07/19/08
Charlotte Police Beat
Hidden sewer camera finds flushed cocaine
A camera inside an underground waste pipe led to a drugs and weapons bust in Punta Gorda Friday, the city police department announced.
According to a PGPD release, officers from the department, in coordination with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team, entered a home at 7313 South Plum Tree Drive.
As they entered, Michael Taveres Pitts allegedly dumped evidence, which police said was crack cocaine from a pipe, into a bathroom toilet and flushed it down. According to the PGPD, Pitts is a convicted felon.
He was arrested, along with Toneisha Nealon, Dorothy Ceasar and Jonathan Pitts. Inside the home, detectives found crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia and prescription narcotics. In Michael Pitts' 2005 Dodge Durango, detectives found two hidden compartments containing a loaded .357 magnum and several boxes of ammunition.
Detectives worked with Punta Gorda Public Works to place a camera in the waste pipe leading from the home. Via the camera, detectives were able to identify large pieces of "suspected crack cocaine approximately 219 feet down the pipe," according to the PGPD.
Nealon was charged with possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was held at the Charlotte County Jail on $3,500 bond.
Ceasar was charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance and held on $7,500 bond.
Michael Pitts faces charges of tampering with evidence, obstructing execution of a search warrant, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and failure to register as a convicted felon. He was held without bond.
Charge and booking information was not available for Jonathan Pitts Friday.
Woman charged with perjury in false rape accusation
A Punta Gorda woman who reportedly told authorities that her ex-boyfriend raped her was arrested Friday and charged with perjury.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Morgan Lynn Brown, 18, of the 400 block of Allen St., told detectives that her ex-boyfriend raped her in his Englewood home when she went back to get the last of her items after she moved out.
But Brown's ex-boyfriend told a very different story. According to reports, he adamantly denied the rape charges and insisted the sex was consensual. He also reportedly provided investigators with text messages that were sent after the incident, indicating no rape took place.
When investigators returned to question Brown again and showed her the text messages, she allegedly confessed that the sex was consensual. She reportedly said she was afraid her current boyfriend would break up with her if he found out she and her ex had been together.
Brown was arrested, charged with perjury, a third-degree felony, and taken to the Charlotte County Jail. She was released Friday after posting $2,500 bond.
Arrest made in pharmacy robberies
The Punta Gorda Police Department announced Friday an arrest in connection with an attempted pharmacy robbery, as well as two robberies that were carried out.
According to police, on Thursday morning, David Levi Bisbee of Fort Myers attempted to rob the Sweetbay Pharmacy in Punta Gorda with a gun.
Police say he flashed a gun and demanded drugs from a pharmacist, but the pharmacist wasn't impressed with the threat and walked away.
Investigators acted on a tip from Crimestoppers and arrived at Bisbee's residence, where they noticed his white pickup matched the one used to escape the Sweetbay Supermarket at 10175 Tamiami Trail Thursday.
Upon questioning Bisbee, he reportedly confessed to the Sweetbay attempted robbery, as well as Thursday's armed robbery of a CVS Pharmacy in Cape Coral, and the robbery of a pharmacy in North Fort Myers about a month ago.
Detectives reportedly found at his home stolen narcotics, the weapon used in the robberies, and the clothing worn during the CVS and Sweetbay incidents.
He is being transported to the Lee County Jail where he will be charged with multiple counts of armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
New charges in failed jailbreak
A Charlotte County Jail inmate who attempted to break out of jail faces new charges.
Jeffrey Karl Gore, of the 2300 block of S. McCall Road, Englewood, was originally charged with two counts of battery and criminal mischief. Added Thursday was attempted escape, a felony charge.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Gore was being housed in a juvenile cell due to an overflow of inmates at the jail. The 33-year-old reportedly kicked out the bottom glass window of his unit and escaped.
He was Tasered and moved to a maximum security unit. The latest charge carries no bond.
12-year-old reportedly threatens mother with knives
A Punta Gorda preteen faces a felony aggravated assault charge after she reportedly threatened her mother with two steak knives.
The child's mother called the Punta Gorda Police Department on July 11 after giving her daughter her evening medication and telling her to go to bed.
The girl, her mother said, grew angry and began throwing a fit, hitting and kicking the TV in the living room.
The girl then allegedly grabbed two steak knives from a kitchen drawer. She then went over near her mother and raised the knife over her own head, as if she was going to stab her mother.
"If you so much as put a scratch on me, you will go away for a long time," the woman told her daughter, according to the report. The mother's request convinced the girl to put the knife down.
The 12-year-old was taken to Charlotte Regional Medical Center in Punta Gorda and treated for delayed reactions and unresponsive pupils. On Thursday, she was transported to the Charlotte County Jail, where she was later released into home detention.
Four arrested in underage alcohol sale checks
Forty-six local businesses were checked for compliance with alcohol sales this week, leading to the arrest of four clerks, the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.
The businesses were checked from July 11 through 17. Three of the arrests were made early in the sting, and Thursday night, a sales clerk was arrested at Citgo/Pick'n Run on U.S. 41 in Port Charlotte.
Rhushanda Rushannee Burke, 19, of the 200 block of Tillmen Street in Port Charlotte, was charged with sale of alcoholic beverages to a person under 21. She was transported to the Charlotte County Jail and held on $500 bond.
"The Sheriff's Office will continue to arrest those who sell alcoholic beverages to undercover investigative aides," said Sgt. Jill Roguska, head of the CCSO Juvenile Operations Unit, in a press release. "Retailers are asked to be extra vigilant and pay particular attention as to (whom) their clerks are selling alcoholic beverages and products."
The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office reported the following arrests:
* William L. Sergent, 21, 2700 block of Ridgewood Drive, North Port. Charge: out-of-county warrant. Bond: none.
* Marvin Lee Bates, 18, 10700 block of S.W. Kissimmee Road, Arcadia. Charge: disorderly intoxication. Bond: $500.
* Brian Allen Branchau, 29, 400 block of Sunset Drive, Englewood. Charges: three counts of possession of a controlled substance (hydrocodone, oxycodone and amphetamine) and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond: $8,000.
* Duncan McPhail Jameson, 46, 5700 block of Beechwood St., Punta Gorda. Charges: trespassing, dealing in stolen property (first degree) and grand theft. Bond: $13,000.
* Brian Harold Bennett, 27, 400 block of Showalter Ave., Punta Gorda. Charges: burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, dealing in stolen property and grand theft. Bond: none.
* Erik Travis Anderson, 25, 8200 block of Antwepp Circle, Port Charlotte. Charges: possession of a controlled substance (oxycodone) and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond: $3,500.
* Ashley Elizabeth Legrand, 23, 8200 block of Antwepp Circle, Port Charlotte. Charges: possession of a controlled substance (oxycodone) and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond: $3,500.
* Stacey Herrin Tuck, 33, 17000 block of Falkirk Avenue, Port Charlotte. Charges: DUI and driving with a suspended license with knowledge. Bond: $1,250.
* William Wuinton Bryant, 24, of Cape Coral. Charge: out-of-county warrant (Lee County) (original charges: uttering a forged instrument and grand theft). Bond: none.
* Catherine D. Lausier, 53, 100 block of Rotonda Lakes Circle, Rotonda West. Charge: violation of probation (original charges: four counts of writing worthless checks). Bond: $2,000.
* Benjamin Wayne Mercer, 29, 2300 block of Wiley St., Port Charlotte. Charge: violation of probation (original charge: battery). Bond: none.
* Derek Michael Nichols, 23, 600 block of Trabue Ave., Punta Gorda. Charge: violation of probation (original charge: disorderly intoxication). Bond: $1,000.
* Marie Hermanne Joseph, 34, 500 block of Ridgewood St., Port Charlotte. Charges: resisting arrest without violence, driving with suspended license with knowledge and fleeing to elude a law enforcement officer. Bond: $6,500.
* Charles Gordon White, 41, of North Port. Charges: habitually driving with a suspended license, no registration, attached tag not assigned and altered tag. Bond: $4,000.
* Lisa Ann Frazier, 40, 1600 block of Shadow Lane Blvd., Englewood. Charge: violation of probation (original charges: DUI, second offense; and refusal to submit to a Breathalyzer test). Bond: $2,000.
* Tammy J. Wardrup, 28, 40 block of Boundary Blvd., Rotonda West. Charge: fugitive from justice (out of Kentucky). Bond: $14,900.
* Mario Martinez, 25, 200 block of Waterway Circle, Port Charlotte. Charge: driving with a suspended license with knowledge. Bond: $500.
* Vernon Wayne Huey, 39, 28000 block of Bermont Road, Punta Gorda. Charge: out-of-county warrant (Polk County) for nonpayment of child support). Purge: $16,506.62
* Rhonda Ann Chin, 29, 1100 block of Melville Road, Punta Gorda. Charge: driving with a suspended license with knowledge. Bond: $500.
* Rene Marie Glynn, 38, of Port Charlotte. Charge: violation of probation (original charges: battery, driving with a suspended license with knowledge and DUI). Bond: none.
* Brandon Shane Felix, 18, 4200 block of Swinson St., Port Charlotte. Charge: battery. Bond: none.
* Byron Sarat, 23, of Fort Myers. Charge: driving without a valid license. Bond: $500.
* Abdul Karim Murad, 29, of Gainesville. Charge: violation of probation (original charge: habitually driving with suspended license). Bond: $2,500.
The Punta Gorda Police Department reported the following arrests:
* Elvin Frank Platt, 64, 300 block of San Marie, Punta Gorda. Charges: possession of narcotics equipment and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. Bond: $2,000.
* Ryan Thomas Orr, 21, 2300 block of Deborah Drive, Punta Gorda. Charges: possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond: $4,500.
-- Compiled by Neil Hughes
|