Thieves shoplifted almost $29,000 in bras and panties from two Victoria’s Secret stores on the Treasure Coast this year.

Most of the amount was stolen in just a handful of incidents, including a grab of more than $12,000 in merchandise from the Indian River Mall store on Nov. 30. And in February, the location at the Treasure Coast Square mall in Jensen Beach had more than $5,200 worth of merchandise stolen, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

“It’s probably the work of professional thieves,” said Chris McGoey, a Los Angeles-based retail theft expert. “Victoria’s Secret isn’t exclusively being targeted, but you probably have a team of thieves who travel from state to state and they’ve targeted Victoria’s Secret because they know how the stores are staffed.”

The law enforcement reports on the crimes expose why thieves may be slipping out of the stores. Employees at both Treasure Coast locations told deputies there are no cameras set up in the stores. Last month following the incident at the Indian River Mall, employees said there are parts of the store that aren’t visible from the checkout counter.
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By MICHAEL LaFORGIA

A man died and a woman was badly hurt in a single-car crash on Interstate 95 near Palm City on Saturday morning, authorities said.
Nicholas F. LaMaina, 77, was killed while riding in a 2007 Cadillac Seville driven by Carolyn LaMaina, 65, according to a Florida Highway Patrol bulletin circulated this morning.
About 10:30 a.m. Saturday, the LaMainas, who lived in Boynton Beach, were driving north on Interstate 95 near mile marker 106 when Carolyn LaMaina apparently lost control of the Cadillac, the bulletin said.
The car veered off the roadway and hit a stand of trees before rolling over.

Nicholas LaMaina, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, died during the crash.

Carolyn LaMaina, who was wearing a seatbelt, was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center in serious condition, the bulletin said.

Click here to sign Nicholas LaMaina’s guestbook.

By JENNIFER SORENTRUE

Administrators at the elementary school that 8-year-old Tristan Allegra had attended since kindergarten said Saturday that there were no warning signs that the boy was in any danger.

Mariposa Elementary School Principal Craig Logue said Tristan was a “wonderful little boy” and a “very bright” student who had many friends and was adored by the school’s staff.

Despite his small stature, Tristan had a deep voice that set him apart from other students, Logue said.

“This is a child that meant a lot to all of us,” Logue said. “I can’t believe that I am going to walk in on (Jan.) 5th and Tristan is not going to be there. He was one of the boys I said good-bye to” before the winter break.

The third-grader was smothered to death by his mother, Eryn Allegra, as he slept in a hotel room on Christmas morning, according to Port St. Lucie police. She has been charged with first-degree murder.

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TCPalm.com and AP

Animal control officials say a white alligator seen resting at a subdivision along Florida’s Atlantic coast is not a rare albino alligator.

Rather, the 300-pound, 10-foot-long adult alligator, gets its color from a coating of white minerals from untreated water pouring out of an artesian well that empties into the lake it swims in.

TCPalm.com

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By JASON SCHULTZ

A St. Lucie County surf shop owner who went missing Friday morning has been found in a patch of weeds on Hutchinson Island, and authorities are trying to figure out how he got there.

Bruce Strunk, 56, was last seen by family members around 9 a.m. this morning when he left the Spunky’s Surf Shop he owns on 1403 North U.S. 1 in St. Lucie County to make a bank deposit, according to a sheriff’s report. He was driving a blue 2006 Dodge Ram pickup. He made the deposit at the bank but never returned to the surf shop. Family members who searched for him found the truck parked at John Brooks Park on Hutchinson Island.
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Eryn Allegra

By ANA X. CERON and ANDREW MARRA

PORT ST. LUCIE — On Christmas morning, Eryn Allegra pushed her son’s little face into a hotel pillow and let go when he stopped kicking.

That’s what Allegra, 31, told police hours after she said she had given 8-year-old Tristan pills to swallow and then smothered him as he slept.

Tristan Allegra

Now Allegra sits in the St. Lucie County jail, where she faces a first-degree murder charge.

“She was the kind of girl who never talked things out,” Allegra’s grandmother, Catherine Whiting, said Friday at her Stuart home. “Never.”

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ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Michael DiFrancesco spends his nights up in a tree overlooking his 12-acre homestead, where the former Marine hopes to catch the coyotes that have been killing his livestock during the past two weeks.

Northern St. Lucie County has a coyote problem that has been escalating over the past several months, according to county Animal Control Officer Ricardo Pellot. (more…)

VERO BEACH — Bringing in college teams from around the country to play at Holman Stadium is one of the options being explored now that the county has rescinded its offer to the Baltimore Orioles.

Indian River County Commissioner Gary Wheeler believes the college teams can have even more of an economic impact for the community than a minor league team. He said relatives, coaches and fans of the teams could fill hotel rooms during the slow summer months of June, July and August. (more…)

Alexander Encarnacion

A joint investigation by state Health Department officials and Fort Pierce police led to Friday’s arrest of Port St. Lucie resident Alexander Encarnacion, who was released from the St. Lucie County jail on Friday after posting $5,250 bond. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — Martin and St. Lucie counties are two of nearly a dozen counties where complaints of possible exposure to the contaminated drywall in new homes have arisen.

The problem may have been sparked by drywall imported during the local construction boom of 2004 and 2005, according to TCPalm.com. (more…)