STUART — Stuart Police arrested a man Friday accused of intentionally leaving a woman’s dog locked in a hot car until it died, according to an affidavit released Monday.

Christopher Alan Gunkel, 55, of the 2000 block of Northeast Pinetree Way, was charged with animal cruelty.

The affidavit says Gunkel left the dog in the car with the windows rolled up at an unspecified time Thursday while picking up a prescription near the 600 block of Colorado Avenue.

Gunkel felt too sick to drive home, however, and called a neighbor to give him a ride to his house, the affidavit says. The dog remained in the vehicle until police discovered it dead in the back seat at approximately 10:30 p.m. Friday.

When police questioned Gunkel about leaving the dog in the car, he stated the dog was “sick to begin with,” according to the affidavit.

Gunkel was being held Monday in the Martin County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bond.

TCPalm staff

FORT PIERCE — It’s common to do it to pets and boats.

But cars?

If your 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda is nothing short of divine, you may want to submit it to the Blessing of the Cars as part of their 10:30 Sunday morning worship service. You could bring your Smart Car, too.

Saints Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Church at 1002 Bahama Avenue is inviting residents to the event.

The car blessing will commemorate the Feast of the Prophet Elijah.

“Tradition relates that Elijah was carried up to Heaven in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 1:12),’’ the pastor, Fr. Michael J. Sopoliga, wrote.

Byzantine Catholics are among the 23 “Churches” within the Catholic Church, officials said.

The Byzantine Catholic Church in Fort Pierce celebrates the 4th Century Eucharistic Liturgy of the early Christians. The church’s Slavic kitchen also is known for great pierogies and stuffed cabbage.

So anoint your engine with 10-W-40 if it needs it and visit www.byzcath.org/fortpierce, or call (772) 595-1021, for more information.

By Matt Prichard, TCPalm.com

FELLSMERE — The mother of the 1-year-old boy found dead in a vehicle last month was charged by the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office with aggravated manslaughter of a child.

Alejandra Alvarado, 21, of the 100 block of South Oak Street, Fellsmere, posted $2,500 bail at the Indian River County Jail shortly after she was booked Monday afternoon. Her son, Aiden Alvarado, died after spending at least four hours in the back of his mother’s sport utility vehicle during the afternoon of June 13, detectives said.
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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A device commonly used by air-conditioning technicians is now being used by animal control officers to help them free dogs trapped in hot cars.

Recently, Indian River County Animal Control purchased a couple of infrared thermometers to determine how hot a car is and whether a locksmith should be called to help take an animal out, said Director Jason Ogilvie. The devices cost about $70 and provide an instant temperature reading, as opposed to their previous thermometers, which could take up to five minutes to give a reading, said Animal Control Supervisor Jeff West.

“We had a mercury-type garden thermometer that we would slide into the cars to get the reading,” West said.

That option was less desirable because sometimes the dogs would attack the thermometer, West said. But officers can point the infrared device at a car from a few feet away to get results. West said he learned about the infrared device from a friend in the air-conditioning business.

“People would see the dog in the car while I was waiting on the thermometer and ask me ‘why aren’t you doing anything?’ We need to have evidence if we’re going to enter someone’s car.”

In one case under review for prosecution for abandonment, the animal died from heatstroke, officials said.

“We’re trying to educate the public,” said Ilke Daniel, spokeswoman for the Humane Society. “Sometimes people are unaware of the impact the heat can have.”

Animal Control received almost 70 calls last year for animals left inside cars, all between March and October.

By Lamaur Stancil, TCPalm.com

STUART — An alleged crack dealer’s plan to allow a client to buy him shoes in exchange for drugs was stopped short by Stuart police Friday, according to an affidavit released Monday.

Michael Deshawn Harris, 30, of the 7900 block of Southeast Kingsway Street in Hobe Sound, was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and resisting arrest without violence.

Police had been watching a foreclosed home in the 800 block of Southeast Nassau Street after a suspicious vehicle was reported parked in the driveway several times that day.
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VERO BEACH — The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles upheld its suspension of County Administrator Joe Baird’s driving license for refusing to take a Breathalyzer test May 16, a state official said Monday.

Vero Beach Police charged Baird with DUI and cited him for speeding. The cases are scheduled to come up for court review on July 22 in Indian River County Court.

Under state law, Baird’s license was automatically suspended for refusing to take a roadside breath test for alcohol. His attorney, Bobby Guttridge, appealed the ruling, saying Baird wasn’t properly advised of the penalties for refusing the test.
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VERO BEACH — A 25-year-old man rolled his father’s BMW into the Indian River Lagoon and then jumped 60 feet into the water from the Merrill Barber Bridge — all as a lark, police say.

Charges haven’t been filed in the 2:30 a.m. Monday incident. But George Peniston of the 100 block of Terrapin Point could face legal consequences, said police spokesman Officer John Morrison.

Jumping off a bridge could be considered disorderly conduct punishable by six months in jail.
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FELLSMERE — A 1-year-old boy will be buried Friday as authorities continue the investigation into his death.

Family members found Aiden Alvarado unconscious inside a sports utility vehicle parked in the 100 block of Oak Street about 5 p.m. Saturday, Indian River County Sheriff’s Sgt. Thom Raulen said Thursday. Paramedics from Indian River County Fire Rescue arrived and declared the boy was dead, Raulen said. Family members told investigators the boy was in a car for at least a couple of hours.

The state Medical Examiner’s Office said heat was a prime factor in the boy’s death, Raulen said. Saturday’s high temperature reached 86 degrees in Vero Beach. (more…)

MARTIN COUNTY — When Martin Memorial Medical Center hired a jet in 2003 to repatriate a brain-damaged patient to his native Guatemala, hospital officials “never took the law into their own hands,” according to documents filed ahead of a June 23 trial.

“They never stuffed Mr. (Luis Alberto) Jimenez in the back of a van under the cover of darkness and drove him out of town,” Martin Memorial attorney Scott Michaud stated in papers detailing Jimenez’s predawn flight to Guatemala City on July 10, 2003.

“When Martin Memorial discharged Jimenez to the facility in Guatemala,” Michaud noted, “Martin Memorial did so with the honest belief based on the evidence it uncovered, that the hospital in Guatemala was properly equipped to care for him.”
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STUART — It just doesn’t make sense to Bill Wallace.

Why would Chrysler close a profitable dealership in a growing area?

Why would the beleaguered automaker allow a franchise in out-of-the-way Okeechobee to remain open, while closing several on the more populated Treasure Coast?

He’s selling cars. He bought more of them than he needed from Chrysler this year, at the urging of the company’s top brass, he says.

But his Wallace Chrysler Jeep in Fort Pierce is still slated to shut down after June 9, along with 788 other dealerships that Chrysler decided to close as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition.

“We weathered this tsunami, and in America, you should be rewarded for that, not punished,” said Wallace, a third-generation dealer whose grandfather opened a Chevrolet dealership in West Palm Beach in the 1930s.

Wallace is among more than 300 dealers across the country who have joined forces to fight Chrysler’s decision. The group, called the Committee of Chrysler Affected Dealers, wants more time. More time to prove it would be a mistake to ax them.

But if Chrysler gets its way in bankruptcy court - as many industry watchers believe it will - five Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers between Indiantown Road in Jupiter and Vero Beach will be among those that close next month. (more…)