Driver Charged After Morning Century Wreck
January 27, 2010
A Century woman has been charged with careless driving following an accident this morning near the Century Town Hall.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Emma C. Fletcher, 68, of Century, was southbound on North Century Boulevard in a 2010 Hyundai when she rear-ended a 2005 Chevrolet driven by Kristina M. Wood, 28, of Flomaton. Wood was making a proper turn from North Century Boulevard into the parking lot of the Century Town Hall and Century Branch Library. Fletcher’s vehicle continued southbound on the shoulder of the road and into a tree.
Fletcher and her passenger, Taniya Fletcher, 8, were transported by ambulance to Jay Hospital with minor injuries. Wood was not transported to the hospital.
Fletcher, according to the FHP, was cited with careless driving following the 7:07 a.m. crash.
Jay Falls To PCA
January 27, 2010
Pensacola Christian 56 Jay 29
Hunter Boutwell had nine Tuesday as the Jay Royals lost to Pensacola Christian, 56-29.
Jay — Hunter Boutwell 9, Dee Walker 4, Luke Rowell 4, Bugg Fischer 5, Dakota Ellison 3, Tyler Presscott 3, Steven Jones 1.
Jay 2 5 5 17-29 PCA 10 10 14 17-56
Judges Orders Mental Evaluation For Bank Robbery Suspect; Florida Charges Dropped
January 27, 2010
A federal judge has ordered a psychiatric evaluation of a local man accused of robbing an Atmore bank after Florida authorities found him to be incompetent and dropped charges against him.
Authorities in Levy County, Florida, dropped attempted murder of police officer charges against Chad Floyd Jeter, now 31, after a psychological evaluation found him to be incompetent to stand trail. Jeter was captured in Levy County after a manhunt that followed his escape from a police officer that he struck with a “ninja throwing star”.
At Jeter’s arraignment in federal court in Mobile, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bert Milling Jr. heard motion for the psychiatric evaluation from Jeter’s attorney, Arthur Powell. The judge also heard from Jeter’s parents during the hearing.
Jeter’s competency evaluation will be conducted over a 45 days period by the Bureau of Prisons. Early Wednesday morning, Jeter remained in the Baldwin County (Ala.) Corrections Center, awaiting transfer to a federal facility.
In July, 2009, Jeter was indicted on charges of bank robbery with a weapon and use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime in violence. If convicted, he could face penalties up to life in prison and fines of a half million dollars.
The federal indictment says Jeter took about $6,289 in the May 19, 2009, armed robbery of the Atmore bank using a Marlin Model 22 LR, a .22 caliber rifle.
Jeter reportedly drove up to the downtown Atmore bank in a white pickup with a camper shell, entered the bank dressed in a dark colored trench coat and the rifle. He ordered bank employees to fill a U.S. Army backpack with cash, while he stood with the rifle pointed at the floor. He reportedly threatened a teller with the rifle during the crime.
Within a few hours of the robbery, investigators identified Jeter as their suspect. Officials searched his trailer on Highway 31 near Canoe. Inside, they found troubling evidence that Jeter might be planning to attack a military base. He said in letters and notes that he was being watched by helicopters that circle his home. Police found maps with the locations of several military bases circled, including Pensacola NAS, Eglin Air Force Base, Whiting Field and Alabama’s Ft. Rucker. The notes indicated that he planned to kill military personnel and police. Military bases were alerted to the possible threat.
Jeter’s burned out camper shell was found in the woods after the McDavid Station of Escambia Fire Rescue responds to a brush fire on a secluded section of Pine Barren Road near Breastworks Road early the morning after the robbery.
While on routine patrol at 4:15 Eastern time the Thursday morning following the Tuesday robbery, an Inglis (Fla.) Police Department officer, Tim Swigget, located a blue GMC pickup trucked parked backed into a wooded area near a Yankeetown, Florida, neighborhood. Inside the vehicle that is nearly 400 miles from Atmore, he found Jeter sleeping. After the officer determines that Jeter is wanted for the bank robbery, Jeter attacked the officer with a Ninja star.
A manhunt involving several agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard followed after Jeter fled the scene. Jeter was taken into custody in a swampy area and transported to the Levy County Jail.
Pictured top: Chad Floyd Jeter’s booking photo taken mid-January at the Baldwin County Corrections Center. Pictured middle inset: Jeter’s truck at the First National Bank & Trust in Atmore. Pictured lower inset: Surveillance video of the bank robbery in progress. Pictured bottom: Jeter after being taken into custody last year in Levy County, Florida. NorthEscambia.com files photos, click to enlarge.
Walmart Rape Case Suspect Busted By Feds
January 27, 2010
The U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested a man Tuesday who is believed to be the suspect wanted in connection with the New Year’s Day rape of a Pensacola woman abducted from a Walmart parking lot on Highway 29 in Pensacola.
Willard Ray Crowder, 47, was arrested at a security storage facility on East Olive Road at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday by the Task Force without incident. The warrant, which was signed Tuesday morning, charges Crowder with sexual assault with a weapon, sexual battery on a victim over 12 and kidnapping inflicting bodily harm or terrorizing victim. According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office reports, the warrant was issued after their investigation linked Crowder to the rape based on evidence found at the crime scene.
The Marshals Task Force received the case from the Sheriff’s Office at about 1 p.m. and immediately began their investigation. It was determined early on that Crowder was most likely homeless and possibly in the area of Olive Road.
Task Force investigators conducted several interviews and were able to narrow down his whereabouts. They then received a call that Crowder was at a business and it was just a couple of blocks away from where they were at that time. Crowder was immediately identified and placed into handcuffs. Crowder was then transported to the Escambia County Jail and interviewed by investigators before being booked into the Escambia County Jail. Crowder is being held without bond at this time.
The rape was reported late New Year’s Day night in the parking lot of the Ensley Walmart on Highway 29. The woman told deputies that she was having car trouble in the parking lot when the man put a knife to her throat and forced her into the back of a van. She was driven a short distance before her attacker raped her. She was driven back to Walmart and dropped off, told that she would be killed if she reported the attack to authorities.
The Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force in Pensacola is made up of officers from the U.S. Marshals Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Escambia, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Offices, Milton, Pensacola, Ft. Walton Beach, Niceville and DeFuniak Springs Police Departments, State Attorney’s Office, the Office of Attorney General and the 1st Special Operations Security Force at Hurlburt Field.
Some Bratt Residents Without Phone Service For Almost A Week
January 27, 2010
About three dozen residents in the Bratt area are expected to have their telephone service restored by Wednesday, a week after flooding short circuited their phone lines.
The 35 Frontier Communications customers lost service due to flooding January 20-21 that left a telephone pedestal underwater for two and half days. (Telephone pedestals are those boxes beside the road where wires from a neighborhood connect.)
Technicians were first able to begin work on the pedestal at Oakshade Road and North Highway 99 Saturday afternoon when the flood waters began to recede, according to Cereal Daniel, Frontier’s general manager for the area. Work continued on repairing the cables, and was expected to be completed by the end of the day on Tuesday.
“This is the first time that anyone can remember that this particular pedestal has been underwater,” Daniel said. “We are working on a capital project to replace one section of cable here and will work to raise the existing cable so this will not happen again.”
Man Gets Prison For Failed Attempt To Rob Bank With Toy Gun
January 27, 2010
A convicted bank robber has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term as a habitual offender.
William Jerry Strickland, Jr. was sentenced to 30 years in state prison — the maximum allowed — as a habitual felony offender by Judge Paul Rasmussen. In November, Strickland was found guilty of attempted robbery by an Escambia County jury for the June 4, 2009, attempted robbery of the Whitney Bank on Nine Mile Road.
Strickland Jr. 49, was in the parking lot of the bank wearing a black trench coat, plastic gloves and a blondish wig covering his face, but he never had a chance to rob the bank thanks to the quick thinking of a United States Marine Reservist and an off duty Pensacola Police Department officer.
Marine Reservist Jansen Smith and off duty PPD officer Jamon Johnson observed the suspect as he was approaching the bank, according to Investigator Jeff Van Camp with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department. Bank Branch Manager Christine Coulter secured the bank, and Strickland then fled the scene with the Marine and police officer in pursuit.
Strickland was apprehended about a block away, with a black toy gun in his trench coat pocket along with a note, Van Camp said.
Event To Showcase High School Career Academies
January 27, 2010
Eighth and ninth grade students will have the chance Thursday night to learn about the career academies available to them at high schools in Escambia County.
The Escambia County School District’s Workforce Education Department will host the second annual Career Academy Fair, Thursday from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., in the B.T. Washington High School atrium and gym. The fair will showcase career academies located at Escambia, Pensacola, Pine Forest, Tate, Northview, and B.T. Washington High Schools.
All current students and families of eighth and ninth grade students in Escambia County are invited to attend the Career Academy Fair to meet academy instructors, students, and business partners, and discover opportunities provided through participation in career academies.
The Escambia County School District’s School Choice Department will have applications available and will be accepting Career Academy applications for the academies represented at the fair. The Career Academy application deadline for academies at Escambia, Pensacola, Pine Forest, Northview, Tate, and B.T. Washington High School is March 1, 2010. For additional information contact Cynthia Miller, Workforce Education, Career Specialist at 850-469-5358, or cmiller3@escambia.k12.fl.us.
Ernest Ward Students Explore Past With National History Day Projects
January 27, 2010
History came alive through the eyes of students at Ernest Ward Middle School Tuesday as they displayed weeks of work on projects for National History Day.
The History Fair in the school’s gym capped off a project in which EWMS students were required to do research into an a topic on the theme Innovation in History: Impact and Change. The research was presented in exhibit form, much like the typical science fair. Students complete projects either individually or in teams of two.
“I knew I wanted to do something about agriculture,” eighth grade student Courtney Solari said. “The cotton gin seemed every interesting.”
While the other projects in the history fair were exhibited on cardboard backgrounds, Kasie Braun took a unique approach to presenting her project The Creation of Plastics. The eighth grade student constructed her exhibit from over 100 plastic bottoms “and a lot of glue”.
“It took a long time,” she said. “About four hours to put the bottles together.” That was in addition to the hours that she spent arranging her research on the bottles and writing an accompanying paper.
This was the first year Ernest Ward has participated in the national program, with the top seven projects from Ernest Ward headed next to a district competition. Those winners were:
- Victoria Wright — Barcodes
- Kasie Braun — The Creation of Plastics
- Tristen Barrett — The Airplane Connecting and Redefining the World
- Courtney Solari – The Cotton Gin: Increasing Cotton Production and Slavery
- Reagan Bell and Cheyanne Schoonover — Lasik Eye Surgery
- Samantha Barrow and Tamara Green — Womens Suffrage
- Jordan Helmken and Haley Brown — The Day That Changed History…9-11
Pictured top: Kasie Braun with her National History Day project The Creation of Plastics. Other winners are below, scroll down. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Courtney Solari – The Cotton Gin: Increasing Cotton Production and Slavery
Tamara Green (left) and Samantha Barrow – Womens Suffrage
Jordan Helmken (left) and Haley Brown — The Day That Changed History…9-11
Victoria Wright — Barcodes
Tristen Barrett — The Airplane Connecting and Redefining the World
Lasik Eye Surgery — by Reagan Bell and Cheyanne Schoonover
Early Morning Fire Damages Walnut Hill Home
January 26, 2010
Fire damaged a Walnut Hill home early Tuesday morning.
The fire in the 100 block of Juniper Street was confined mostly to the attic of single story, partially bricked home. The fire was reported at 12:40 a.m., and declared under control by about 1:15 a.m. Fire units were on the scene until 2:15 a.m.
There were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The Walnut Hill, McDavid, Molino and Century stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, the Atmore Fire Department and Atmore Ambulance responded to the fire.
Pictured above: Firemen prepare to enter the front door of the home. Pictured below: The fire was confined mostly to the attic of the home. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Pensacola Votes Against Consolidation; Attorney: County Could Pay For Pensions, Maritime Park
January 26, 2010
The Pensacola City Council voted Monday not to support the current governmental consolidation plan, and the city’s attorney has pointed out issues with the plan — including the possible transfer of the city’s pension liabilities and Maritime Park debt to current county residents.
A motion “to communicate the city council’s approval” to the legislative delgation failed 4-5 Monday afternoon. The Escambia County Commission recently voted to ask the legislature to delay any vote on consolidation until at least 2012. The Town of Century has withdrawn all support for the plan.
As first reported by NorthEscambia.com on January 15, language slipped in the consolidated government proposal just before approval would make every resident of Escambia County potentially responsible for funding millions the City of Pensacola’s problematic pension plan:
As consideration for the transfer of the assets of the ESP to the Consolidated Utilities Authority, the Consolidated Utilities Authority shall pay for those pension fund obligations of the City of Pensacola as those obligations existed as of October 1, 2010, until such obligations are retired.
Under the consolidation plan, ESP (Energy Services of Pensacola), the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority and the Town of Century’s utilities would be combined into a single Consolidated Utilities Authority. In a memorandum obtained by NorthEscambia.com, Pensacola’s city attorney, William D. Wells, agreed with our story’s interpretation of the section.
The section “obligates the independent utilities authority to pay the unfunded pension obligations of the City. The current annual obligation is a substantial sum, and the proposed act does not specify that these payments are restricted to ESP rates and profits – the new authority may utilize the rate structure of all of its utilities to pay this obligation.”
Wells also expressed concern in his memorandum, dated January 22, that county residents could be slapped with a portion of the Maritime Park debt. While the consolidation plan states that existing city debt will continue to be paid from its current sources, the Florida Constitution requires that if all citizens of the county enjoy the benefit a service or facility, those citizens can foot the bill.
“For example, if the Maritime Park ownership is transferred to the new government and the bonds are backed up by a general covenant to budget and appropriate non-ad valorem taxes, there is no legal requirement that the citizens of the current unincorporated areas of the County be insulated from satisfying the debt,” Pensacola’s attorney wrote.
The consolidation plan is in the hands of the Northwest Florida legislative delegation. They will continue to review the plan until as late as February 25 before potentially submitting it to the legislature to set a referendum vote of the public as early as November 2010.
To read the consolidation plan in its entirety, click here (pdf).