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Jackson Faces Added Charges

WENG Newsroom — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:46:19 +0000

More charges have been leveled against the men accused in some East Punta Gorda businesses and churches.

Charlotte County Sheriff's detectives say more charges have been filed against 18 year old Jeremy Jackson who's charged with burglaries of three churches and a businesses. Jackson faces additional charges of burglary and theft from Eastside Baptist Church, Independent Pentacostal Church and New Life Family Worship Church. Those charges are added to the original break ins, and in total, Jackson allegedly stole nearly 51 thousand dollars worth of items.

CCSO DETECTIVES MAKE MORE ARRESTS IN 3 CHURCH BURGLARIES, A BUSINESS AND A HOME

WENG Newsroom — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:36:21 +0000

(PUNTA GORDA) Charlotte County Sheriff's detectives continue their lengthy and detailed investigation into a burglary crime spree east of Punta Gorda. More charges have been filed on Jeremy Cole Jackson, 18, 4615 LaGroce Drive, Punta Gorda; he is now charged with three church burglaries, a business and a home.

Latest charges against Jackson include burglary and theft to Eastside Baptist Church, 6220 Golf Course Blvd. ($4,100), Independent Pentacostal Church, 4827 Fairway Dr. ($9,425), and New Life Family Worship Church, 28330 Bermont Road ($1,220). He was also charged with burglary to a home at 6064 Golf Course Blvd. ($15,000 theft and $20,000 in damages), and MSB Used Auto Parts, 5029 Dalewood Street ($1,000).

Nathanial Davis Kruger, 19, 4325 Knollwood Drive was also charged with the East Side Baptist Church and the MSB business burglary. Julian Daniel Eckard, 17, 4415 Alta Vista Drive, was charged in connection with a vehicle burglary with theft of a wallet and using a stolen credit card.

Jackson remains in the Charlotte County Jail on $57,000 bond; Kruger also remains in jail on $31,500 bond; Eckard continues serving 21 days in the Department of Juvenile Justice in Ft. Myers. Eckard has been booked into the County Jail 21 times; Jackson 19 times; and Kruger 16 times. All three remain part of the ongoing investigation into multiple burglary and thefts; more charges are expected.

Arrest Made in Copper Products Theft

WENG Newsroom — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:37:43 +0000

Venice police officers have arrested a man who was caught taking expensive metal building supplies from the Ramada Inn construction site on the U-S 41 Bypass. After a security guard spotted a man walking from the site with a cart load of metal, police found Robert Tiedemann walking on Substation Road. Nearby they found the cart, which had been hidden behind an unfinished fence. Tiedemann admitted stealing the items, according to police.

Fire Heavily Damages Siesta Key Restaurant

WENG Newsroom — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:32:47 +0000

A Siesta Key restaurant will be closed for some time following a fire yesterday. Firefighters say no one was injured in the fire, which was reported about 12:30 yesterday morning in the kitchen at The Hub Baja Grill. It caused about 200-thousand dollars damage, according to the Sarasota County Fire Department. Capt. Susan Pearson, the public information officer for the Fire Department, said a state fire marshal was working to try to determine the cause of the incident. The marshal’s presence was dictated by the damage estimate.

One Killed in Wednesday Crash

WENG Newsroom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:11:37 +0000

One man was killed in a two vehicle crash in Sarasota County Wednesday.

Florida Highway Patrol investigators said 16 year old Bryan Alfaro-Piliado of Bradenton and 28 year old James VanHorn of North Port were both driving east on Webber Street, west of Leafy Lane. FHP said Alfaro-Piliado went off Webber Street to the right, lost control of his car it spun and slammed into a tree. VanHorn's vehicle was to the left and just behind Alfaro-Piliado's. He too lost control of his car, it went off the road to the left, slammed into the same tree and split in half. VanHorn was thrown out and died at the scene. Alfaro-Piliado was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Arrest In Church, Auto Parts Store Burglaries

WENG Newsroom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:17:24 +0000

A Punta Gorda man has been arrested in the burglaries of a Charlotte County church and an auto parts store. Officers say 19-year-old Nathaniel Kruger broke into Eastside Baptist Church on Gulf Boulevard on January 19th and M-S-B Auto Parts on Dalewood the following night. Two other Punta Gorda teens have already been arrested in connection with the church breakin, during which investigators say over four thousand dollars worth of electronics were stolen and a fire extinguisher discharged in the church library.

Second Arrest In Homeless Decapitation Death

WENG Newsroom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:12:45 +0000

A second suspect has been arrested in the December decapitation death of a homeless man in Sarasota County. 52-year-old Donald Mann of Sarasota now being charged as an accessory to second degree murder. Deputies have already arrested 48-year-old Ricky Leer in the death, which they say happened as the men fought over who knocked over a grill the homeless men were using in a wooded area off Martin Luther King, Junior, Drive. Prosecutors say that while Leer was the one who hacked at victim Stephen Webber's head with a machete, Mann was there, too, and shares responsibility for the death.

Romney Wins Big In Florida Primary

WENG Newsroom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:29:02 +0000

Mitt Romney routed Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary Tuesday night, rebounding from the previous week's defeat with a commanding victory and taking a major step toward the Republican presidential nomination. Despite the one-sided setback, Gingrich vowed to press on. The race was over not long after the polls closed, with both Romney and Gingrich acknowledging the situation when the race was called by a number of news organizations. At the time. returns from slightly more than half of Florida's precincts showed Romney with 47 percent of the vote, to 33 percent for Gingrich. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum had 13 percent, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul 7 percent. Neither mounted a substantial effort in the state. Again, a major and early win for Mitt Romney in the Florida primary, the first big-state Republican primary election of the campaign season.

CCSO DETECTIVES ARREST MAN FOR CHURCH AND BUSINESS BURGLARY CASES

WENG Newsroom — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:13:23 +0000

(PUNTA GORDA) Charlotte County Sheriff's detectives arrested a Punta Gorda man for burglary of a Punta Gorda church and a Cleveland area business. Nathanial Davis Kruger, 19, 4325 Knollwood Drive, was charged in connection with the Jan. 19 burglary of the East Side Baptist Church, 6220 Golf Course Blvd., and burglary of MSB Used Auto Parts, 5029 Dalewood Street, on Jan. 20.

Two other teens were arrested Jan. 19 in connection with the church burglary, theft of electronic items valued at $4,100, and discharging a fire extinguisher in the library. Arrested were Jeremy Cole Jackson, 18, 4615 La Gorce Drive, and Julian Daniel Eckard, 17, 4415 Alta Vista Drive, both of Punta Gorda.

At the auto part store, a golf cart and assorted tools were stolen; the golf cart was recovered a couple miles away. Detectives continue investigating various burglary in the area. Kruger remains in the Charlotte County Jail on $16,500 bond; this is his 16th booking.

Florida Ranks All Schools Online

WENG Newsroom — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:20:54 +0000

The Florida Department of Education has ranked the state's schools -- all 3,078 of them -- according to test results and put the rankings on the Internet for parents, students and educators to check out. Schools in Sarasota and Charlotte Counties rank all over the place. Backers of the project say it's only fair for parents and taxpayers to see how their schools rank against others in the state. Opponents fear the rankings could give wrong impressions of how schools are run and say the effectiveness of an individual school should be determined by more than just test scores. The rankings are at f-l-d-o-e-dot-org.