Arrests

Former caregiver arrested after 57 stolen checks cashed for $14,504

August 13, 2010
Former caregiver arrested after 57 stolen checks cashed for $14,504

by Teresa Eubanks, Journal Editor An Altha woman is facing numerous charges after she allegedly stole, forged and cashed 57 checks totaling $14,504 from a Calhoun County man who hired her to take care of his ailing wife, according to a report from the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators report that Anna Marie Nichols, 28, passed 24 of the checks at Superior Bank and Smith’s Grocery, both in Altha, for a total of $4,170. The remaining 33 checks – which totaled $10,334 – were cashed in Marianna, Panama City, Hallandale and West Palm Beach. Additional charges are expected to...

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Driver flees after hitting utility pole at sheriff’s office

August 6, 2010

by Teresa Eubanks, Journal Editor An officer who heard a loud crash around 1 a.m. Tuesday turned to see a small SUV driving down a sidewalk as a damaged utility pole fell to the ground in front of the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, according to a report from the Blountstown Police Department. Officer Gary McGee was stopped on East Central Avenue, next to the Southern Express, facing east when he glanced in his rear-view mirror and caught sight of the westbound vehicle as it left the sidewalk and returned to the roadway. He turned to follow the vehicle, which...

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Woman arrested for DUI & marijuana possession

August 6, 2010
Woman arrested for DUI & marijuana possession

A woman behind the wheel of a truck seen swerving over the centerline of Whitewater Grade Road was arrested July 28 for DUI, felony driving while license suspended or revoked and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. Deputy Nick Keller pulled over the truck at 9:10 p.m. after seeing the driver traveling recklessly and noting that she did not have an operable tag light. When the deputy asked for her driver’s license, Tracy Millette Sapp, 43, admitted her license had been suspended for previous DUIs. Keller’s reported noted the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from...

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Spring charged with possesion of meth, paraphernalia and an unauthorized license

August 6, 2010

A visit from two deputies resulted in a drug arrest after the man they went to see tried to walk away from them. Deputies Nick Finch and Chad Smith arrived at the CR 333 home of Jeremy Spring, 34, of Bristol on July 27 to speak with him about a theft report and to serve a warrant on another person at the residence. Deputies spotted Spring at the rear of the home when they arrived around 2 p.m. When they called out to him, he ignored them and walked away. The deputy who followed him as he went to...

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Intoxicated driver nearly three times over the legal limit

August 6, 2010
Intoxicated driver nearly three times over the legal limit

A Fountain man was charged with DUI after a deputy pulled him over for driving erratically Friday night. Deputy Nick Keller was patrolling CR 274 at 8:17 p.m. when he saw a westbound van swerving from its lane over the center line and back several times. After the van was stopped, Keller walked up to speak with the driver, who stumbled into the roadway when he stepped out. In the arrest report, the deputy noted that he was about six feet from the driver, John David Taylor, 51, when he noticed the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage. The...

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Woman arrested for battery on officer & damaging patrol car

August 6, 2010
Woman arrested for battery on officer & damaging patrol car

A 45-year-old woman who called the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office to have someone removed from her property was arrested and taken from the scene after an altercation with the responding deputy. Deputy Duncan Rudd was sent to the Bristol residence of Tammie Marie Brown, 45, around 7:20 p.m. July 26 after she told a 911 dispatcher that she wanted the man she was living with off her property, adding that a deputy better hurry before she killed him. When Rudd arrived, Brown met him at the road, yelling, “Don’t come up here with your attitude and bull****!” When the...

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Driver found asleep in truck parked on Hwy. 65 at 1:00 a.m.

August 6, 2010
Driver found asleep in truck parked on Hwy. 65 at 1:00 a.m.

A 20-year-old Tallahassee man was arrested for DUI after a deputy found his black pick-up stopped in the north lane of Hwy. 65 around 1 a.m. Friday with the motor running and brake lights on. Deputy Andrea Skrabal walked up to the truck to find a young man slumped toward the center armrest, apparently asleep, with the keys in the ignition. Both windows were down and the deputy noticed a 12 pack box of beer in the passenger’s seat, with only two cans left. She reached in to put the car in neutral and tried to rouse the man....

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Woman arrested on possession charges

August 6, 2010

A Blountstown woman was arrested on possession charges after a traffic stop July 28 in Altha. According to the arrest report, four people were traveling west on CR 274 around 10:45 p.m. when a deputy noticed the extremely dark tint on the vehicle. Deputy Bobby Lee Sims stopped the pickup in the parking lot of the Chevron at CR 274 and SR 71. As he stepped up to speak with the driver, Kayla Leanne Burke, 22, he noticed the odor of burning marijuana coming from inside the truck. When Burke stepped out, Sims saw a plastic baggie which held...

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Sexual battery arrest

August 6, 2010
Sexual battery arrest

A Bristol man was taken into custody for having sex with a teenage relative, according to a report from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office. Joseph M. Skelly Jr., 20, was charged with lewd and lascivious battery on a child over 12 but under 16. Deputies questioned Skelly’s mother when they went to her Walnut Street home after a citizen reported the incident. The mother told deputies she knew why they were there. Skelly was taken into custody. In a taped statement after his arrest, Skelly said that the girl was asleep when he got in her bed and had...

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Correctional officer, inmate’s mother and visitor charged with attempt to bring marijuana into LCI

July 30, 2010
Correctional officer, inmate’s mother and visitor charged with attempt to bring marijuana into LCI

by Teresa Eubanks, Journal Editor Three people – including a correctional officer, an inmate’s mother and a visitor – were arrested Saturday for trying to smuggle marijuana into Liberty Correctional Institution (LCI). Noretha M. Lewis-Jordan, 52, of Haines City ; Chananja Meshelay Jackson, 20, of Winter Haven and Correctional Officer Denquis Leontaye Green, 28, of Havana, were arrested for conspiracy to introduce contraband into a state facility. Bond was set at $55,000 for each. Jackson is currently on state probation out of Polk County and is being held without bond. Lewis-Jordan was released on bond while Green remains in...

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