Free Republic

A Florida fisherman changed his luck recently in a big way. Captain Jose Rodriguez Jr. of Cudjoe Key, Florida, takes clients out four to five times a week on a Florida Keys fishing charter to reel in trophy fish. But he’d never come close to catching a monster 500-pound swordfish. On Feb. 18, Rodriguez, along with a Pennsylvania family, landed a giant 480-pound swordfish, one of the largest of its kind caught in the Keys in recent years. “It was definitely a fight and a struggle,” Rodriguez, who helps run the family business, Above & Below Fishing Adventures, told Fox...

An alleged drunk driver was arrested after driving through a gate at Daytona Beach International Airport and trying to board multiple planes. Bryan Parker, 58, was highly intoxicated on Wednesday around 4:25 p.m. when he entered the airport’s international terminal, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, The Hill reported. Parker entered the runway in his blue Ford Mustang and nearly struck a taxiing plane being used by the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, according to witnesses. Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies said Parker tried to board an occupied, running airplane. However, the plane was locked, and he was unable to board. Parker...

OZARK, Ala. (WPEC) — An Alabama police officer discovered a Florida man hauling 81 gallons of moonshine during a routine traffic stop, an amount authorities say far exceeds what can legally be transported without a license. The Ozark Police Department said Officer Dylan Griffin with the Crime Suppression Unit pulled over 61-year-old Learndis Hamilton on January 9 for a traffic violation. Containers of clear liquid were reportedly visible inside the vehicle, prompting further investigation. Tests confirmed the liquid was illegally distilled moonshine, police said. Hamilton, who was traveling from Florida to an unknown destination, was the sole occupant of...

A Florida man has been forced to shoot down the latest Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy — after becoming “a viral sensation” for being the spitting image of the notorious sex trafficker. The silver-haired, square-jawed stranger found himself unexpectedly going viral after someone filmed him driving his convertible down a highway in the Sunshine State, suggesting he was the pedophile who had a Florida home and who many conspiracy theorists refuse to believe is dead. “Epstein is alive! Epstein is alive!” the man who shot the video yelled, sending social media into meltdown.

A man in Florida for a bachelor party humiliated his friend by stealing all the women they met at Miami Beach bars, then stabbed the pal after he became "agitated" and confronted him, cops say. Olajuwon Dickerson, 32, of Massachusetts, is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after attacking the victim while partying with him and two other friends, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.

Pastor Scott Thomas is the pastor of Free Life Chapel in Lakeland, Fl who was recently invited to speak at Fellowship Church’s 2026 Creative Marriage Conference in Grapevine, Tx. During a spirited sermon illustration with a wedding cake, he slammed it onto the table, not realizing there were skewers holding it together. He explains what happens next: “Cindy and I spoke on “Building A Marriage” and used a wedding cake for our illustration. To close the teaching, we stressed that if we build our marriages outside of God’s order… the whole cake (marriage) crashed! All went well… until I slammed...

A man helped rescue a pregnant woman from a vehicle in a pond off Interstate 95 in Florida. Hours later, she gave birth to the child. Logan Hayes had been driving to work near Stuart before 8 a.m. Friday before the Gatlin exit near the weigh station. "As I was driving by, I saw this car in the pond," he told WPBF. The vehicle was sinking. He jumped into the cold waters, swam out to the vehicle, and pulled the woman to shore. Hayes later learned the woman was pregnant. Martin County Fire Rescue crews arrived minutes later. The patient...

A Super Bowl Sunday meltdown over Bad Bunny turned into a viral win for a Florida bar that refused to cave to an entitled customer armed with a camera and an accusation. At Zoo Sports Club in St. Petersburg, Florida, TVs were rolling during halftime—but not with what one furious patron demanded. Instead of catering to his personal playlist, the bar opted to air the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) halftime programming, a conservative alternative that clearly struck a nerve. The customer immediately made it clear this wasn’t just about football. “I came here for the halftime show. The whole experience,”...

They welcomed a little girl into their family nine months later - but soon suspected that IVF Life - which operates as the Fertility Center of Orlando in Longwood - made a shocking error. Both Score and Mills are white, but the baby had the 'appearance of a racially non-Caucasian child,' according to the lawsuit against the clinic, per News6.

POLK COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida man landed behind bars after Polk County deputies say he had a gun hidden under prosthetic silicone breasts while he was trespassing at a construction site. According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, Matthew Zaccarino, 39, of Altamonte Springs, was sitting in a vehicle by himself at a construction site last month. When deputies approached him, they said he was wearing a red, lace bra with prosthetic silicone breasts. "Then, we notice he is wearing a G-string, showing off the boys. You know what I mean?" asked Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. Judd...

A harrowing video showed a wild police chase after a routine traffic stop that led to the rescue of an alleged kidnapping victim and the arrest of his kidnapper in Florida. The Flagler County Sheriff's Office said deputies pulled over a white Ford F-150 on U.S. Highway 1 on Wednesday after a 911 caller reported suspicious activity. They found a 60-year-old man identified as Darnell Hairston with two male juveniles. When deputies separated an 11-year-old boy, he told them he had been kidnapped by Hairston and feared for his life. "He told us that he thought they were going to...

A Florida man dressed in a Santa Claus hat captured a 153-pound invasive Burmese python on Christmas Eve. He shared a photo of the snake slung over his shoulder like a knight carrying a dragon back from battle and it truly puts into perspective the size of these invasive pythons here in Florida. Using ‘male scout snakes’ to locate the breeding female, Conservancy of Southwest Florida wildlife biologist Ian Easterling was able to capture and remove one of the largest invasive pythons caught this year. Florida Man Dressed As Santa Captures 153-Pound Invasive Burmese Python The Conservancy of Southwest Florida...

Criminals never cease to amaze. A Florida man who was a bell ringer for the Salvation Army for the Christmas season was arrested this past week for allegedly trying to impale the store manager of a grocery store with the tripod to the donation kettle, according to law enforcement. Steven Pavlik, 63, was found at his home and arrested. He was charged with resisting arrest and aggravated assault. The alleged victim was the store manager at Publix in Stuart, Florida. Fox News reported: A Florida man working as a Salvation Army bell ringer for the holidays was arrested Christmas week...

A 43-year-old man in West Palm Beach, Florida, is now facing felony charges classified as a hate crime after allegedly attempting to run over members of a local LGBTQ+ running group. Last month, Night Runners WPB, a local running group, was gathered at Howard Park in Palm Beach for an 8 pm run when Ihab Mustafa El Mahmoud “purposely drove his car towards the victims and the group of people,” according to the West Palm Beach Police Department. El Mahmoud was reportedly upset after a member of the group made a passing comment to him. In response, he accelerated his...

ORANGE PARK, Fla. — A shooting involving three local sailors left two female sailors dead and one male sailor in Clay County Jail. Taylor Marques Lomax, 22, has been charged with two counts of 2nd-degree murder and is being held without bond after Clay County sheriff’s deputies allege he shot and killed 21-year-old Noely Makenda and 20-year-old Jordyn Forrestier in the Savannah Glen neighborhood of Orange Park, Wednesday night. According to the sheriff’s office, Lomax’s wife came to the home shared by Lomax and the two victims that night and began arguing with his two female roommates. A fight between...

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — A man who was arrested in February for burglarizing a home while naked tried fleeing from court Tuesday, says the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. According to the sheriff’s office, during a hearing for previous charges, Circuit Court Judge Washington ordered bond revoked for 25-year-old Keeton Mercer. Court security blocked the exit, and bailiffs took him back into custody. Deputies say Mercer was taken to the Putnam County Jail and is being held without bond. In addition to his prior charges of burglary, criminal mischief, 2 counts of battery, and escaping an officer with violence. He now...

A trace of blood found on a pizza box inside a ransacked Northeast Florida home became the key evidence that helped detectives identify and locate a suspect, authorities said Monday. The incident originally took place on Jan. 28, when a Palm Coast homeowner returned to her residence to find the power cut, the internet disabled and the house burglarized. Between $2,500 and $3,000 in cash was missing, according to a press release from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. While processing the scene, detectives discovered a red smear on a pizza box in the kitchen that they believed to be blood....

MARATHON, FLA. (WSVN) - Three people were arrested after authorities in the Florida Keys say they were found having sex while heavily intoxicated in a Winn-Dixie parking lot in the middle of the day. Deputies were called to the grocery store lot around 12 p.m. on Saturday, where they found all three individuals engaged in sexual acts, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. All were taken to jail.

The Brief A suspect who beat an elderly man and charged at Polk County deputies with a brick is dead after a deputy-involved shooting in Lakeland. The incident happened near Saturn Street. The suspect has spent over half his life in the Florida prison system, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office suspect accused of beating an elderly man with a brick and charging at Polk County deputies was shot and killed in a Lakeland community Wednesday afternoon. The Polk County Sheriff's Office said Kentae Govan, 41, was shot and killed by two deputies who fired six shots to subdue...

Which came first, the chicken conversation or the frustrated farmer? A Florida man allegedly opened fire at a trio of twentysomethings outside of a bar earlier this month during an argument over how many eggs a chicken can lay. Peter Riera, 44, called 911 on Nov. 4 and said he had been robbed and was being chased by two men and a woman at Harper’s Pub in Port Saint Lucie, according to Port Saint Lucie cops. The trio — identifed in the police docs as Brandon Pace, 23; his girlfriend, Kayla Damiana, 26; and Tyler McHargue, 23 — told responding...