FORT PIERCE — Sitting in a living room filled with marijuana smoke, Alfred Foster Welling III had a problem: St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office investigators executing a search warrant at his home.

Welling’s encounter with the law enforcers in the 1900 block of South 34th Street ended Thursday with his arrest on felony charges including cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent and possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, according to recently obtained records.
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SEBASTIAN — The woman who kept her mother’s mummified remains in a bedroom of their home for six years told police she never reported the death because she couldn’t afford burial expenses.

According to interview records released Tuesday, Penelope Sharon Jordan had maintained the ruse over the deception of the fate of Timmie Jordan since 2003. The story she gave to a Sebastian officer Monday morning was that her mother, who was born in 1913, was living in Melbourne. However, officers said Penelope Jordan couldn’t provide an address for where her mother was staying.
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FORT PIERCE — After an officer pulled cocaine from Bobby L. Burgess’ pants pocket, the 44-year-old local man said he was wearing his son’s trousers.

But that revelation did not keep Burgess out of jail following a Monday morning police encounter.
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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A law enforcement officer is accused of punching a woman, sitting on her head and threatening to kill her while they were arguing, according to an arrest affidavit.

Robert Szoyka, 44, has worked for the North Palm Beach Public Safety Department for 2 ½ years, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He posted $500 bail at the Indian River County Jail Thursday.

Deputies were called to Szoyka’s Indian River home at 10 p.m. Wednesday, his arrest affidavit said. He told the deputies there wasn’t a problem, and a woman inside the home refused to talk, the report said.

However, the woman called deputies back to her home at 12:30 a.m. Thursday after Szoyka left, authorities said. She told deputies Szoyka had punched her, sat on her head and threatened to kill her, the affidavit said. She said Szoyka had removed batteries from the phones in the home before he left, the report said.

Deputies took Szoyka into custody after they found him sleeping in his car, which was parked in the 2600 block of Fifth Street Southwest.

Officials in North Palm Beach could not be reached for comment Friday.

By Lamaur Stancil, TCPalm.com

STUART — A jailed Jensen Beach pastor accused of bilking investors out of more than $8 million in fraudulent real estate schemes will act as his own attorney at his trial set for March 23, a judge ruled Thursday.

Rodney McGill and his wife, Shalonda McGill, were arrested in September, and charged with racketeering, first-degree grand theft, obtaining a mortgage by false representation and other counts.

But if McGill gets his way, his trial won’t take place in Martin County — a point he repeated to Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — A confessed marijuana grower turned himself in Tuesday, a week after robbers bound him naked and stole dozens of pot plants from his Port St. Lucie home, according to police.

Jose Matilde Gomez, 60, of Miami was charged with trafficking and cultivating marijuana and possession of marijuana. He was being held Wednesday in lieu of $170,000 bail.

At least one of the men who robbed Gomez was taken into custody Thursday in Broward County on an unrelated matter, according to Gomez’s arrest affidavit. When detectives searched the suspect’s vehicle, they found 37 marijuana plants, the report said. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — A 19-year-old woman is accused of cutting her girlfriend with a 10-inch kitchen knife and is being held at the St. Lucie County Jail on a $100,000 bail, according to tcpalm.com.

Amanda D. Wilson, of the 700 block of S. 29th St., faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in connection with the incidents that began at 1:11 a.m. Thursday.

The 19-year-old victim told police she and her live-in girlfriend argued.

“The argument became very heated and she grabbed a knife from the kitchen,” the report states. “(The victim) stated that she realized how out of hand the argument was getting and threw the knife down and walked away.”

The victim went to attend to her son, whom the dispute woke, and Wilson picked up the knife and held it to her girlfriend’s throat, the report states. She started cutting the victim’s arms and hands, which had superficial lacerations, the report states.

Aaron W. Benson

Last Wednesday Michael Williams reported to Martin County Sheriff’s deputies that someone had burglarized his Hobe Sound mobile home when he was out at work. When he returned, Williams said he found a safe, money, jewelry and blank checks were missing.

Michael B. Williams

Rodney Davis

A registered sex offender is behind bars on $1 million bail after he repeatedly forced a St. Lucie County girl to have sex with him since she was 12, authorities said.

The girl, now 16, told St. Lucie County Sheriff’s investigators that Rodney E. Davis had been abusing her since he was released from prison in 2004.

At that time, he had been serving a seven-year, three-month sentence after he had been found guilty in 1998 of sexually abusing a teen and other charges, state records show.

The girl told deputies Davis, 39, forced her to have sex with him and perform sexual acts throughout a four-year span.

Davis, of Fort Pierce, faces four counts of sexual battery and is being held at the St. Lucie County jail.

Staff researcher Niels Heimeriks contributed to this story.