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.
(more…)

VERO BEACH — A man who secretly buried his mother in their back yard to cover up her death will be serving 20 years in state prison for second-degree murder, court files show.

In mid-2008, Vero Lake Estates resident Kelly Smith, 38, argued with his mother, Lynn Schuler, 59, over his unemployment. (more…)

STUART – Two men and a teenager were arrested last week after police officers found marijuana and cocaine at a house on Bahama Avenue, according to the Stuart Police Department.

Detectives searched 942 Bahama Ave. at 4 p.m. last Friday, according to police. (more…)

VERO BEACH — Ray Adams took his wife Phyllis outside, behind her work place, and told her to hold him as tight as she could — just like he held her.

What he said next devastated her, there in the bright sunshine off Ocean Drive.

Their 19-year-old son Nolan died a few hours earlier on Jan. 25, 2005. He ingested two capsules of the potent drug methadone William McCartney III, 34, is accused of selling to him illegally for $50 the day before in Vero Beach. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — Five people were arrested Monday night after investigators found more than six pounds of cocaine in the kitchen of a home on Sanibel Avenue, according to arrest affidavits released Tuesday.

Investigators with the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration executed a search warrant about 9 p.m. at the home in the 5000 block of Sanibel Avenue.

Investigators found 3 kilograms, or about 6.6 pounds, of cocaine in the kitchen.

Two people whose listed address is the home — Clinton Johnson, 48, and 21-year-old Tierra Clay — each were arrested on a cocaine trafficking charge. Three others there at the time — Quentin Dixon, 38; Dennis Clark, 40; both of Fort Pierce; and Todd Jackson, 42, of Rockledge — each also face a cocaine trafficking charge.

– Will Greenlee

PORT ST. LUCIE — The 54-year-old man said he got the $2,100 from mowing lawns, but police suspected another source: cocaine sales.

Jose A. Santiago Camacho was a passenger in a Ford pickup truck driven about 9 p.m. Sunday by 48-year-old Justo C. Villanueva, according to a police report released Tuesday. Police started following the vehicle after noticing its headlights weren’t on. (more…)