Category: Florida

Florida Woman Makes Headlines in Pretty Much the Way You’d Expect

Posted on

Danielle Delores Teeples was high on drugs, allegedly.

If you ever see “Florida Man” in a headline, you know the story’s going to be crazy, but “Florida Woman” gives him a good run for his money:

A woman in St. Petersburg, Fla., reportedly told authorities she took her clothes off and ran through a park naked in an attempt to get away from a “giant spider.”
The woman, identified as 40-year-old Danielle Delores Teeples, also admitted to police she had taken drugs, such as crystal meth and crack cocaine, prior to taking off her clothes, WFLA-News reported.
Witnesses who observed Teeples on Sunday told police the woman was “acting erratically,” rubbing her hands through her hair and on parts of her body while running through the park.
Teeples, who allegedly refused to put her clothes back on initially, was later arrested and charged with indecent exposure, the station reported.

Was the giant spider real, or just a figment of her drug-addled imagination? Probably the latter, although for all we know, Florida could be suffering an invasion of giant spiders, the same way the Everglades are now crawling with Burmese pythons. It’s a crazy place, Florida, and the residents often resort to illegal narcotics in an effort to cope with the craziness that surrounds them everywhere. However, the drugs only make the problem worse. What you need to cope with craziness is some kind of depressant — Xanax, maybe, or Oxycodone — whereas methamphetamine and crack cocaine are stimulants, and you don’t want to be jacked up on that stuff while trying to cope with Florida-level craziness. This is an amateur mistake, and Florida Woman is lucky she got away with nothing more than an indecent exposure charge.

(Hat-tip: Kirby McCain on Twitter.)

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers, and thanks to Ed Driscoll for this brilliant Gonzo lead-in: “We were somewhere around St. Petersburg, on the edge of Bartlett Park, when the drugs began to take hold.” If there is anything in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, it’s a blogger reminding you of the Five Most Important Words in the English Language:

HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR!



 

David Katz: Jacksonville Shooter Proves (Again) Crazy People Are Dangerous

Posted on

 

How many more psycho killers will it take to convince you?

The suspect in the deadly shooting at a video game competition in Florida had a “weird” online presence and spent time in and out of psychiatric facilities as a teenager, according to court records and people who knew him.
The suspect, David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, killed two and wounded 11 before taking his own life, according to Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams. Katz came to Florida to participate in the Madden NFL 19 competition at the Jacksonville Landing entertainment complex.
New details about Katz emerged Monday, including the fact that he had been hospitalized for mental illness.
Divorce filings from Katz’s parents say that as a teenager he was twice hospitalized in psychiatric facilities and that he was prescribed anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medications.
The suspect’s father, Richard Katz of Baltimore, and his mother, Elizabeth Katz of Columbia, Maryland, did not respond to phone messages from the Associated Press Sunday or Monday. . . .
Shane Kivlen, a friend of one of the people killed, said Katz didn’t talk much with fellow gamers, either online or when they met face-to-face for Madden tournaments.
He said much of what he and others knew of Katz, they learned from his baffling style of playing the game.
“(Katz) would do kind of weird stuff online that other people wouldn’t do,” Kivien said. “He would catch a ball and just start jumping out of bounds and stuff when he could have gotten more yards, just hurting himself. I don’t know what he was doing.”
Kivlen said Katz was smart, “but something was off about him.”
The game’s maker, EA Sports, lists a David Katz as a 2017 championship winner.

He “would do kind of weird stuff.” Quiet. A loner. Didn’t socialize or talk much. Something was “off” about him. Nevertheless, he was allowed to carry firearms and travel around to videogame tournaments.

Y’know, “mental health advocates” have spent many years lecturing us about the stigma of mental illness, and nobody ever summons the courage to suggest that maybe there’s a reason for the stigma. Like, perhaps people who act weird actually are weird? And just letting these kooks run around unsupervised could possibly be a bad idea?

Crazy People Are Dangerous.

UPDATE: Liberals are claiming that more gun control is the answer, but John Hoge points out that Maryland laws are rather strict:

All handguns legally sold in Maryland since 1 October, 2013, have been registered with the Maryland State Police. This includes private transfers which must be run through a licensed dealer in order to create a paperwork trail for a background check.
Part of the MSP background check includes the purchaser’s mental health history. A release form for the check is part of the paperwork submitted to the MSP.

It’s as if criminals don’t obey laws, or something.



 

Crazy People Are Dangerous: Democrat Shoots Man After Facebook Quarrel

Posted on Comments

 

News from Florida:

A Facebook dispute boiled over into real life on Monday when a Democrat drove over to another man’s home and shot him.
Brian Sebring, 44, of Tampa, Florida, was arrested for shooting Alex Stephens, 46, also of Tampa, in the thigh and buttocks after their online disagreement.
Police say the row began when the two men disagreed over politics on Facebook, and Stephens reportedly began sending Sebring ‘explicit messages and threats’.
In response, Sebring armed himself with an AR-15 and a Glock and drove over to Stephens’ house in Wallace Ave — just two miles away from his own home, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
When he arrived, with his Glock in a holster tucked in his waistband, he honked his horn and waited for Stephens to come out to confront him about the messages, police say.
When Stephens saw Sebring, he charged towards him, which was when the suspect opened fire.
‘The victim ran away and the defendant fled the scene,’ police said. . . .
Police did not explain the nature of the political dispute on Facebook which ignited the row, and it is not apparent on either of their pages.
It is unclear who Stephens, a felon, supports politically, but Sebring, a pizza delivery driver and married father-of-two, is a registered Democrat who follows Barack Obama on Twitter.
It’s not clear how the men know each other although both attended Tampa’s Robinson High School, in different years.

Democrats are crazy and crazy people are dangerous.

 

Suspect Charged With Trafficking Girl, 17

Posted on Comments

 

Recent news from Florida:

A man suspected of selling sex with an underage runaway was arrested on human trafficking charges after the girl’s rescue in May, authorities said Thursday.
State Attorney Aramis Ayala, joined by Ron Stucker, the director of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, announced the arrest of Timothy Bernard White, 22, on charges including human trafficking of a child under 18.
“In this case, we were able recover and rescue a 17-year-old juvenile who was being trafficked here in Orlando,” Stucker said,
Officials say White met the girl over social media while the child was living in a group home in Tampa. Authorities say she ran away and met White at a Central Florida motel.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office became aware of the girl’s location and told agents with the MBI, a multi-jurisdictional law-enforcement agency that often deals with vice and organized crime. Authorities rescued the girl at the Orlando Metropolitan Resort, just off International Drive on May 31.
Authorities say White posted the girl’s pictures on various websites advertising sex and took the proceeds. Officials were able to identify Christopher David Jackson, 34, and Steven Ramos, 40, as two men they say responded to the postings.
“Both of them … went to the hotel and each independently had sex with this minor,” Stucker said.
Stucker said both men claimed to not know the child was underage. Under state law, alleged perpetrators do not need to know the victim’s age to be charged with human trafficking of a child.
“If you engage in prostitution, you will be prosecuted,” Ayala said. “If you are engaging in prostitution of underage children, you will be tried as a human trafficker and hopefully sentenced to the rest of your life in prison.”
Human trafficking continues to plague Central Florida. Orlando ranks third in the nation for reports of human trafficking, a positition that can be attributed to its place as a tourism hot-spot. The MBI has received more than 100 tips concerning human trafficking this year, Stucker said.
White faces charges including human trafficking, transporting for the purpose of prostitution and deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution. Jackson and Ramos face charges of human trafficking and unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

Feminists have ignored this story, for some reason.

 

Accused Murderer Kills Convicted Sex Offender in Florida Jail Fight

Posted on

Accused murderer Charles Allen (left); dead pedophile James Mills (right).

Honestly, nobody is sad about this:

A Florida inmate died on Tuesday after a brutal altercation with another inmate in June that left him brain dead and unable to eat or talk.
NBC 8 reports that James Sutcliff Mills . . . was behind bars for reportedly failing to register as a sex offender. Charles Groucho Allen . . . charged with aggravated battery and two counts of murder, was housed in the same unit as Mills at the Pinellas County Jail when they began arguing over television remote on June 17.
Inmates are required to share one television set within their pod and must decide amongst themselves what channel to watch. Apparently, the pair couldn’t agree.
According to the affidavit, the argument intensified into a physical altercation. . . .
According to court documents, Mills was convicted of indecent liberties with a child while in Kansas, in 1992. In 2006, while living in Florida, he failed to register as a sex offender in Pinellas County. In 2018, Mills was charged with failure to obtain and/or update sex offender ID, previous failure to register as a sex offender in Hillsborough County, and failure to report name and/or residence.
Allen is accused of shooting and killing a mother and an unborn child, 30-year-old Elizabeth Rosado, during a drive-by shooting. He’s also charged with numerous drug offenses and will likely be charged with Mills’ death . . .

So the pedophile is dead and the guy who killed him — who is also accused of killing a pregnant woman — will probably do life in prison.

Win-win.

 

‘Florida Woman,’ a Recurring Headline

Posted on

 

It seems that every weird story is datelined from Florida:

A woman in Leesburg, Fla., was arrested on incest charges on Friday after genetic tests performed on her baby revealed that her brother was the father, deputies said.
According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Pauline Martin, 33, gave birth to her baby on Nov. 21 and the child suffered severe medical complications hours after its birth.
The infant was transferred to another hospital and genetic testing was done, which showed that the child’s father was “a close relative,” the arrest report states.
Deputies and officials with the Florida Department of Children and Families started an investigation when neither parent filled out proper Medicaid paperwork for the child, filed for a birth certificate, or moved the baby into a home for “medically complex children,” the arrest report states.
Martin did not finish the paperwork until February, according to the report. She told deputies that she moved to Florida about three years ago with her brother and that they lived together as a couple. She also said she has a 12-year-old daughter with another man.
Deputies later interviewed Martin at a McDonald’s, where she worked. She told deputies that she had a “romantic and sexual relationship” with her brother for about five years but was going to end the relationship “because she knew it was wrong” and that she was seeing another man, the report states.
Martin also admitted to deputies that her brother was the father of the child, that she had “sexual relations” with him the night before, and that her brother knew he was the father, according to the report.
Once deputies found probable cause to arrest Martin, she tried to flee toward the back of the restaurant. Deputies contained Martin at the door and put her into the patrol vehicle, where she spit, cursed, and tried to kick detectives, according to the report.
Martin was taken to the Lake County Jail and released on March 24 after posting a $3,000 bond, according to court records. She has another court hearing scheduled for April 16.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, deputies are trying to contact the brother but have not found him.

The baby’s father and mother are also the baby’s uncle and aunt, and therefore the family tree doesn’t fork. Because, hey, it’s Florida.

(Hat-tip: Kirby McCain on Twitter.)

 

Your Tax Dollars at Work: $9 Million Pedestrian Bridge Collapses at University

Posted on

“I’m from the federal government, and I’m here to help you!”

A pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed Thursday, just days after crews dropped an elevated 950-ton span in place in a project that was intended to give Florida International University students a safe route across the busy roadway.
The bridge crashed across six lanes of heavily traveled Tamiami Trail, crushing a still undetermined number of car and killing a still unclear number of people. Police on the scene said at least six people could be dead. . . .
The collapse was clearly a major failure of a project not expected to be completed until early 2019. . . .
Touted as an “instant bridge,” the 950-ton pedestrian walkway was installed in a single morning at Southwest 109th Avenue on Saturday, intended eventually to link Florida International University’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus directly to the small suburban city of Sweetwater, where the university estimates 4,000 of its students live.
Before Saturday’s installation, FIU said the method of overall installation would significantly reduce the risk to workers, walkers, drivers and minimized traffic disruptions for construction.
Designed as a cable-supported bridge, the pedestrian walkway is the product of a collaboration between MCM Construction and FIGG Bridge Design, the firm responsible for the iconic Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay.
The $9 million bridge was funded through a 2013 U.S. Department of Transportation grant.

So, the Obama administration took your money to build this “instant bridge” that killed at least six people. Heckuva job there, guys.

 

Palm Beach Jihad: Teen Converts to Islam, Stabs Three People — Media Ignore It!

Posted on Comments

Corey Johnson is a teenage terrorist, according to police reports.

Obviously, Florida needs common-sense knife-control laws:

A Jupiter teenager said his Muslim faith led him to fatally stab a boy on his 13th birthday and injure two others at a sleepover Sunday night in BallenIsles Country Club, Palm Beach Gardens police said during a 2 p.m. news conference.
Corey Johnson, 17, was arrested Monday after he reportedly confessed to stabbing the three people while he spent the night at a friend’s home in the gated community off PGA Boulevard.
He faces one murder and two attempted-murder charges in the stabbings. The FBI also is investigating the attacks. . . .
Johnson, who police said recently withdrew from William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens, told authorities he woke up at about 4 a.m. Monday at his friend Kyle Bancroft’s home. He decided to kill Kyle’s mother, Elaine Simon; Kyle’s brother, Dane, 13; and Dane’s friend, Jovanni Sierra, 13, while they slept, he said. . . .
Johnson and Kyle watched violent jihadist videos Sunday night, they said. Johnson stabbed Jovanni Sierra and slit his throat with a knife he had brought with him to the house.
Johnson said he read the Quran before going to the house. He turned to the Muslim holy book “to give him courage to carry out his intentions,” according to an arrest report.

This Islamic terrorist attack took place about 45 miles north of Parkland, scene of last month’s high-school massacre. There’s a weird parallel because, as Dana Loesch points out, just as with the Parkland shooter, law enforcement knew about Johnson long before he committed murder:

A week before Corey Johnson confessed to stabbing three people — one of them fatally — in a Palm Beach Gardens home, authorities were discussing pending federal criminal charges against the 17-year-old, according to a Jupiter police report. . . .
[E]ven as early as middle school, Johnson had been on the radar of law enforcement, the report said.
In January 2017, several local law-enforcement agencies and the FBI came together with the staff at William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens, where he was a student at the time. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office received information that Johnson supported the terrorist organization ISIS and had reached out to the group online, expressing his desire to join them.
A sheriff’s detective interviewed Johnson for a mental-health assessment and said the teen sympathized with terrorist organizations, the report said.
Palm Beach County School District Police said that during middle school, Johnson made anti-Semitic and anti-homosexual statements. He also said he had similar beliefs to the KKK. School police said they received information that Johnson “has violent tendencies,” “has spoken about inappropriate places to bomb” and “is a White Supremacist.” . . .
When Johnson’s mother and grandparents were interviewed by law enforcement, they said Johnson was fascinated with dictators such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Kim Jong-un. They said he had “recently began discovering religion” and had been studying the Quran.
After the meeting, the FBI told Jupiter police that a counter-intelligence agency in Europe investigated Johnson’s connection to several threats made on Instagram to McAuley Catholic High School in Doncaster, England. . . .

You can read the whole thing, which makes clear that there was abundant evidence that Johnson was dangerous, but apparently it’s no longer possible to lock up teenage psychopaths in the mental ward. So, despite law-enforcement concerns, this dangerous kook was free to commit jihad and, as Kristine Marsh reports at Newsbusters, the major network news broadcasts — ABC, NBC and CBS — have completely ignored this story. (Hat-tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.) And here’s the smart take from Ace:

Could it be that Obama’s “Promise Program” — which instructed local schools not to report dangerous students to police, to keep their records clean (and, consequently, to keep them eligible to buy guns) — is responsible for further murders?
Yes, I know he used a knife, not a gun. But had he been arrested after making threats to the Catholic school, perhaps he might have been put in jail after subsequently restarting his Islamist social media habits, and an innocent boy would still be alive.

Gosh, maybe Crazy People Are Dangerous or something . . .