ST. LUCIE COUNTY — A 25-year-old Fort Pierce resident was killed Saturday night in a three-vehicle accident in northern St. Lucie County, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.

Juan Alberto Lopez was northbound on King’s Highway just before 10 p.m. when he lost control of his vehicle about 500 feet south of Palomar Parkway and crossed into the southbound lane into the path of two vehicles, according to the report.

The first vehicle, driven by Port St. Lucie resident Lacy Catherine Mahon, 17, swerved and hit the left front of Lopez’ vehicle. Mahon and her passenger, Fort Pierce resident Taryn M. Horvath, also 17, sustained minor injuries.
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

STUART — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is looking into fraud allegations regarding the Martin County School District’s facilities and maintenance departments, officials confirmed Wednesday.

But whether criminal charges will be filed based on the alleged violations to Martin County School Board policies has not been decided, said Richard Piccininni, resident agent in charge for the department of law enforcement.

“There’s a possible fraud case that’s involved,” said Piccininni said, whose department started investigating about a month ago. “We’ve really just begun to look into it.”

The investigation was first made public at Tuesday’s Martin County School Board meeting after School Board Attorney Doug Griffin asked board members to excuse him from responding to a public records request from Riviera Beach-based Florida Mechanical because the district’s education technology department removed documents related to the records request from his computer.

“The concern is that the computer files were absolutely removed from my office computers, actually making it impossible for me to do my job,” Griffin said. “They were just gone from my office’s computers.”

Schools Superintendent Nancy Kline said the documents were related to the ongoing law enforcement investigation, which makes them protected information. The investigation stems from an anonymous complaint related to purchasing, contracting and procurement by the facilities and maintenance department. Two employees were fired after the district looked into the matter.

Florida Mechanical was mentioned in the Martin schools’ investigation as a company the district allegedly overpaid for maintenance and repair services for cooling, heating and ventilation systems.

The Florida Auditor General’s Office has also conducted an audit of the school district’s operations but has not released a final report yet.

Board members agreed to excuse Griffin from dealing with the request, but expressed concern with how the issue was handled. Some board members also said they were unaware of the law enforcement investigation until Tuesday.

“It gives the appearance of wrongdoing,” said longtime board member David “Doc” Anderson. “If I get on the stand I’d say this place is a mess and I’m not surprised by it.”

The files removed from Griffin’s computer are in a secure location and have not been “destroyed, modified or deleted,” said Steve Weil, the district’s executive director of educational technology.
Kelly Tyko, TCPalm.com

SEBASTIAN — Police investigators said they uncovered a criminal enterprise involving ill-gotten prescription drugs, out-of-state pill smuggling and stolen auto parts when they searched a home last weekend.

Investigators spent 30 hours searching an undisclosed home late Friday and most of Saturday, said Sebastian Officer Steve Marcinik, police spokesman. Eight investigators recovered more than 3,000 pills with a street value of $60,000, as well as $6,500 worth of stolen property and $4,500 cash, investigators said.

“This shows a direct link between theft and the illegal prescription drug business,” Marcinik said.
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FORT PIERCE — The driver of a school bus involved in a Monday morning crash at 25th Street and Orange Avenue was at fault in the incident that sent a woman and a student to a local hospital, according to the Fort Pierce police.

The St. Lucie County school bus, driven by Maria Rossi, 60, was eastbound on Orange Avenue about 6:45 a.m. as a 1998 Nissan Sentra driven by 55-year-old Claudiette Compere traveled west. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — Shelitta Woods calls the past six months “miserable.”

“You got to understand, it’d been like 13, 14 years before I had another child,” Woods said. “It was just me and Lil’ Bo, just me and Lil’ Bo, everywhere I go, me and Lil’ Bo.”

Woods’ 16-year-old son, Torenda “Lil’ Bo” Youngblood Jr., was fatally shot at his bus stop March 9, two days after Demetrius Wells, 18, sustained fatal wounds in a drive-by shooting. Two men also were hit by gunfire during separate shootings between the homicides. (more…)

VERO BEACH — The DUI trial of County Administrator Joe Baird continues today with more defense witnesses testifying about his physical condition before his arrest at 10:25 p.m. May 16 in Vero Beach.

Baird “appeared perfectly normal to me” around 10 p.m., Baird’s long-time friend John Binkley testified Tuesday at the end of trial testimony for the day.

Testimony is expected to end today, possibly in time for the case to go to jurors for a decision.
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FORT PIERCE — A 22-year-old man accused of forcing a teen girl to perform a sex act on him before raping her at his mother’s home faces felony charges, according to an arrest affidavit released Monday.

The 16-year-old girl told police Sunday she met Timothy E. Mitz, of the 2800 block of Avenue H, about three to four weeks ago and engaged in “semi-consensual” sexual activities during that time.

She told investigators she was at Mitz’s mother’s residence on the 700 block of South 29th Street and went to sleep about 3 a.m. Sunday.
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MARTIN COUNTY — The owner of Gold Coast Towing was arrested Wednesday after a Martin County Sheriff’s Office investigation showed he was overcharging for services, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

After an in-house audit performed by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, reports showed Gerard Jean Landru, owner of Gold Coast Towing, had six counts of violation of vehicle towing and storage fee limitations. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — A man accused of shooting a pickup truck on Interstate 95 — killing a German shepherd puppy inside — faces a felony charge in a case that remains under investigation, according to a police spokesman and a report obtained Thursday.

Andy Phillips, 22, is accused of firing two shots around 1:45 a.m. Tuesday at a Toyota Tundra pickup with two people and the puppy inside as it headed south on I-95 near Southwest Becker Road.

The victims, Laritza Y. Fontela, 19, and 20-year-old Yosdany Rodriguez, are from Miami, and Fontela said they were in Port St. Lucie visiting relatives. The assailants reportedly continued south in a Toyota 4Runner after the shooting. (more…)

VERO BEACH — Jury selection begins Monday in the DUI trial of Indian River County Administrator Joe Baird and prosecutors will get to use key evidence the defense wanted excluded.

County Judge David Morgan refused defense attorney Bobby Guttridge’s request Wednesday to toss out the May 16 arrest, which the attorney said was based on an invalid stop. (more…)