FORT PIERCE — A mother and son were arrested Tuesday after the mother signed for a package of 8 pounds of marijuana addressed to her son, according to arrest affidavits released Wednesday.

The mother, 51-year-old Maria Andrade, said the pot was for “personal use,” rather than sale, an affidavit states.

The package was “flagged” by postal officials as possibly containing marijuana, and additional investigation confirmed the presence of drugs.

It was addressed to Mauricio G. Andrade, 20, of the 2600 block of South 27th Street. He is Maria Andrade’s son. Maria Andrade signed for the package and said her son was expecting a delivery.

The younger Andrade arrived minutes later, and both were taken into custody after police executed a search warrant.

They each face felony marijuana-related charges.

By Will Greenlee, TCPalm.com

MARTIN COUNTY — New York Mets baseball player Angel Pagan has been arrested for traffic violations, according to Florida Highway Patrol arrest report.

On Thursday troopers stopped Pagan, 27, for speeding on Interstate 95 when during a license check deputies learned he was driving on a suspended license and had several warrants, the report states.

The report did not say how fast Pagan was traveling.

Pagan had a valid Arizona’s license but also has a suspended Florida license for not paying a traffic fine on June 15, 2005 in St. Lucie County, the report states. Pagan was on the disabled list following surgery to have a bone spur removed from right elbow. He is recovering from elbow surgery at the Mets facility in Port St. Lucie.

Also, he had a failure to appear traffic summons on Oct. 22 in Martin County and a Martin County warrant for failure to appear for driving while license is suspended, the report states.

By Keona Gardner, TCPalm.com

JENSEN BEACH — Detectives arrested a woman accused of attacking and robbing an elderly woman outside a Jensen Beach restaurant Saturday afternoon, according to documents released Monday.

Kristen Beth Swift, 23, of the 2300 block of Northeast Indian River Drive, has been charged with robbery by sudden snatching and battery on a person over 65 years of age.

The incident took place in the 3400 block of Northwest U.S. 1 at 2:40 p.m., just after the 82-year-old woman had parked her car in a handicap space at Olive Garden. Swift pulled up behind the woman’s car and asked her for directions to Indian River Drive, the affidavit says.
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FORT PIERCE — Sitting in a living room filled with marijuana smoke, Alfred Foster Welling III had a problem: St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office investigators executing a search warrant at his home.

Welling’s encounter with the law enforcers in the 1900 block of South 34th Street ended Thursday with his arrest on felony charges including cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent and possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, according to recently obtained records.
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HUTCHINSON ISLAND — Ever since Steve Weaver built his three-story, 5,772-square-foot waterfront home on Thumb Point Drive in Fort Pierce, neighbors have balked at its size.

Now several of Weaver’s neighbors want city officials to revise the South Beach Overlay District to restrict anyone else from being able to build a three-story house in low-density residential zones on the beach.

“It’s really a problem of three-story houses in a one- and two-story neighborhood,” said Thumb Point resident John Wolsiefer, who lives two doors down from Weaver. “Three-story houses overwhelm the neighborhood.”
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SEBASTIAN — Police said they have found the mummified remains of a woman who had been missing for as much as six years in a home where neighbors complained of a foul smell.

Penelope Jordan, 61, of the 500 block of Wimbrow Drive, was charged Monday with fraud and theft by the Sebastian Police Department. Investigators are still looking into the circumstances of the death of Jordan’s mother, Timmie Jordan, who was born in 1913. Police said Penelope Jordan had been cashing her Social Security checks for the past six years.

Code enforcement had been called to the home Friday for complaints of bad odor, poor living conditions and numerous cats, said police spokesman Steve Marcinik.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — A confessed marijuana grower turned himself in Tuesday, a week after robbers bound him naked and stole dozens of pot plants from his Port St. Lucie home, according to police.

Jose Matilde Gomez, 60, of Miami was charged with trafficking and cultivating marijuana and possession of marijuana. He was being held Wednesday in lieu of $170,000 bail.

At least one of the men who robbed Gomez was taken into custody Thursday in Broward County on an unrelated matter, according to Gomez’s arrest affidavit. When detectives searched the suspect’s vehicle, they found 37 marijuana plants, the report said. (more…)