Joseph Warren Hill

By Will Greenlee

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. – It was a story involving gas money and a .25-caliber pistol hidden in a KFC chicken bucket.

In the end, a 54-year-old man was arrested Monday on a felony charge after accusations he pointed a gun at his son in the 2300 block of St. Lucie Boulevard in northern St. Lucie County, according to an affidavit released Tuesday.

The son told a sheriff’s deputy he asked his dad, Joseph Warren Hill, whether he was going to shoot him over $3. Hill said, “Yes,” according to the son.

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By Ed Killer

STUART — The weekend deaths on a Central Florida lake of three boat racing enthusiasts, including two men from Martin County, will not halt plans for the return of powerboat racing to Treasure Coast waters.

Rusty Sedlak, president of the Stuart Sailfish Regatta, said the event will take place April 14-15 on the waters of the Indian River Lagoon at Stuart Causeway. He said the losses of Chuck Woodruff, 64, of Jensen Beach and Mark Van Winkle, 53, of Stuart, deeply sadden the boat racing community, but families of both racers want to see the regatta take place to renew the area’s tie to powerboat racing.

“Losing them was something no one ever expected,” said Sedlak, a former race boat driver and team owner. “It’s such an unbelievable tragedy to lose two guys who were so ensconced in the sport of racing for so many years.” (more…)

By James Kirley

Two Martin County race boat enthusiasts were among three men who were killed in two separate incidents this weekend during an exhibition of classic race boats on Lake Dora in Central Florida.

Mark VanWinkle, 53, of Stuart, died early Saturday afternoon while piloting a 16-foot homemade Jersey Skiff race boat. Investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that VanWinkle and passenger Lorrain Moody, 47, of Lake Placid, were ejected from the boat after it hit a wave. VanWinkle was killed after his head was struck by the propeller of another Jersey Skiff, driven by Phillip Marney, 18, of Jensen Beach, FWC officials reported.

Moody was later released from the hospital. Both she and VanWinkle were wearing helmets and life jackets, FWC reported.

Neither Marney nor his passenger, Timothy “TJ” Sohn, of Port St. Lucie, were reported to be injured. Sohn’s age was not available.

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By Adam Geller, Rachel LaCorte and The Associated Press

LAKE TAPPS, Wash. — The military has listed Jensen Beach as the home of record of the man accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians last week.

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who completed a two-year associate college degree in 1992, joined the Army in 2001, the Army said.

Bales listed his home as being Jensen Beach but he grew up in Ohio and now lives in Washington. It wasn’t immediately apparent Saturday how he was connected to Jensen Beach or why he listed Jensen Beach as his home with the military.

Florida records show that Bales was a director at an inactive company called Spartina Investments Inc. in Doral; his brother, Mark Bales, and a Mark Edwards were also listed as directors.

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By Elliott Jones, TCPalm.com

PORT ST. LUCIE — Little League officials who had around 100 players as close as 100 feet from a fatal shooting this week at Sportsman’s Park said they are concerned that promises of a heavier police presence will be temporary only.

And a youth basketball coach said he has stopped using the courts after bystanders wanting to use the facility often used profanity and intimidated his preteen players.

Police patrols are being increased around the park’s two outdoor basketball courts, which are closed for a week after a fatal shooting that stemmed from an on-court argument, city officials said.

The closing is to “provide a message to those who refute the law” at a popular city park on a main road by three churches nearby, said acting City Manager Greg Oravec.

But Little League officials — who had around 100 youth players as well as parents and volunteers at a ball field not far from the courts — said they are concerned that the patrols will not solve the long-term problem of fighting on the court, a league official said Friday

“If they want to keep the courts open, we want major police presence after 5 p.m.,” said Port St. Lucie National Little League president Amy Gustin.

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Frank A. Wacha, Jr., 61, shows off the surfboard he was using when a shark bit his left arm Thursday afternoon at Jensen Public Beach. (KEONA GARDNER/TCPalm.com)

Keona Gardner, TCPalm.com

JENSEN BEACH — Surfer Frank A. Wacha Jr., knew he had a problem Thursday afternoon when he saw a bull shark hanging off his left arm.

“It felt just like I had been hit,” said Wacha, 61. “It was very fast. It didn’t last long.”

It was the first time Wacha, who has 50 years experience riding the waves, had been bitten by a shark.

He recounted his experience Friday afternoon while recovering at his restaurant, Kona Beach Cafe.

The avid surfer was 120 to 150 yards offshore Jensen Public Beach on his surfboard when he felt something leap out of the water and attach itself to his arm.

“My arm was out of the water,” he said. “I looked over and saw this shark. We were eye to eye.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘I need to get a wave and get to shore,’” Wacha said. “Then I thought, ‘I hope I don’t lose function in this arm.’ I knew I wasn’t going to lose the arm because it was still attached.”

Soon after sinking its teeth into Wacha’s flesh, the shark fell off, but not before leaving bite marks from Wacha’s forearm to upper arm.

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David Dwyer

By Keona Gardner

STUART — When a would-be burglar saw he couldn’t outrun the Stuart Police, he tried to outswim them.

About 1:17 a.m. Thursday police responded to an attempted burglary in the 1200 block of Norton Lane after a resident noticed a man wearing all white trying to break into her home, according to the arrest affidavit.

Officers saw a man, later identified as David Dwyer, 44, running away. Officer chased him and Dwyer jumped into Poppleton Creek and began swimming toward the St. Lucie River, a police news release states.

A good Samaritan volunteered to take officers on his boat to apprehend the man, a news release states. Several times officers beckoned to Dwyer and asked him to give up and get on the boat, but the man refused and continued swimming. (more…)

By Jim Mayfield

STUART — At 3 p.m. today the jury recommended the death sentence for Ricky Silva.

Silva, convicted by a Martin County jury last week of first-degree murder, sat Monday with his back to two men he robbed at knifepoint in 2007, and when one called him a monster, the 32-year-old never flinched.

Jurors reconvened Monday to hear evidence and argument before rendering an advisory opinion as to whether Silva will serve a life sentence without parole or die for the October 2009 murder of his Martin Correctional Institution cellmate Terry Bell.

Walter Dodson told jurors Silva approached him outside a South Florida convenience store in May 2007 and asked for a cigarette.

“I was going to give him a half pack because he looked like he was homeless and down and out,” Dodson told jurors.

The next thing he knew, Silva had a large knife against his ribs demanding his wallet and car and acting “like an absolute monster,” Dodson said.

In the early hours of May 4, 2007, Silva bound Fort Lauderdale resident Steven Casalegno with computer cord and held him at knife point while ransacking Casalegno’s apartment and later forced Casalegno to drive to an ATM where Silva emptied the bank accont.

“If I didn’t cooperate, he said he would kill,” Casalegno told jurors.

Silva turned his chair away from the witness stand and made no eye contact with either of the state’s witnesses Monday.
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Roy Hopkins

By Keona Gardner

HOBE SOUND — A 60-year-old Hobe Sound man is accused of forcing a woman to have sex with him by threatening her with a knife, according to Martin County Sheriff’s Office arrest reports.

Deputies on Monday charged Roy Hopkins, whose address was not listed, with sexual battery with a deadly weapon.

About 8:30 p.m. Sunday, the woman said she was in her son’s room when Roy Hopkins entered the room naked, holding a large knife and saying, “I’m going to (expletive) you.” (more…)

By Paul Ivice

STUART — A 22-year-old Riviera Beach man was sentenced Wednesday to two life terms in prison without parole for shooting at a Stuart police officer during a convenience store robbery.

Luke Tafari Bowen was convicted in late January of three charges in connection with his participation in the robbery of the RaceTrac on U.S. 1 in North Stuart, which was the culmination of a two-hour spree of pre-dawn armed robberies on May 1, 2010, in Boynton Beach, Jupiter and Stuart.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl showed Chief Circuit Judge Steven Levin a security video of a robbery of a 7-Eleven in Boynton Beach that had not been shown in the trial. Stuart Police Detective Jeff Kittredge testified that the video showed Bowen shooting a clerk in the back who was trying to flee the robbers.

Bowen still faces charges in Palm Beach County related to the Boynton Beach and Jupiter robberies.

Noting the “reprehensible facts of the case,” Levin sentenced Bowen to concurrent life terms for attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and robbery with a deadly weapon.

A third count — attempted felony murder of a law enforcement officer — was merged with the first for sentencing purposes.
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