Florida's Recent News

Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw met with homeowners and business owners on Monday after a deadly shooting over the weekend in SoHo. The shooting happened around 3 a.m. on Sunday at a shopping plaza on South Howard Avenue in Tampa. Two men were killed and a third person is recovering from his injuries. Detectives said the victims were targeted and the shooting stemmed from an altercation between two rival groups. Police are working to determine who fired the shots. “We’ve

A Florida man, who aspired to become a police officer, admitted to sexually abusing his cousin during a police department job interview and now faces life in prison.  Stephen Bodley, 26, was convicted by an Orange County jury last week of sexual battery on a child, the office of State Attorney Andrew Bain said in a news release.  Bodley first mentioned “playing sexual games” in a sworn officer application with the Apopka Police Department. He again mentioned the crime during an interview.  “The certified

Joanne Celestin realized right away her brother was not himself. Standing at the front door, he thought strangers were walking into the house he shared with his mom in their gated Florida neighborhood. He demanded Joanne hand over her keys so no one else could get inside. “You are not Joanne,” he yelled after punching her in the face, sending her and her two children and mother hurrying to her Infiniti SUV. After driving down the street lined with Mediterranean-style

Rita Carla Riva has filed a lawsuit against Ronickel Placius and the City of Boca Raton in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County, Florida. The case ID is 502024CA003800XXXAMB Div: AE and was filed on April 23, 2024. The complaint seeks money damages for an automobile accident that occurred on May 25, 2023. Riva, represented by her attorney, alleges that Placius, an employee of the City of Boca Raton, negligently operated a motor vehicle resulting

The principal of a private Christian elementary school in Ocala has landed himself in jail after he allegedly attacked a student in a classroom for over an hour, according to an arrest affidavit from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.  Dontay “Donnie” Akeem Prophet, 33, principal at Destiny Leadership Academy (DLA), was arrested on May 11 after surveillance video from a classroom showed Prophet physically restraining a young boy, authorities said.  He is charged with aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment

A Georgia motorcyclist was killed in a crash at a Florida bike rally days before his wedding, according to his fiancé. Rodney Grizzle, 31, of Summerville, was at the Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally in Panama City Beach on May 4 when he and his fiancé, Mai Smith, were involved in an accident. Smith reached out to Chanel 2 Action News and said the couple was hit by a car that drove off. “This coward who hit us and ran off has turned

A 67-year-old Orange Park man died and two other people were seriously injured in a two-vehicle collision north of Inglis in Levy County on Saturday night. According to a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) release, a 37-year-old Williston man was driving north on US Highway 19 at 11:24 p.m. when the Orange Park man driving an SUV pulled out in front of the pickup from the median crossover. The SUV caught fire after the collision and emergency responders pronounced the Orange

Police are investigating after a woman was stabbed by another woman while walking on a sidewalk in northwest Miami-Dade Monday night. Miami-Dade Police said the stabbing happened around 8:40 p.m. as the woman was walking on the sidewalk in the area of ​​the 6900 block of Northwest 18th Avenue. She was stabbed by another woman, who fled on foot, police said. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital by Miami-Dade firefighters. Her condition was stable as of Monday night,

A Fort Lauderdale nanny was arrested last week on accusations that she molested a 15-year-old boy whose family had hired her, Local 10 News learned Monday. Records show Catherine Paulette Ayala, 53, faces two felony counts of lewd and lascivious molestation on a person older than 12 but younger than 16. According to a probable cause affidavit, Ayala had been hired as both a personal assistant and nanny, and had worked for the family for about two years. Fort Lauderdale

Photo by: Nbc-2 A crash at the intersection of Santa Barbra Boulevard N. and Jacaranda Parkway E. in northeast Cape Coral had at least one person loaded into a helicopter and flown to the hospital Monday. “I heard there was a baby, a 3-year-old kid, in the back of the white Nissan,” neighbor Jose Ribis said. Ribis said the last thing he expected to see was a car smashed right through his neighbor’s fence. “As soon as I came outside,

Photo by: NBC2 A woman was reportedly taken to the hospital after being trapped in her van following a rollover crash in Fort Myers. Officials responded to the scene of a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Edison Avenue and Veronica Shoemaker Boulevard on Tuesday morning. Reports say two minivans, one carrying juveniles, collided, causing one van to roll on its side. Firefighters reportedly extracted the driver through the windshield before transporting her to the hospital. The extent of the

Officers with the Port St. Lucie Police Department arrested 23-year-old Juliette Leon Thursday night for street racing. Traffic enforcement witnessed two cars racing at 117 mph in the 45 mph zone near the 1300 block of SW Gatlin Boulevard. When officers stopped the 2023 Dodge Charger Hellcat, they witnessed an 8-year-old child in the vehicle with Leon. Leon was arrested for Racing on Highways and Child Neglect, along with being cited for excessive speed. The 8-year-old was released to a