A 50-year-old man caught on surveillance camera taking two bottles of beer from the cooler of the Southern Express on East Central Avenue in Blountstown last November was arrested March 12. Abdullah Aziz Muhammad, of Blountstown, was charged with petty theft. The video showed Muhammad entering the store around 4:52 p.m. Nov. 24, 2011 and walking toward the beer cooler, where he removed two bottles and stuffed them down his pants before leaving the store. He was released on $5,000 bond.
A Bristol man has been charged with battery for an altercation that began on Third Street in Bristol and almost resumed at the Exxon Station. The victim, Jeremy Baggett, 20, told investigators he had no idea why he was attacked Feb. 25 by two men he had just met that evening at a friend’s home. He said Ivan Wagoner ran up to his truck, hit him in the mouth and then attacked his friend, Malcolm Griffin, who was standing nearby. Baggett said when he went to help his friend, Mickey Harvell pushed him to the ground and punched him...
A Blountstown woman who admitted she was paid to forge papers showing she owned property being sold to a recycler was arrested March 15 on fraud charges, according to a report from the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office. Kendra Rives, 25, is facing four counts of giving false verification of ownership to a secondary metal recycler. While investigators were looking into the theft of a outboard motor by Willie Clyde Powell, Jr. this past December, he told them Rives signed the sales ticket but was not aware that the motor had been stolen. When investigators later talked with Rives, she...
by Teresa Eubanks, Journal Editor A Hosford man is facing several charges following an altercation in which he hit a man, grabbed a child from a stroller and then resumed fighting while still holding the child, according to a report from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office. William Rudd, 36, was charged with child abuse, battery, violation of an injunction and resisting arrest with violence. When Deputy Adam Walker responded to a report of a fight in front of the Liberty County Courthouse at 4:12 p.m. Saturday, he saw Rudd leaving the scene on foot, heading west. Walker shouted to...
by Teresa Eubanks, Journal Editor Former C&L Bank President Jed Hiers was sentenced to six months in prison, followed by three months of home confinement and three years of supervised release after prison during a sentencing hearing that lasted over three hours last Thursday in Tallahassee. Hiers was indicted last November of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and nine counts of making false entries in bank records with the intent to deceive bank examiners. At that time, U.S. Attorney Pamela Marsh said Heirs’ actions caused The Bank (formerly C&L Bank) to lose millions of dollars by making loans he...
A 21-year-old Wewa man is charged with armed burglary, grand theft and criminal mischief for a March 11 break-in where a Remington .870 pump shotgun and a large collection of jewelry was stolen, according to a report from the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office. Arrested was Ethan Perry Goodman, who was wanted on a probation violation in Gulf County. Investigators learned that Goodman was under supervision following his early release from prison for a previous burglary conviction. Joe and Dannie Bracewell returned to their 19853 NW SR 69 home from church around 12:30 p.m. Sunday to find their back door...
A traffic stop at SR 65 South and CR 67 in Telogia turned out to be anything but routine when a driver ignored the deputy who pulled him over, called him a liar, tossed aside a pair of handcuffs and punched him, according to an arrest report from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office. Donnie Brown, 36, of Hosford was arrested after relatives he had called to the scene assisted Deputy Jonathan Gentry in getting him handcuffed. Brown was charged with DUI, resisting arrest with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer. The deputy was parked along SR 65...
The Florida Highway Patrol will be on the lookout for impaired drivers during the week leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, March 10 – 17. FHP’s effort is part of a national effort called Drive Sober of Get Pulled Over, and the Patrol will address impaired driving, failure to buckle up, speeding and reckless driving. “The Florida Highway Patrol continues to make DUI enforcement a priority,” said FHP Director, Col. David Brierton. “ In 2010, there were nearly 18,000 alcohol-related crashes on Florida’s roadways. Nearly 800 people died and more than 12,000 suffered injuries because of those crashes. FHP...
by Teresa Eubanks, Journal Editor A Hosford man who brought toiletry items for his brother at the Liberty County Jail found himself on the other side of the bars after a bag of synthetic marijuana was discovered hidden inside an Old Spice Body Wash bottle. Kalen Burke, 21, arrived at the jail in Bristol around 7:35 p.m. last Wednesday carrying a plastic bag from the Dollar Store. A correctional officer searched the bag and found a pair of socks, a stick of Old Spice deodorant and a body wash bottle that held a package of Down 2 Earth Climaxxx...
A 21-year-old Altha man was arrested after an altercation at his mother’s residence that left another man with a bloody mouth and missing teeth, according to a report from the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office. Brandon Carpenter left the scene in a white truck with two other men after a March 4 incident at the home shared by his mother, Angie Simmons, 40, and Willie Lamar Lewis, 40. Lewis said that Carpenter had been out all night at a strip club in Panama City, came home intoxicated and demanded that his mother return the money he had paid for rent....
