PORT ST. LUCIE — A reported Wednesday morning child abduction that turned out to be a hoax apparently started with two young boys mimicking the plot of a crime-related television program and ended with misdemeanor charges, a police spokesman said.

Shortly after 7:30 a.m., dozens of law enforcement officers descended on central Port St. Lucie after the boys, acquaintances who ride the same school bus, concocted the abduction report, said Officer Tom Nichols, Port St. Lucie Police spokesman. The incident unfolded over several hours, generating national media attention and escalating into an Amber Alert issued just before 11 a.m. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — The incident of a girl who may have been abducted Wednesday morning is now said to be a hoax, police announced about noon.

A police spokesman said there was no little girl.

There was “a lot of wasted resources today,” said Officer Tom Nichols, police spokesman, of all the law enforcement agencies that assisted with this search.

An Amber Alert was issued shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday for a girl police thought was abducted as she walked along Midtown Road near Port St. Lucie Boulevard earlier in the morning.

Two boys described the girl as being between 7 and 8 years old, white with dark hair. She was last seen wearing a blue skirt and a pink or purple shirt.

“After interviewing the boys for quite a few hours, they have recanted their story and said it was made up — it was a hoax,” Nichols said. “The only validity to it was there was an actual white van on Midtown (Road) here, everything after it about the girl bring abducted is in fact a hoax.”

Nichols said detectives are trying to find out why they made up such a story.

It’s not clear what school the boys attend.

Nichols suspects investigators will be speaking with the parents of the boys “to find out why they made up this story.” Nichols said it’s possible the kids could face criminal charges.

The Amber Alert had said the child might be in the company of two Hispanic males, approximately 20 to 30 years old with dark hair, both wearing blue or black T-shirts. It said they were thought to have been involved in the abduction and might be traveling in a white, possibly newer model panel van with t-style brushed aluminum rims.

Two 8- to 9-year-old boys walking to their bus stop at Southeast Pinero Road originally reported to police seeing a “suspicious van” driving south on Midtown Road about 7:25 a.m. when the van changed directions and went north. They said the van passed them and the occupants are thought to have taken the girl, according to police.

“They witnessed the van allegedly abduct this child,” Nichols said earlier during the search, adding the boys said the girl was kicking and screaming when they grabbed her and took off.

Police checked the public schools to make sure all the children are in school and no one was missing.

White vans were being stopped in hopes of finding the girl and police checked all sex offenders and/or predators in the area.

A flurry of law enforcement officers and vehicles descended on the area. A helicopter hovered over the area, at one point broadcasting information about the abduction and asking anyone with information to call 911.

Several law enforcement K-9 teams from throughout the state that were training in Martin County arrived at the scene to assist.

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Authorities announced Monday they made three arrests after three Storm Grove Middle School students were hospitalized when they became ill from snorting crushed Roxycodone pain pills and using other drugs.

The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office said one of the sick students, a 13-year-old girl, named students at the school who were providing prescription drugs and marijuana to her and others, Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Jeff Luther said.

The Sheriff’s Office charged Halee Marie Webb, 14, of the 100 block of Harris Drive, Sebastian, and Jacob Scott Martin, 13, of the 100 block of Midvale Terrace, Sebastian, each with felony distribution of a controlled substance. Another 13-year-old girl had a juvenile affidavit filed against her for misdemeanor possession of marijuana, Luther said.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — Police investigators have been out early this morning at the intersection where a hit-and-run driver struck a 14-year-old boy Monday morning near his bus stop.

The investigators have been asking other students if they saw anything that could locate the driver of the vehicle.

The incident sent the boy to St. Mary’s Medical Center with a fractured pelvis, bruised spleen and punctured lung, though he is expected to make a full recovery, officials said.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — Police investigated a report of two juveniles engaged in a sex act witnessed by students at Port St. Lucie High School, according to a report released Thursday.

An officer on Tuesday received a complaint about the Sept. 17 incident, which, the report said, happened outside a 62-year-old teacher’s classroom.

The report gave this account:
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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