ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Law enforcement officials Monday are searching for two suspects in an early morning burglary or attempted burglary of a Radio Shack in St. Lucie West, a Port St. Lucie police spokesman said.

About 5:10 a.m., police were dispatched to the business in St. Lucie West after a burglar alarm went off, said Officer Tom Nichols, police spokesman.

Two people fled north on Interstate 95, exiting onto Midway Road,

They apparently bailed out of their vehicle in the area of Glades Cut-Off Road, east of I-95. Police and St. Lucie County Sheriff’s officials had 16 units on the scene, including canine units and a helicopter, to search for the suspects, spokesman Mark Weinberg said.

By Will Greenlee, tcpalm.com

It took Denise Brown more than a decade to deal with her anger from her sister’s highly publicized death.

But only last year was she able to start sharing her family’s experience of losing Nicole Brown Simpson in June of 1994. (more…)

STUART — All 139 charges filed against an attorney’s legal assistant arrested in June 2008 on suspicion of stealing from her boss were dropped Monday, according to the Martin County Clerk of Court Web site.

Port St. Lucie resident Wandalyn Jackson of Port St. Lucie was arrested by Stuart Police Department detectives on suspicion of writing herself more than 50 checks totaling more than $15,000 from her employer’s probate law firm in Stuart. The case was scheduled to go to trial Monday.

The 139 counts against Jackson were a combination of charges of grand theft, petit theft, forgery and uttering, or using, a forged document.

FORT PIERCE — Two co-defendants arrested in the Kobie Gary marijuana growing case were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.

David Jeffrey Grant of Jensen Beach was sentenced to five years in prison followed by four years’ supervised release, and Steven Shepherd of Hobe Sound was sentenced to 15 months in prison followed by three years’ supervised release, both after pleading guilty to similar charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 100 or more marijuana plants.

Grant was arrested in December after authorities matched his fingerprints to light tubes found in a Hobe Sound house that were part of a lighting system used to grow pot plants. Shepherd and Gary, 30, the son of prominent Stuart attorney Willie Gary, were arrested Oct. 27 at the same house.

Gary pleaded guilty in January to a similar charge of conspiracy to grow and distribute marijuana as part of a deal in which federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss two charges related to maintaining a place to cultivate, possess and distribute more than 100 pot plants.

He faces at least five years in prison when he’s sentenced April 7 in Miami by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, who sentenced Grant and Shepherd.

Gary’s attorney, Richard Kibbey has filed paperwork claiming his client was singled out for prosecution and has said he’ll ask for a “safety valve exception” that would allow a shorter prison term by showing Gary wasn’t a ringleader or used guns in the offenses.

FORT PIERCE — The mystery of convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein’s whereabouts may be solved.

Authorities at the St. Lucie County Jail in Fort Pierce confirmed Tuesday that an inmate with Rothstein’s name and date of birth is being held there “for housing only.” The jail database does not list what charges the inmate is being held on.

The federal Bureau of Prisons Web site listed Rothstein as having been “released” from the Miami Federal Detention Center on Friday. However, federal authorities said he’s still in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Rothstein pleaded guilty in January to masterminding a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme and he is facing up to life in prison when he is sentenced on May 6.

Rothstein’s defense attorney Marc Nurik said Monday that Rothstein had an unspecified “medical incident” last week and was taken to a hospital for treatment, and that Rothstein was either still receiving medical treatment or is being moved between detention centers.

“I was advised he’s in transit, that he’s in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service,” Nurik said Monday. “He’s not with prosecutors, he’s not talking to the government. He had a medical incident last week and he was taken out to the hospital.”

Nurik was able to provide only a few more details Tuesday morning. He said he still had not learned what medical condition Rothstein had, but that it was not life threatening.

“He was not beaten up, attacked, or whatever,” Nurik said. “He had some kind of medical incident. I have not seen the records yet, but apparently it was not life threatening. He was experiencing some distress and was taken out of the facility for tests and observations.”

Rothstein has said in court that he is taking medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He is also taking Zoloft for “anxiety,” he has told the judge in his case.

Federal prosecutors and marshals are typically tight-lipped when it comes to the movements of federal detainees and inmates, for security reasons. Alicia Valle, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Barry Golden, a spokesman for the Marshals Service, would say only that Rothstein remains in federal custody, without offering any more details.

The federal government contracts with jails to hold detainees, and Nurik said Rothstein may have been moved to free up space at the Miami detention center.

“It could be as simple of bed space. He is not needed again until May,” said Nurik, before making light of the situation with a reference to Rothstein’s expensive taste in cars, including a $1.5 million Bugatti seized by authorities.

“I am not overjoyed that he is now in St. Lucie County because now I have to take my Bugatti, and I don’t want to put the mileage on my Bugatti,” Nurik joked. “If he were cooperating, he would be at the Fountainebleau, or the W. at least. He is not cooperating. He is out of sight and out of mind, right now.”

The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office announced it charged a school bus aide Tuesday with child neglect for allowing an autistic child to injure himself on a bus.

Investigators said Patricia Davis, 44, of the 700 block of Avenue E, Fort Pierce, stood by while the child smashed his head against a bus window until it cracked during a ride to school last month.

Officials for the sheriff’s office and the St. Lucie County School District said they will not release the name of the school to protect the identity of the child.

A school resource deputy said a security video on the bus showed the child beginning to bang his head against a window at 9:10 a.m. Feb. 8. Davis gave the child a couple of treats, for which he stopped the behavior temporarily, the arrest affidavit said. After the treats, the child resumed banging his head, the affidavit states. The student was also striking himself in the face, the affidavit states. After seven minutes of nonstop thrashing, Davis began rubbing his shoulders to calm him down.

The student was treated by the school nurse for cuts and swelling to his head, she told deputies. The child’s father took the boy to the hospital, which determined he suffered no serious damage, deputies said.

The school’s behavior technician told deputies school employees are trained to respond to head-banging behavior by redirecting or blocking a student from the object, the affidavit states. But the school bus driver told deputies the school aide was hesitant to step in.

“I don’t think we’re allowed to touch him,” was Davis’ statement to the driver, he told investigators.

Davis, who has worked for the school system for more than nine years, was being held at the St. Lucie County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail.

School officials declined comment on the arrest.

“I have no comment at this time pending any ultimate conclusions that may come through the legal system at a later time,” Schools Superintendent Michael Lannon said.

School District spokeswoman Janice Karst said Davis has been reassigned away from students.

Staff writer Colleen Wixon contributed to this report.

Witnesses said a Port St. Lucie woman was speeding before a crash that killed her and injured two others when she crashed into an ambulance at a Fort Pierce intersection late Tuesday afternoon.

Witnesses said a Port St. Lucie woman was speeding before a crash that killed her and injured two others when she crashed into an ambulance at a Fort Pierce intersection late Tuesday afternoon. TCPalm.com

The crash happened shortly after 6 p.m. at Virginia Avenue and 25th Street, according to Fort Pierce police spokeswoman Audria Moore.

An ambulance, driven by St. Lucie County Firefighter William Hines, was at the intersection of Virginia Avenue and 25th Street to make a left turn onto 25th Street, when a Nissan SUV, driven by Germaine Lindor, 63, of the 2600 block of NW Batches Harbor Road, Port St. Lucie, entered the intersection and collided with the passenger side of the ambulance, according to Moore.

The impact tipped the ambulance over on its driver side and caused it to spin around and skid on its side for about 50 feet. The SUV continued traveling north on 25th Street until it came to a stop.

Witness William Kelly said Lindor’s SUV was traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash.

“This is a 45 (mph zone) and it was doing twice that, no problem at all. Ninety, easy,’’ Kelly said. “I saw her 50 feet away from the intersection. I couldn’t believe that she wasn’t slowing down. … Hit that hump, it seemed like her truck left the ground and jumped up in the air and hit the ambulance.’’

Lindor was pronounced dead at the scene.

Hines and his passenger, Christopher Doyle, were transported to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute. Hines was treated and released. Doyle, transported in critical condition, improved slightly overnight, officials said.

Fort Pierce police were still investigating the crash

Lt. Jim Tedder said Tuesday night that the exact speed of the SUV had not yet been determined.

“How fast was she going when she hit that ambulance? I’m not able to give you a speed on the vehicle right now,” Tedder said. “Obviously from the debris field and the impact, it appears to be substantial but our traffic homicide investigator will make that determination.”

All County Ambulance is a Florida-based private medical transport company.

FORT PIERCE — One person was killed and two were injured in a crash between an SUV and an ambulance Tuesday evening.

An SUV collided with an ambulance shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday, north of the intersection of 25th Street and Virginia Avenue, a Fort Pierce Police news release said. The SUV’s driver, Germaine Lindor, 63, of Port St. Lucie, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The ambulance’s driver, St. Lucie County firefighter William Hines, and a passenger, Christopher Doyle, were transported to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center. Hines was treated and released, while Doyle was in critical condition, the release said.

CBS 12 reported Wednesday evening that Doyle’s left leg was injured so badly that doctors had to amputate.

According to the police release, the SUV was traveling north on 25th street when it entered the intersection and collided with the passenger side of the ambulance. The impact tipped the ambulance over on its driver side and caused it to spin around, the release said.

FORT PIERCE — A 32-year-old resident who was injured in a fall outside her apartment was awarded a judgment of slightly more than $1 million last week against a landlord who failed to fix faulty handrails.

Tags: handrails, lawsuit, slum lord
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