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.
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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…)

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

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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…)

The Little Auction That Could, a Stuart auction that’s raising money for Martin County’s Hibiscus Children’s Center, just sold a Babar book signed by former First Lady Barbara Bush and her son Jeb, the former governor of Florida, for a whopping $850,000 — guaranteeing that the auction will raise more than $1 million!
For more, click here.

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.

PORT ST. LUCIE — A 44-year-old man who threw darts at patrons of Mickey Finns bar and returned to the establishment after being kicked out was arrested, according to a recently released affidavit.

The bartender “cut off” serving drinks to Scott D. Leonard, of the 100 block of Southeast Todd Avenue, late Sunday or early Monday “due to Mr. Leonard’s behavior as he was throwing darts at other patrons.” (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — The City Council came close Monday afternoon to naming Assistant City Manager Jerry Bentrott to replace Don Cooper as the next city manager.

But Councilwoman Michelle Berger put the brakes on the move.

Mayor Patricia Christensen suggested the city enter into contract negotiations with Bentrott, 61, to replace Cooper, who’s resigning Jan. 8 after 20 years with the city.

At least two other council members, Vice Mayor Jack Kelly and Christopher Cooper, were ready to move forward with Christensen’s recommendation and begin negotiations, but Berger was not.

“I’m still in support of looking at a national search if for no other reason than to benchmark the talent that we currently have,” Berger said. “We have two great individuals that can step into the role. I have no doubt. But certainly part of what we should be looking at is making sure that they are the right person.”

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PORT ST. LUCIE — A 34-year-old Port St. Lucie man was arrested Friday and charged with six felonies and misdemeanors after kicking officers and chewing a plastic bag with heroin, according to the St. Lucie County arrest affidavit.

Rodney Gener Delphin of the 400 block of Southeast Walter Terrace, was charged with felony trafficking in opium or derivative more than 4 grams, felony tampering with evidence, two counts of felony resisting arrest with violence and two misdemeanors of resisting arrest without violence.
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The list of those who signed their favorite childhood books and shipped then to Stuart for a charity auction reads like a pop culture Top 100: Poet Maya Angelou; The Apprentice’s Donald Trump; golfer Tiger Woods; former First Lady Barbara Bush; her son, former Gov. Jeb Bush; chimp lover Jane Goodall; former Miami Heat star Shaquille O’Neal; Pres. Barack Obama; Nike’s Phil Knight; Hollywood stars Sean Connery, Steve Martin and Robert Wagner; TV news readers Katie Couric and Brian Williams; Palm Beach musician Jimmy Buffett; and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, among others.

In all, a total 60 A-listers contributed. It took time, nearly two years, said organizer Karla Preissman. The first to respond to her requests was Jeb Bush, who shipped her The Travels of Babar. The last? The prez. Obama rush-mailed a pop up book of the White House two weeks ago.

What charity will benefit? For more, and the pictures of Thursday night’s preview of the auction at the Elliott, please click here.