Cantonment Man Gets 25 Years For Home Invasion Robbery
March 28, 2013
A Cantonment man has been sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in state prison for a a 2011 home invasion robbery.
Londarrius Don Padgett, 21, will be required to serve a minimum mandatory 10 years under the sentenced handed down by Circuit Judge Michael Allen. Padgett was convicted by an Escambia County Jury last month of home invasion robbery with a firearm, grant theft, and grand theft of a firearm.
On December 8, 2011, Padgett and an unknown codefendant, kicked open the door of a residence in Cantonment while armed with a handgun and shotgun. The victims at the residence were forced to the ground at gunpoint and were then robbed of their money, cell phones, and other items.
One victim saw Padgett’s face during the robbery and was able to identify him in a photo lineup. The victims were unable to identify the other suspect because of a mask.
Free Ride: Escambia EMS To Write Off $2.1 Million In Ambulance Bills
March 28, 2013
Next week, the Escambia County Commission will consider writing-off over $2.1 million in bad debts owed to the Emergency Medical Service Fund.
The write-off includes 4,435 accounts receivable totaling $2,142,106.92 from the first quarter of fiscal year 2012-2013 that have been through all phases of the billing and collection cycle — including all primary and secondary insurance filings, private pay processing, pre-collection letter(s), and/or referral to a secondary collection agency. All accounts have been with the secondary collection agency for at least 120 days.
“All avenues for collection have been exhausted and we are confident these accounts are truly uncollectible, and any further action would be unproductive,” according to county documents.
The county’s resolution to write-off the debts does not forgive the debt.
Escambia Once Again Looking At Chicken Ordinance
March 28, 2013
Escambia County is once again looking at new rules for chickens at single family homes outside areas zoned rural or agricultural.
Earlier this year , the commission decided against a new chicken ordinance mostly because the estimated enforcement cost would be too high. But after hearing from pro-chicken groups, the commission decided to delay their official decision to consider options.
In a meeting next Monday, the county’s planning board will look at chicken regulations on the books in Sarasota and Pinellas counties, plus they will consider a position statement from a group call the Escambia County Chicken Owners.
The chicken owners group wants an ordinance that allows chickens — no roosters — within all residential zones in the county. No commercial or breeding operations would be allowed, except for youth that might be participating in a 4-H or equivalent program. There would be no minimum acreage requirement.
“Chickens are no more a nuisance than any other animal permitted within residential zones of Escambia County. In fact, chickens can be ideal for residential areas, provided the owners use common sense and individual responsibility. We believe that under the existing animal nuisance section residents can legally and responsibly keep chickens within their own backyards,” the position paper states.
Any chicken recommendation from the Escambia County Planning Board would require public hearings and the approval of the county commission prior to becoming law.
Bill Allowing Guns In Schools Clears First Committee
March 28, 2013
A bill that would allow for designated employees to carry guns at Florida schools began moving Wednesday, overwhelmingly passing its first House committee after an emotionally-charged debate.
The measure (HB 1097) passed the House K-12 Subcommittee on a bipartisan, 10-3 vote. But it has three more committee stops left before the bill can move to the floor, and similar legislation in the Senate (SB 1418) has yet to be heard.
Under the proposal, sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, school principals would be allowed to designate someone who could carry a firearm at his or her school as long as that individual goes through statewide firearms training and the same training required for armed guards.
Steube stressed to the committee that the principal’s decision would be voluntary.
“I’ve talked to some principals that don’t feel comfortable doing it and they’re not going to do it in their schools, and that’s fine,” he said. “But there are a lot of principals out there that want to utilize something like this to know that there’s somebody there that can react to a situation if a situation presented itself.”
While much of the national discussion of how to react to the school massacre last year in Newtown, Conn., has centered on gun control and video game or movie violence, Florida lawmakers have largely focused on school safety.
Steube’s bill follows suggestions by conservatives that having armed employees at schools could quickly bring an end to any shooting spree.
“I want my children safe,” said Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala. “And the reality, in our overwhelming desire to protect our children with gun-free zones, we have inadvertently made them the ideal target — the ideal, sterile target — for a madman.”
But school boards have pushed back against the measure, objecting to the responsibility being given to principals and saying that it could bring liability concerns for districts. Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association, said his organization supported police officers at schools.
But he said Steube’s bill was not the answer to concerns about school violence.
“You would send the wrong message to our students, you would send the wrong message to our teachers, you would send the wrong message to our parents and you would send to your communities when you’re telling them that we’re going to arm our teachers,” Blanton said.
By The News Service of Florida
Former GOP Chair Sentenced To 18 Months
March 28, 2013
Former state Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison for essentially stealing from the party, far less than prosecutors wanted but more than Greer’s lawyer argued he really deserved.
Greer, 50, pleaded guilty last month to money laundering and theft in connection with a scheme in which he created a company and then steered party business to it. The affair was a major embarrassment to Republicans, who forced Greer out after the matter became public.
Greer argued all along that he was being punished for supporting former Gov. Charlie Crist, who picked Greer out of obscurity to lead the party, after Crist fell out of favor with many in the GOP as he left the party and ran for U.S. Senate as an independent.
Circuit Judge Marc Lubet said he was giving Greer the 18 month prison term, instead of the term of more than 40 months sought by prosecutors, because Greer had paid $65,000 in restitution, and because Greer was facing the charges while his business partner in the fundraising company and co-conspirator in the scheme was getting off with no prison time after coming forward about the plan and working with law enforcement against Greer.
His partner in the scheme, former RPOF Executive Director Delmar Johnson, wasn’t prosecuted, and wore a wire to help prosecutors make the case against Greer.
“A court has responsibility to see that there’s justice whenever it sentences, tempered with some sort of mercy if that mercy is deserved,” Lubet told Greer at the sentencing in Orlando. He noted Greer had no prior criminal history, but that he had “egregiously violated a position of trust for your employers.
“…You are now a five times convicted felon and are going to have to live with that the rest of your life,” Lubet told Greer.
Greer’s lawyer had argued Greer should get a short sentence – saying that he was being punished because of who he was and the high profile of the case, arguing that for a similar crime, an unknown person essentially embezzling from a company would get off with no prison time.
“If this weren’t Jim Greer, this would be probation,” lawyer Damon Chase told Lubet before the sentencing. “Mr. Greer wants to move on, he wants to make amends, he is contrite for everything that occurred.”
Lubet said the violation of the position of trust deserved more than probation, but said Greer has done the right thing since his crime, noting that he’s paid back $65,000.
Greer will be on probation after he is released from prison. He was handed over to law enforcement immediately after the sentencing.
Greer had been relatively obscure, the vice mayor of Oviedo, before being chosen to head up the party in 2007. It was widely believed he was rewarded by helping Crist get elected governor. Crist denied in a deposition that he knew Greer had created a company, Victory Strategies, to secretly contract with the party for fundraising help.
Prosecutors said essentially that Greer, as party chairman, and Johnson, the director, signed the contract with Victory Strategies, without other party officials knowing they were paying themselves for “outsourced” work they were already being paid for in their positions at the party.
Prosecutors also said they chose not to prosecute Johnson because he blew the whistle on the scheme and made it possible to prosecute Greer.
“There wouldn’t be a case without Mr. Johnson, whatever his motives for coming forward were,” said prosecutor Michael Williams. “Without Mr. Johnson coming forward, we probably wouldn’t be before you today.”
By The News Service of Florida
Relay For Life Mega Rummage Sale Planned For Saturday
March 28, 2013
Relay for Life teams in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties will team up Saturday for a multi-team Mega Rummage Sale.
The teams, led by volunteers driven to find a cure, are organizing the rummage sale at the American Cancer Society office on Corporate Woods Drive.
The public is invited to shop for bargains and learn more about Relay for Life at the sale. Proceeds from sales will support efforts to find a cure and provide local programs to help those impacted by all forms of cancer.
The sale will begin at 8 a.m. in the parking lot of the Corporate Woods office complex, 5401 Corporate Woods Drive, and continue until noon, rain or shine. All Relay teams are invited to participate. Teams who would like to reserve a space need to call Lois Gaston at 416-6585 or email lgaston@shhpens.org.
Five Homeless After Cantonment Mobile Home Fire
March 27, 2013
Fire heavily damaged a mobile home in Cantonment this morning, leaving three adults and two children — ages 3 and 9 — homeless.
The fire was reported about 7:20 a.m. in the 100 block of San Carlos Road. Heavy fire was showing from one corner of the double-wide mobile home as firefighters began their assault.
Firefighters were slightly hampered in fighting the fire by a lack of a nearby hydrant, and because the mobile home was located down a long driveway. Fire crews used water from their fire engines and shuttled additional water supply using tanker trucks.
It took just over 10 minutes to knock down the fire.
There were no injuries reported, but a family dog did perish in the blaze.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The Cantonment, Molino, Ensley, McDavid and Beulah stations of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS also responded to the fire.
Pictured: Five people were left homeless by this mobile home fire Wednesday morning on San Carlos Road in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Molino Woman Charged With Extortion From Trucking Company
March 27, 2013
A Molino woman has been charged with extortion after a State Attorney’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into her dealings between her employer and a trucking company.
Authorities allege Denise Jaquith Smith, age 60 of Fairground Road, accepted cash payments in exchange for using an additional truck daily from the trucking company to haul sand from a sandpit to Pensacola Beach.
According to the arrest warrant, Michael Bartlett, manager of RLF Baldwin Operations II, LLC met with Willie C. Kirland of Willie Kirkland Trucking in November 2012. Bartlett and Kirkland agreed to have Kirkland’s company provide three trucks per day to haul sand from RLF Baldwin’s sandpit in Marcus Pointe to a Utility Services project restoring a portion of Pensacola Beach.
As office manager for RLF Baldwin, Smith had the responsibility to organize the trucking company’s pickup and delivery of sand. On February 18, the day the project started, Smith told a Kirkland employee that they would not be using the third truck. That would cause Kirkland to lose more than $550 per day, the report states.
Eventually, Smith told Kirkland that she would ensure RLF Baldwin would use the third truck if Kirkland paid her $75 per day.
On March 6, Kirkland, under the supervision of the State Attorney’s Office and FDLE, met Smith at the sandpit. She told him again that he was to pay her $75 a day in cash and that she planned to get more from him. She told him she was going to use the money to pay for her moving expenses, including gas and a U-haul.
On March 14, Kirkland told investigators that Smith stated should would be leaving RLF Baldwin on March 27 and that she expected to be paid through that date. She assured him that RLF Baldwin would continue to use Kirkland’s three trucks through the end of the project, and because she arranged that he might want to give her some extra money.
Kirland paid Smith $450 on March 14 under law enforcement surveillance and agreed to pay the remainder due through March 27 by March 21.
On March 19, a warrant was issued for Smith’s arrest. She was later arrested and booked into the Escambia County Jail. She was released from jail on a $10,000 bond.
Gulf Power Warns Of Scam
March 27, 2013
Gulf Power is asking residents to be alert after scam artists have victimized residents in Northwest Florida recently by impersonating utility company employees.
Someone impersonating a Gulf Power employee contacted a resident by telephone, the company said. The caller told the victim that their electric bill was past due and that electricity would be cut off if the customer did not provide a credit card payment immediately. The card numbers were then used to make fraudulent purchases.
To prevent this from happening, the company is offering these tips:
- Gulf Power employees will never call a customer at home seeking any personal information including credit card numbers.
- Gulf Power representatives will never ask a customer for money when they visit a residence.
- All Gulf Power representatives carry badges with picture identification that includes the employee’s name and the company’s name and logo.
Customers should call Gulf Power at 1-800-225-5797 if they have any questions about the identity of anyone representing Gulf Power.
Gulf Power is working with local law enforcement agencies to identify the perpetrators. If anyone has been victimized by one of these schemes, or has any information about suspects, they are asked to call local law enforcement and to contact Gulf Power at 1-800-225-5797.
SWAT Team Conducts School Bus Hostage Training
March 27, 2013
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the school district joined forces this week to conduct a hostage training exercise.
“We are here in conjunction with the school board; they’ve donated us a bus to practice on in case we ever had the situation where there was a hostage situation they recently had in Alabama,” Ted Roy said. “If we practice it, then hopefully if it ever happens we would be ready for it.”
“Events in the last few months forces all of us to take a second thought about how we can protect our valuable asset, our children,” Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said about school security. “So with the sheriff conducting exercises like he is doing today, it should increase confidence of our citizens that our students are going to be safe when you leave them in our care.”
Roy said the exercise allowed the SWAT team to become familiar with the school buses and look as positions the team might use in a real-life hostage scenario. With a plan in place, Roy said, the SWAT team can react faster.
Pictured: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team conducts a training exercise with an Escambia County School District bus. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
