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.
(more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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

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.
(more…)

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

(more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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.
(more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — The incident of a girl who may have been abducted Wednesday morning is now said to be a hoax, police announced about noon.

A police spokesman said there was no little girl.

There was “a lot of wasted resources today,” said Officer Tom Nichols, police spokesman, of all the law enforcement agencies that assisted with this search.

An Amber Alert was issued shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday for a girl police thought was abducted as she walked along Midtown Road near Port St. Lucie Boulevard earlier in the morning.

Two boys described the girl as being between 7 and 8 years old, white with dark hair. She was last seen wearing a blue skirt and a pink or purple shirt.

“After interviewing the boys for quite a few hours, they have recanted their story and said it was made up — it was a hoax,” Nichols said. “The only validity to it was there was an actual white van on Midtown (Road) here, everything after it about the girl bring abducted is in fact a hoax.”

Nichols said detectives are trying to find out why they made up such a story.

It’s not clear what school the boys attend.

Nichols suspects investigators will be speaking with the parents of the boys “to find out why they made up this story.” Nichols said it’s possible the kids could face criminal charges.

The Amber Alert had said the child might be in the company of two Hispanic males, approximately 20 to 30 years old with dark hair, both wearing blue or black T-shirts. It said they were thought to have been involved in the abduction and might be traveling in a white, possibly newer model panel van with t-style brushed aluminum rims.

Two 8- to 9-year-old boys walking to their bus stop at Southeast Pinero Road originally reported to police seeing a “suspicious van” driving south on Midtown Road about 7:25 a.m. when the van changed directions and went north. They said the van passed them and the occupants are thought to have taken the girl, according to police.

“They witnessed the van allegedly abduct this child,” Nichols said earlier during the search, adding the boys said the girl was kicking and screaming when they grabbed her and took off.

Police checked the public schools to make sure all the children are in school and no one was missing.

White vans were being stopped in hopes of finding the girl and police checked all sex offenders and/or predators in the area.

A flurry of law enforcement officers and vehicles descended on the area. A helicopter hovered over the area, at one point broadcasting information about the abduction and asking anyone with information to call 911.

Several law enforcement K-9 teams from throughout the state that were training in Martin County arrived at the scene to assist.