery of the late lyricist. As of yet, Big Scarr’s cause and time of death have yet to be revealed, HipHopDx reported. Born Alexander Woods in Memphis, Tennessee on April 7, 2000, Scarr takes his name from injuries he suffered during a car crash at age 16....

DUNNELLON, Fla. — A stolen tractor valued at over $50,000 was located in Levy County, according to the Levy County Sheriff's Office (LCSO). LCSO said that on Dec. 14, detectives were made aware that a John Deere front-end loader had been stolen from a job site in the City of Dunnellon and that the tractor may have been hidden in the Morriston area of Levy County. Investigation revealed Anthony Ralph, 42, was in possession of a similar John Deere tractor. A LCSO detective, with assistance from officers with the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), responded to the location. When officers...

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...

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - Things didn’t go as planned for newlyweds who hoped to honeymoon in Florida but, instead, spent their wedding night in a south Alabama jail. Abbeville police stopped their vehicle for speeding along U.S. Highway 431 on Thursday night, but Chief Eric Blankenship said things turned out to be anything but a routine. He told WTVY News 4 that officers discovered drugs in the automobile occupied by Shavarious Jawan Moses and Alexus Demetria Armstrong who were still wearing their wedding attire, including his tuxedo and her veil. Moses, 28 of Riverdale, Georgia, is charged with Possession of...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - A college student is behind bars after two residents, who did not know him, found the man naked in their apartment in Gainesville. On Monday night, Gainesville Police Department officers arrested Alberto Araya, 19, on charges of burglary and multiple counts of property damage. Officers say around 6 p.m. Araya was recorded on security footage damaging the exit sign at The Standard Apartments on West University Ave. while wearing only green shorts. He then entered an apartment of people he doesn’t know. When the two residents returned home, they found Araya standing completely naked in their...

The "Twitter files", an exposé of internal communications at the social media platform, has reheated interest in Hunter Biden's laptop, a story that revealed potentially compromising correspondence between an adviser at Ukraine energy firm Burisma and President Joe Biden's son. While the significance of the "Twitter files" is under debate, it has reignited examination of the reach that behind-the-scenes characters had in the proliferation of the early Hunter Biden reports, including the role of figures from the U.S. intelligence community. The Claim Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) stated in a Facebook post published on 15 December 2022, that "51 former 'intelligence'...

Drug overdose deaths among US teens doubled from 2019 to 2021 - even as use of illicit substances declined - as fentanyl fueled a nationwide crisis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today that teenage overdoses increased 109 percent over the two years. Deaths caused by fentanyl alone increased 182 percent. Officials warn that many US teens are dying after ingesting drugs like cocaine, Adderall or Xanax that are contaminated with fentanyl. They also warn that social media platforms have become a new marketplace for illicit drugs. The nation's drug overdose crisis has struck everyone, with a...

you might be a lot more likely to get into a car crash. Or at least those are the findings of a new study published this month in The American Journal of Medicine. During the summer of 2021, Canadian researchers examined the encrypted government-held records of more than 11 million adults, 16% of whom hadn’t received the COVID vaccine. They found that the unvaccinated people were 72% more likely to be involved in a severe traffic crash—in which at least one person was transported to the hospital—than those who were vaccinated. That’s similar to the increased risk of car crashes...

A grand jury indicted a man on first degree murder charges for allegedly selling fake prescription drugs to a Hollywood woman. Melissa Hernandez was 21 years old when she lost her life in Sept. 2021. Frank Hernandez said his daughter, Melissa, died after accidentally taking fentanyl. “She was a very good student. She really liked drawing and art. She was really popular in high school,” Hernandez said.

Multiple Central Florida men have pleaded guilty to being involved in a drug trafficking operation, “Titan Fall,” the U.S. Department of Justice said. A total of 13 men were charged in August with two indictments for being involved in the operation. Members Carlos Alberto Roman, 56; Kenneth Angel Vera, 31; and James Richards Howell, 37, have all pleaded guilty, according to the DOJ. The DOJ said that Roman supplied fentanyl and cocaine to Howell and Vera for resale, and regularly communicated with them. Roman was arrested at his home with 19 firearms, six silencers, three flash-bang grenades, and thousands of...

CHICAGO -- At least six people were killed and 19 others were wounded in shootings across Chicago since Friday evening. Gunfire broke out outside a Belmont Cragin bar early Sunday, killing three people and wounding a woman, Chicago police said. A fight inside the bar spilled onto the street outside around 2:30 a.m. near Central Avenue and School Street. Someone opened fire in the 5500 block of West School and struck two men and two women, he said. The shooter fled the scene in a dark-colored SUV and has not been arrested, Brennan said. The men, 50 and 26, were...