Free Republic

A man wanted in the 1984 killing of a Florida woman has been arrested in California nearly four decades later, authorities said Thursday. Detectives from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office were traveling to San Diego County to interview Donald Michael Santini, who was being held in jail following his arrest Wednesday, the sheriff's office said in a statement. crop-wood.jpg Cynthia Ruth Wood HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE Santini had been on the run since June 1984, when Florida authorities obtained an arrest warrant linking him to the strangling death of 33-year-old Cynthia Ruth Wood of Bradenton, located south of Tampa. Wood's...

Former State Attorney Andrew Warren will not get his old job in Hillsborough County, as the federal 11th Circuit Court has ruled that it does not oversee or have jurisdiction, over Warren's claim. "Today the court upheld the governor’s decision to suspend Andrew Warren from office for neglect of duty and incompetence," stated Gov. Ron DeSantis Communications Director Taryn Fenske

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...

TAMPA, Fla. (WWSB) - A Hillsborough County building inspector was seriously injured when he tried to stop a woman from stealing his truck, authorities said. The Hillsborough County Sheriff Office says the inspector left his county truck running Dec. 27 as he inspected a new home. Deputies say McKenya Thomas, 22, jumped into the truck to steal it. The inspector also entered the vehicle to prevent the theft, but was thrown from the truck as she sped off. The inspector suffered life-threatening injuries, but is now at Tampa General Hospital and is expected to recover. Later that day, Thomas, still...

(WSVN) - A Florida man tapped into the Christmas spirit by showing his appreciation to essential workers. Patrick Rhodes is a giver of the extraordinary kind. “I have two jobs, and I’m able to squeeze in time to give back,” said Rhodes. “I think we can all set aside an hour or so to reach back to our community.” Two years ago, when the pandemic hit, Rhodes decided he wanted to do something for essential workers in Hillsborough County. He bought pizzas and delivered them on his lunch break; he gave away 600 pies. “My passion is giving back and...

A 25-year-old Tampa, Florida man was arrested Friday in connection to the death of a 1-month-old infant during "an unspeakable act" of child abuse. On Thursday, Dec. 8, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a local hospital after an unresponsive 1-month-old infant that arrived with upper body trauma. Despite doctor's lifesaving efforts, the baby died the following morning from the injuries. The newborn's mother rushed the infant to the local Tampa hospital after she returned home from work and quickly realized that her child was unresponsive and seriously injured. When interviewed by police, the mother told detectives...

A heartless Florida man allegedly broke into a home, grabbed a bite, stole a hat – and killed the family puppy with a machete. Alexander Hernandez-Delgado, 25, has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals with a weapon and armed burglary in the break-in at the Dover home on Wheeler Road on Thursday. He allegedly entered the premises through an unlocked living room door, the Tampa Bay Times reported, citing the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. The apparently ravenous intruder helped himself to the family’s food at about 7 p.m. and proceeded to throw their belongings around the home, authorities said....

Polk County Sheriff’s deputies shot an arsonist his his manhood. “We’ve changed the looks of his groin forever — if you know what I mean,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference. Luke Neely is facing a number of charges after he threw molotov cocktails at a house and then led police on a high speed chase. The chase ended near Dinosaur World when police opened fire. Neely was found with a loaded AR-15 and a fully loaded handgun. He’s been charged with 3 counts of attempted first-degree murder, arson, 7 counts of firebombing and one count...

A seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives flipped from Republican to Democrat by the narrowest of margins after a recount....

Wednesday night, the RINO Establishment wing of the Hillsborough County Republic party attempted an in-house "palace coup" to take control of the Hillsborough County Republican Party, but were overcome and defeated by Party Chairman Col Jim Waurishuk, USAF (Ret.), a staunch MAGA populist Constitutional Conservative. They used a “weaponized” grievance process to replace the Republican Party of Florida’s Constitution, rules & procedures to serve as a means to strip Waurishuk of his authority as the county party chairman. They suspended his nationally recognized orientation and training program for bringing on new precinct committeemen and committeewomen in an attempt to stack...

By allowing children to read the book, school administrators are "opening them up to sexual predators" and "to grooming," Will Witt said. Parents of Hillsborough County Public Schools students in Tampa, Florida, are voicing their outrage after at least one sexually explicit book was made available to students, including a book in a middle school library that features instructions for gay sex and hookup apps. The book also includes a cartoon of a naked man under the section "Boy-on-Boy Sex."

Florida judge set an expedited timetable for suspended Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren’s lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis. According to a release from Warren, both he and Gov. DeSantis agreed to the joint proposal, which would have all paperwork and preliminary injunction hearings completed by Sept. 20. A ruling would be “expected soon afterward”. Judge Robert Hinkle of the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida approved and signed the scheduling order on Thursday. The order sets a Sept. 2 deadline for DeSantis’ legal time to file a response to the lawsuit, and a Sept. 9 deadline...

Florida rapper Rollie Bands took great exception to people criticizing his beats. In fact, he took to Instagram on Friday, inviting the naysayers to confront him at his Tampa Bay-area apartment complex. Minutes after posting his challenge on the social media site, he was shot dead. According to HipHopDX, Bands wrote on his Instagram story: “A lot of these n*****s know where I live at fr. I sleep in peace. If a n***a want smoke I’m at my crib in 5 minutes.” And five minutes after the posting, Bands was shot once in the parking lot of his apartment building....

Family members of murder defendant Isaiah Rivera-Perez and shooting victim Jaiden Connor filled nearly every seat in a Hillsborough County Superior Court hearing room Tuesday morning as a trial opened that will hinge on the state’s self-defense law. Homicide prosecutor Nicholas Chong Yen showed the jury a home security video that captures Connor, 17, running down Central Street and collapsing, where police found him with a bullet hole in his back. “He shot Jaden Connor in the back. He shot Jaden Connor while Jaden was running away from him,” said Chong Yen, an assistant New Hampshire attorney general. “That is...

When Quinton Joiner stabbed a CTA worker in the neck on a Loop train platform in August, all of the corporate news outlets ran stories. But only CWBChicago followed the case to report that prosecutors only charged Joiner with a misdemeanor and then settled the case less than a month later with a sentence of probation. On October 16, we exclusively reported that Joiner, still on probation for the CTA stabbing, was arrested again after she walked into a wedding ceremony in Millennium Park and allegedly brandished a knife to steal a woman’s purse. Once again, she was only charged...

A Florida man has been arrested for brandishing a gun and shouting racist slurs at a Black homeowner, in a June 14 incident caught on video. According to a report by WSVN, 58-year-old Joseph Fucheck accused Dwayne Wynn of stealing from his own mailbox. Authorities have charged him with aggravated assault with a firearm with prejudice, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, but prosecutors are also investigating this as a hate crime. Fucheck reportedly pulled up to Wynn's home in a red Jeep and put something into his mailbox, while Wynn was standing across the street speaking...

An inmate who was released from the Hillsborough County Jail in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus is back behind bars and accused of committing second-degree murder the day after he got out of jail, deputies say. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office confirms 26-year-old Joseph Edwards Williams was arrested on a warrant Monday night in Gibsonton. They say he is connected to a March 20 shooting homicide in the Progress Village area. Deputies responded at 10:40 that night to several 911 calls about gunshots fired near 81st Street South and Ash Avenue. A man was pronounced dead at...

TAMPA, Florida — An inmate who was released from jail due to fears of coeronavirus spread has been re-arrested on a murder charge. Deputies say 26-year-old Joseph Edwards Williams commited second-degree murder the day after he was released. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says Williams fatally shot a man near 81st Street South and Ash Avenue just hours into his freedom. He was previously arrested for possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia. More than 150 inmates have been released in Hillsborough County. “There is no question Joseph Williams took advantage of this health emergency to commit crimes while...

The Hillsborough County school district said Wednesday that geophysical technicians found “clear evidence” of burials at the Clarence Leon King High School campus. School officials believe the caskets are part of Ridgewood Cemetery, a historic paupers’ burial ground from the early 1940s that was owned by the city, according to the Florida Genealogical Society. King High School opened in 1960, according to the school’s website. Tanya Arja, a spokeswoman with the school district, said officials began investigating last month after a person told a school board member of the possible location of the cemetery. For nearly two weeks, technicians hired...

Three years after a presidential election that came down to 77,000 votes in three Midwestern battlegrounds, Democrats and Republicans are eyeing a much larger battlefield ahead of the 2020 contests, one that stretches from the picturesque coastline of rural Maine to the high desert of Arizona. Both President Trump’s campaign and the Democrats vying to replace him are scrutinizing a political map in flux, one in which attitudes and alignments are shifting and new regions are coming into play.As many as a dozen states could be up for grabs next year as economic and international uncertainty pairs with a cauldron...