Free Republic

A California community is reeling after hearing the news that a local pastor was allegedly caught trying to meet a person he thought was a minor for sex. James David Stockton, 54, was arrested on Saturday by Signal Hill police after an online citizen group called "Caught Fished" said it had documented inappropriate messages with the pastor. Stockton is the pastor at South Bay Church of God in Torrance. He ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2024, and before that he was a leader of the NAACP in Marion County. The group provided some of the texts to KTTV-TV...

Mark Sanchez's battery case took an unexpected twist on Tuesday when it emerged that the judge who was initially selected to preside over the hearing recused herself, according to a report. The retired quarterback, 38, was formally booked on four charges at Marion County Jail on Sunday after being released from hospital. The Fox commentator faces up to six years in prison for the violent altercation with Perry Tole, 69, who claims to have stabbed Sanchez in self-defense on October 4. Indiana court records show that Judge Jennifer Prinz Harrison signed a recusal order on Tuesday requesting that Sanchez's case...

MARION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—A Marion County Grand Jury has indicted Xiaoping Peng, a 53-year-old resident of Chicago, Illinois, on multiple serious charges linked to a prostitution enterprise operating out of the Chinese Spa located at 1288 Delaware Avenue in Marion. The indictment includes charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, two counts of trafficking in persons for involuntary servitude, and two counts of promoting prostitution. Peng was arraigned today in front of Judge Todd Anderson, who set his bond at a staggering $1,000,000. A Chinese national, Peng allegedly entered the United States illegally during the Biden administration...

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DUNNELLON, Fla. - Authorities have issued a Florida Amber Alert for a missing 17-year-old Marion County boy who is believed to have been a victim in a shooting. What we know: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has issued an Amber Alert for 17-year-old Caden Speight of Marion County. Authorities said Speight was last seen in the 12800 block of Southwest Highway 484 in Dunnellon. The Marion County Sheriff's Office has confirmed to FOX 35 that deputies were investigating a shooting in the same area and believe Speight may be a victim.

A Florida man repeatedly used his sprinkler system to hose down special needs children as they got on and off their school bus, police have said. Antonio Roman, 61, was arrested by deputies with Marion County Sheriff's Office after repeatedly using the sprinkler system on the family next door to him in Ocala. Officials say he intentionally activated the sprinklers twice daily, when his two victims departed for school and again when they returned. Deputies said the father of the children had to resort to wearing a swim suit to shield his children, who use wheelchairs, from the repeat behavior....

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A 15-year-old boy has been sentenced for his role in three Marion County murders that took place in early 2023 when he was just 12 years old. Christopher Atkins was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder of Camille Quarles in 2023. Quarles was one of three victims in a string of murders, the other two victims being Layla Silvernail and Michael Hodo Jr. Atkins was charged in the murders alongside Robert Robinson and Tahj Brewton, who were 17 and 16 years old at the time of the killings. Robinson and Brewton entered no...

MARION COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A handcuffed woman on her way to jail in a patrol car allegedly managed to retrieve a hidden gun from her waist and opened fire on the deputy who arrested her. The Marion County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) said that on Monday at 10 a.m. Rheanna Harden was arrested on multiple charges after a traffic stop. According to MCSO, Haren was handcuffed and searched before she was put in the backseat of a deputy's patrol car to take her to jail. Officials said that while on their way to jail, traveling on S highway near the...

A 93-year-old Florida man allegedly confessed to twice trying to kill his wife of 60 years — because he “did not want to leave her alone” when he died, according to cops. Helmut Lockner was arrested on Saturday after his wife said he crept up on her watching TV and tried to strangle her with some rope — weeks after he tried to smother her with a pillow, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Lockner allegedly told detectives he planned to kill himself with the same rope, telling them that he “is dying and did not want to leave...

A Missouri man wanted in connection with the 1993 murder of an Indianapolis woman has been arrested and charged with her death over 30 years after the case was opened. Dana Jermaine Shepherd, 52, is charged with two counts of murder and one count of rape in connection with the 1993 death of Carmen Hope Van Huss. Shepherd was arrested in Boone County, Missouri, on Friday, Aug. 30. He is charged in Marion County, Indiana. Shepherd reportedly works for the University of Missouri as a custodian. On March 24, 1993, 19-year-old Carmen Hope Van Huss was found raped and murdered...

A massive fire broke out at Farina Farms Inc. in Marion County, Illinois, one of the largest free-range egg facilities in the U.S., resulting in the deaths of millions of chickens. The fire began around 6:30 p.m. along Highway 37 before rapidly escalating into a 5-alarm fire, which required five different fire departments from surrounding areas to tackle the blaze, WAND TV reported.

A massive fire broke out at Farina Farms Inc. in Marion County, Illinois, on Wednesday night, resulting in the deaths of millions of chickens. The farm is one of the largest free-range egg facilities in the country. The fire, which began around 6:30 p.m. along Highway 37, quickly escalated into a 5-alarm fire, requiring the intervention of at least 20 different fire departments from surrounding areas, according to WAND TV. Described as “humongous” by Marion County Sheriff Kevin Cripps, the fire engulfed multiple buildings spanning 200-300 yards in length.

The police chief who oversaw a controversial raid on a small Kansas newspaper has been suspended. The raid, carried out on the Marion County Record on August 11, was personally led by Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody . Another raid was enacted on the home of the newspaper's publisher' 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, who subsequently died. The police chief who led a highly criticized raid of a small Kansas newspaper, that saw its 98-year-old owner die the following day, has been suspended. ... The August 11 raids of the Marion County Record office and the homes of its publisher and...

MARION COUNTY, FL — A man wearing a shirt that read, “I’m The Reason The Beer’s Always Gone” was arrested Aug. 16 and charged with driving under the influence, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post. He was nearly three times over the legal blood alcohol content limit at the time of his arrest, the agency said. James Rix Jr. was clocked going 89 mph in a 45 mph during radar patrol near Marion Oaks Boulevard and Marion Oaks Manor. He initially led deputies on a chase, trying to elude them, but he was eventually pulled over...

A search warrant that cleared the way for the raid of a Kansas newspaper last Friday has been withdrawn, according to Scripps News Kansas City. Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey withdrew the warrant that served as the basis for the raid of the Marion County Record, conducted by the Marion Police Department. As part of withdrawing the warrant, Bernie Rhodes, the attorney representing the newspaper, says all items that were seized as part of the raid have been released back to the attorney representing the newspaper. (continues at source)...

MARION — In an unprecedented raid Friday, local law enforcement seized computers, cellphones and reporting materials from the Marion County Record office, the newspaper’s reporters, and the publisher’s home. Eric Meyer, owner and publisher of the newspaper, said police were motivated by a confidential source who leaked sensitive documents to the newspaper, and the message was clear: “Mind your own business or we’re going to step on you.” The city’s entire five-officer police force and two sheriff’s deputies took “everything we have,” Meyer said, and it wasn’t clear how the newspaper staff would take the weekly publication to press Tuesday...

MARION COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida man is now behind bars after he was allegedly spotted by deputies driving in circles in a church parking lot and subsequently fleeing and eluding arrest, claiming that a cult "told him to," according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. John Souza was arrested Monday on charges of fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer, according to an affidavit. On Monday, deputies witnessed a man, later identified as Souza, driving in circles in a wooded section of St. Joseph of the Forest Mission church in Silver Springs, according to an affidavit. A deputy tried...

MARION COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida man was arrested for allegedly stealing a lawn mower from a woman's yard, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. Gary Bebee was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree petit theft, his seventh theft offense in 15 years, deputies said. Deputies responded to a home in the 7700 block of NE 132nd Place after a woman called reporting the theft of her lawn mower from her yard, according to an affidavit. The woman said while she wasn't home at the time of the theft, she saw the whole thing unfold on her home's surveillance...

A man fled a home and hid in a nearby bush after a woman armed with a machete threatened to cut off his genitals. A Marion County sheriff’s deputy responded at about 2 a.m. Tuesday to the couple’s home in Summerfield. The man, who was carrying his infant daughter, was out of breath and soaked in sweat. The man said he had been in bed sleeping when 44-year-old Dawn Marie Hildebrant went through his phone. She smashed the phone and began screaming at the man before grabbing a machete and “threatening to cut off his genitals,” the report said. The...

INDIANAPOLIS — In what has been termed an “update to the City’s gun violence reduction strategy,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett is prepared to challenge the Indiana General Assembly in its next session to curb access to firearms in Marion County. During an address at the IMPD Academy this afternoon, Hogsett said that an ordinance will be introduced before the City-County Council June 5 that would ban semi-automatic rifles in Marion County, raise the age to purchase a firearm to 21 and rollback the 2022 law banning gun permits. A city ordinance in of itself would not affect change overnight, however,...