PORT ST. LUCIE — A woman was arrested Thursday on child neglect charges for leaving her two young children unattended overnight while she went to a bar and “slept over” with a friend, police said.

According to an arrest report, Karolyn Gail Minor, 28, of the 500 block of Northwest Waverly Circle, left her 7-year-old and 18-month-old children at home alone about 10 hours — from about midnight Wednesday to about 10 a.m. Thursday — while she went out. She went first to a bar and later to spend the night at the home of a friend whose name she “could not or would not give” to an officer, the report stated.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — Police Chief Donald Shinnamon has decided not to make the parents of two boys who made a bogus report of a girl being abducted Wednesday morning pay the costs of the massive effort to find the non-existent girl.

Tom Nichols, the Port St. Lucie Police Department public information officer, confirmed the decision but declined to explain Shinnamon’s reasoning. Read the rest of this entry »

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Deputies charged a woman with beating a boy with an extension cord Wednesday.

Lehoter Pleshett St. Aime, 35, of the 4700 block of 40th Avenue, Vero Beach, was charged with child abuse and aggravated assault. She posted $5,000 bail Thursday at the Indian River County Jail. Read the rest of this entry »

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Authorities Tuesday filed charges against a man who allegedly punched and killed a 6-pound dog earlier this month.

Justin Dabelow, 23, of the 1300 block of 16th Court Southwest, Vero Beach, posted $7,000 bail Wednesday at the Indian River County Jail. He was charged with cruelty to animals, disposal of bodies of dead animals and abandonment of an animal.

Dabelow told the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 7 he was at his home and removing his girlfriend’s Yorkshire terrier from its crate when it bit him on his hand. He punched the dog and it went unconscious.

Later, he and his girlfriend checked on the dog and found it was dead, according to an incident report. Dabelow took the dog’s body and tossed it into the woods behind his home, the report states.

By Lamaur Stancil, TCPalm.com

PORT ST. LUCIE — The bill to attract a movie special effects studio is finally in, and it’s a potential blockbuster.

The city has put together a proposed $51.8 million deal, in addition to a $20 million state incentive package, to build a movie and video game animation and military simulation studio on 15 acres within Tradition.

City Manager Don Cooper said Thursday the agreement requires Wyndcrest DD Florida Inc. to reimburse the city for the entire financing, except for a $10 million cash grant from developers, through a 20-year annual lease. Read the rest of this entry »

FORT PIERCE — Police have arrested a Milton man in connection with the death of a man found Tuesday night in a ditch behind a bar.

Gentleman John Clark, 35, of Milton, in the northwest corner of Florida, was arrested Thursday night and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 51-year-old Ronnie Cartee, whose body was found about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday outside of Pappy’s Lounge in the 6900 block of Okeechobee Road.
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FORT PIERCE — “The Don Corleone of the Port St. Lucie marijuana grow house operations” was sentenced Wednesday morning to 45 years in prison.

Roberto Alberto Cepero

Sonia Del Risco Polls

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ST. LUCIE COUNTY — One person is dead and another was in surgery after an attempted murder/suicide involving a husband and wife, St. Lucie County sheriff’s deputies said.

Authorities suspect William Beck, 54, used a .32-caliber gun to shoot his wife Jacqueline Beck, 54, twice - once in the face and once in the chest - before killing himself inside his home in the 8400 block of Fort Walton Boulevard shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry »

PORT ST. LUCIE — A reported Wednesday morning child abduction that turned out to be a hoax apparently started with two young boys mimicking the plot of a crime-related television program and ended with misdemeanor charges, a police spokesman said.

Shortly after 7:30 a.m., dozens of law enforcement officers descended on central Port St. Lucie after the boys, acquaintances who ride the same school bus, concocted the abduction report, said Officer Tom Nichols, Port St. Lucie Police spokesman. The incident unfolded over several hours, generating national media attention and escalating into an Amber Alert issued just before 11 a.m. Read the rest of this entry »

An altercation between a husband and wife turned into an attempted murder and suicide this evening, St. Lucie County authorities said.

William Beck, 54, of Fort Pierce, shot his wife Jacqueline Beck, 54, twice and then turn his .32-caliber automatic pistol on himself. William Beck, who shot in himself in the head, was pronounced dead at the scene, while his wife was critically injured, St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken J. Mascara said in a statement. She was transported to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center in Fort Pierce, where she was being treated tonight.

The incident occurred shortly after 5 p.m. in the 3400 block of Fort Walton Avenue, Mascara said. William Beck and Jacqueline Beck were married but not living together.
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