FORT PIERCE — A man who police have said could be responsible for 20 burglaries or attempted burglaries of occupied homes since March was arrested Tuesday afternoon.

Police, with the help of a U.S. Marshals Service task force, apprehended Derrick L. Hickman, 33, for whom investigators obtained an arrest warrant in connection with a May attempted burglary in the 1600 block of Havana Avenue.

Investigators suspect Hickman could be responsible for 19 other burglaries or attempted burglaries, Fort Pierce police Sgt. Dennis McWilliams has said.
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STUART — Nine years ago, a drunk Donald Flewellen drove a stolen van across the center line, causing a collision that killed two people and left illegal Guatemalan immigrant Luis Jimenez permanently brain damaged.

Less than four months after his December release from prison for two counts of DUI manslaughter, authorities say Flewellen, 52, was behind the wheel of a borrowed car and caused a hit-and-run crash with property damage in Fort Pierce.

Already charged with two counts of violating his supervised release, court papers show when Flewellen returns to court Aug. 17, he’ll face additional charges of leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and driving on a revoked driver’s license related to an April 5 traffic collision.
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Theresa Caputo of Stuart, in black, hugs another woman Wednesday at the scene of a memorial that was built along Cove Road near Stuart. Caputo, a mother of three, said her children all knew and grew up with those killed. (DEBORAH SILVER/Treasure Coast Newspapers)

A few teenagers in board shorts and T-shirts lifted their sunglasses just long enough to wipe away their tears and hug one another in the grass along Cove Road Wednesday afternoon as they stood above a swelling memorial site.

Amid her tears, a mother bent down, reached through the letters, flowers and mementos and clutched a golf ball in her hand.

Angela Coady said she knew one of her son Nick’s friends had put it there intending for it to stay, but when she saw it she decided she had to take it with her.

“The last time I saw him he was going to play golf. He was happy as a lark,” she said. “The next time I saw him, he was dead.”

Nick Coady, 18, and his friends — Christopher Harold Briglio, 18, and Connor William Graver, 16, — were all killed early Tuesday when the Jeep Grand Cherokee that Coady was driving slammed into the back of a John Deere truck and overturned.

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VERO BEACH — Indian River County Administrator Joe Baird’s first public appearance in his DUI case came Wednesday in a court hearing that was quickly postponed at the request of defense and prosecution attorneys.

The attorneys said they needed more time to prepare their cases.

But Indian River County Judge David Morgan told the attorneys he intends to set the case for trial the week of Aug. 24.

Baird has pled not guilty to DUI and speeding charges and is asking for a jury trial.

Outside the courtroom, Baird, 52, declined comment on the advice of his attorney. He was accompanied by his girlfriend, Karen Deigl, president of the Indian River Senior Resource Association, who was there for moral support and to drive him to the hearing, Baird said.

The state revoked Baird’s driving license because he refused to take a Breathalyzer test at the time of his arrest on the night of May 16.

Baird’s case next comes up for court review on Aug. 19 when Morgan is scheduled to take up what he didn’t hear Wednesday: Defense attorney Bobby Guttridge’s request that charges against Baird be dismissed because he said police didn’t have justifiable reasons for stopping him.

Police said he was speeding and made a wide turn, according to court records.

Also, Guttridge wants Morgan to suppress Baird’s statement to police that he was going to the Long Branch Saloon, a bar in Vero Beach, when he was stopped by police.

Assistant State Attorney David Dodd said he may have some additional witnesses. Before trial, attorneys are allowed to interview witnesses who may be called to testify at trial.

By Elliott Jones, TCPalm.com

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The attorney for County Administrator Joe Baird says the police traffic stop that led to Baird’s arrest on DUI and speeding charges was illegal.

And on Wednesday, attorney Bobby Guttridge plans to ask County Judge David Morgan to throw out the case, according to court documents. (more…)

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

HUTCHINSON ISLAND — The fizzling economy continues to keep progress at a standstill on the new Oceanside Resort hotel on Hutchinson Island.

The new resort, which is slated to replace the partially destroyed 184-room Holiday Inn Oceanside just south of Jensen Beach Causeway, was scheduled for completion by next year. But Huizenga Holdings, which now owns the complex, is still trying to secure all necessary permits and retool its business plan in accordance with the economic downturn. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — A Georgia man accused of walking naked along a beach about 100 yards from two children and their parents faces an exposure charge, according to a recently released arrest affidavit.

Kevin Francis Gallagher, 61, reportedly was spotted Tuesday afternoon by a St. Lucie County Sheriff’s deputy in a patrol boat. He also had a gun in a bag.

The deputy sighted Gallagher, of Snellville, Ga., about 100 yards north of where two children and their parents were swimming. The incident occurred in the 5500 block of South Ocean Drive.

“There was also a couple that told me they were walking down the beach towards the suspect and had to turn around and walk the opposite direction because the suspect was standing at the water edge,” the affidavit states.

Arrested on a misdemeanor charge of exposure of sexual organs, Gallagher was handcuffed and a gun was found in his carry bag.

The affidavit does not specify why Gallagher, listed as unemployed, was walking naked.

By Will Greenlee, TCPalm.com

FORT PIERCE — Five men caught snipping “buds” off pot plants in a Port St. Lucie house in May 2008 face up to 11 years in prison after being convicted Friday of cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

After a four-day trial at the St. Lucie County Courthouse, a jury deliberated about four hours Thursday evening and Friday morning before reaching guilty verdicts for Reinaldo R. Ramos, 35, of Hialeah, and Jose V. Alvarez-Hernandez, 55, Luis O. Leal, 33, Manuel Gonzalez, 35, and Jose Antonio Blain, 42, all of Miami.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — A lock on the door was the only notice Jessica Rufo got that Hayes World Day Care & Learning Center had closed.

Rufo, a St. Lucie County School District employee, is keeping her 3-year-old daughter at home for the summer, but had left Hayes World about $500 to hold a spot for Elizabeth in the fall. Driving by the Darwin Boulevard center this weekend, Rufo noticed locks on the door.

A message on Hayes World’s phone service said the day-care center is “temporarily closed,” but offered no other information.
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