By Will Greenlee

FORT PIERCE — A St. Lucie County firefighter is charged with voyeurism after admitting to spying on a 19-year-old female paramedic intern as she showered at Station 15, authorities stated Friday.

The Fort Pierce Police Department Friday afternoon charged Carlos Alberto Marti, 36, of the 2000 block of 28th Avenue in Vero Beach, with voyeurism first offense following the incident. On Friday, he was in the St. Lucie County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

A St. Lucie County firefighter is accused of spying on a female paramedic intern while she was in the shower. (Will Greenlee/TCPalm)

“To the female victim, who is a paramedic intern, this incident should never have occurred and is inexcusable behavior,” Chief Ron Parrish wrote in an e-mailed statement. “The District hopes the actions of one firefighter will not affect her future career choices.”

The intern reportedly “saw a male figure looking down at her from the ceiling as she was taking a shower,” according to a police report released Friday.
(more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — A woman died and a man was taken to a local provisional trauma center following a Friday morning motorcycle crash in the St. Lucie West area, a St. Lucie County Fire District spokeswoman said. (more…)

The first reports of Chinese drywall in Treasure Coast homes surfaced more than a year ago, but federal agencies responsible for determining the health and safety risks associated with tainted products aren’t any closer to resolving the problem plaguing thousands of local and nationwide homeowners. (more…)

By Will Greenlee

FORT PIERCE — Serious crimes investigated by Fort Pierce police dropped about 11 percent last year when compared to 2008, continuing an overall trend that began years ago, police stated this week.

The total number of crimes in the categories of homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft and motor vehicle theft investigated by police in 2009 dropped to 3,027 from 3,413 the year before.

Crimes in all categories other than homicide and larceny/theft dropped, with a particularly large decrease coming in the number of robberies, which went from 234 in 2008 to 134 last year.

Other categories with sizable decreases were rapes, which decreased to 47 last year from 69 in 2008, and aggravated assaults, which went from 484 in 2008 to 330 last year.

Homicides, however, doubled from the four in 2008 to eight last year. The number of incidents in the category of larceny/theft also increased, going from 1,628 to 1,653.

According to a release, crime in Fort Pierce peaked in 1985 and generally has been decreasing since then.

PORT ST. LUCIE — St. Lucie County Fire District crews were called Wednesday morning to a crash involving a school bus with children on board and a small car, a fire district spokeswoman said.

No injuries were reported in the crash, officials said.

The bus had 15 children aboard and was headed for Parkway Elementary School, according to Janice Karst, director of communications for St. Lucie schools.

Crews were called at 7:39 a.m. to the incident at Southeast Walters Terrace and Southeast Ocean Lane, Fire District spokeswoman Catherine Chaney said.

No other information was immediately available.

Dogs & Cats Forever, a “no-kill” animal shelter in western St. Lucie County, is inching closer to building a 5,900-square-foot forever home.

Kelly Debus, of Dogs & Cats Forever, checks on a few cats in one of the cat rooms inside the “no-kill” animal shelter in Port St. Lucie. (Eric HAstert/TCPalm)

The new shelter, on 8 acres at the corner of Selvitz and Devine roads, will be more than double the size of the existing shelter on Carlton Road. It will include a swimming pool for dogs, similar to the bone-shaped pool at the Fur Seasons “luxury pet resort” in Stuart; a medical clinic; a memorial garden; and a large inside playroom, said Dogs & Cats Forever’s executive director, Jay Apicella.

“I’m just so excited because this is really a dream,” Apicella said. “This is going to be so much better (than the existing shelter). It’s like a dream to see a place where animals could live without being put to sleep.” (more…)

The Personhood anti-abortion organization will bring its Personhood FL Spring Break Tour 2010 to the Treasure Coast today.

The organization will be in Port St. Lucie at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Port St. Lucie Boulevard, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The rally includes “two ‘truth trucks’ with 45 anti-abortion protestors with large signs of born, pre-born, and aborted babies,” the group said in a news release.

One of the organizers is Pastor Bryan Longworth, director of Personhood FL and associate pastor of Covenant Tabernacle in Port St. Lucie, according to the news release.
(more…)

By Will Greenlee

FORT PIERCE — Two mothers each face a felony child neglect charge after being accused of leaving their children — a 2-year-old girl and a 4-year-old girl — alone while they went dancing, according to arrest affidavits released Monday and a police spokeswoman.

Rosa G. Ortega, 40, and Nancy Rios Betancourt, 33, both of the 300 block of Decordre Court in Fort Pierce, were arrested early Sunday morning after leaving their children alone while they went dancing at a restaurant, according to police.

When an officer arrived about 11:45 p.m. Saturday to a residence in the 300 block of Decordre Court, he found a 4-year-old girl “opening and closing the front door … crying and yelling out mommy.” A 2-year-old girl also was crying and yelling “mommy.” The officer couldn’t find any adults.
(more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — The body of a 40-year-old man believed to have left his home in January wearing boxer shorts and a lightweight sweatshirt may have been found Sunday afternoon in a drainage canal, a police spokesman said Monday.

Police suspect that a “badly decomposed” body is that of Nicholas Edward Halliday. The body was found Sunday afternoon in a canal behind the Windy Pines Estates community by two people walking a dog, said Officer Tom Nichols, police spokesman. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — A 20-year-old Port St. Lucie man is accused of punching a pregnant woman in the face early Sunday, according to the Port St. Lucie Police Department arrest affidavit.

Kenchavious L. Jones of the 600 block of Southwest Todd Avenue was arrested before 8 a.m. Sunday and charged with aggravated battery. Deputies were dispatched to a dispute and found the woman, who was eight months pregnant, had locked herself in the bathroom.

Jones was intoxicated, according to the affidavit. The woman said they were in a verbal argument about a purse, and he punched her in the face with a closed fist.

He said they were in a verbal argument when she fell and hit her face with an unknown object, according to the affidavit.

Jones remained in the St. Lucie County jail Sunday with a $50,000 bail.