Husband smashes van into bedroom

   A domestic dispute in Gadsden County escalated to the point that the husband rammed his van into the bedroom, the sheriff’s office said.

   He is accused of then going inside (did he break through the wall to get into the house?) and chasing his wife down the hall, grabbing her and attempting to strangle her, Tallahassee.com reports.

   The husband, who fled before authorities arrived, is a former Quincy policeman.

Underground power line explodes

   An underground electrical feeder line exploded in a Boys & Girls Club parking lot in Lauderhill, dislodging a 3-foot slab of concrete and spraying small rocks, SunSentinel.com reports.

   No one was hurt, though club workers were worried by a small rock that may have hit a child.

   The boy, whose age wasn’t available, was treated at the scene by paramedics.

Bees cause boaters to jump overbboard

   Four people jumped overboard from a sailboat in the Indian River Lagoon when they encountered a beehive on the 36-foot vessel, TCPalm reports.

   The two mothers and two children, all wearing life jackets, later crawled back onto the bow of the boat while the bees swarmed at the stern.

   Because passersby saw the people in the water, the Melbourne fire department, the Brevard County sheriff’s office and the Coast Guard sent crews to rescue them.

Frog causes power outage

   South Florida neighborhoods periodically lose power when an iguana unsuccessfully attempts to cross power lines, but the culprit in the Waterford Lakes community in Orange County was another reptile, OrlandoSentinel.com reports.

   When 500 homes lost electricity, the power company though the problem was a broken cable.

   But workers discovered that a fuse blew when a frog hopped onto a switch gear.

Politician burned by homestead exemption

   Claiming a homestead exemption in Florida while running for public office in another state can create an awkward situation, a Jersey City, N.J., City Council member has learned.

   Nidia Lopez won her election in May, but the second-place finisher filed a lawsuit to have her win annulled on the basis that she can’t simultaneously claim primary residences in Jersey City and Orlando, the Associated Press reports.

   Florida tax officials agree. When alerted to the discrepancy, they decided to send Lopez a letter seeking to recover $30,300 in taxes she avoided by claiming the homestead tax exemption.

Human, bear bump into each other at shopping plaza

   Another day, another human-bear encounter.

   This one occurred in Lehigh Acres when Del Bagwell walked out of a store at a shopping plaza and came face to face with a black bear Monday morning, naplesnews.com reports.

   "I know it seemed longer, but we stood and looked at each other for about six or eight seconds," Bagwell said. Her first thoughts were: "This is a dog. Then I thought, this ain't a frick'n dog. It took a minute to sink in that it was a bear."

   “She was not knocked to the ground or injured,” a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman said. “She said she looked at the bear, and the bear looked at her. Then she raised her arms and backed up slowly to the store door.”

   “Ms. Bagwell did the right thing,” said the commission’s bear management coordinator. “She did not panic or run; she backed away slowly, giving the bear a clear escape route to run away.”

Two naked people come ashore at Fort De Soto

An Oldsmar woman who told authorities she had fallen from a boat off Fort De Soto was rescued from the Gulf of Mexico Saturday night, authorities said. Clare Louis, 39, was spotted several hundred feet offshore at about 3 a.m., after Park Supervisor Jim Wilson heard her cries for help. Half an hour earlier, Russell Hernandez, 37, of Lakeland, who was on the boat with Louis, came ashore by himself near Gulf Pier. Hernandez called 911 from a borrowed cellphone on the pier, prompting a search party, officials said. Hernandez said Louis fell overboard at about 11 p.m. He said he dove in after her but could not find her and swam ashore. "They had a lot of luck," said Wilson said the pair were lucky, considering that the gulf if full of bull sharks because of tarpon season. Both Louis and Hernandez were found naked; they told authorities they stripped off their clothes to be able to swim. Both refused medical treatment.

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From Tampabay.com

Undershirt thief kicks out window of police cruiser

ST. PETERSBURG — A man whose initial crime was stealing a package of undershirts made far greater trouble for himself after resisting arrest and kicking out the window of a St. Petersburg Police Department cruiser.

Michael T. Mercurio, 25, is charged with felony retail theft, resisting arrest without violence, criminal mischief and battery of a law enforcement officer and is being held on $2,800 bond at Pinellas County Jail.

According to police, Mercurio walked out of a Winn-Dixie at 2020 34th St. N around 10 a.m. Friday without paying for three Hanes undershirts worth $12.30, actually putting one on as store security watched on video. Mercurio, who has two prior theft convictions, elevating the undershirt theft to a felony, attempted to pull away from officers outside the store and hit an officer, store security guard and a witness with glass when he destroyed the window of the cruiser.

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From Tampabay.com

Woman assaults roommate with air freshener, potted plant

TREASURE ISLAND — Police arrested a woman for battering her live-in boyfriend when she finally worked her way up to a weapon he found dangerous.

Bonita P. Miller, 59, of 11701 First St. E, Apt.4, Treasure Island, is charged with domestic battery and is being held on $1,500 bond at Pinellas County Jail. She has two prior battery arrests but no convictions.

According to a Treasure Island Police arrest report, Miller struck Michael Wilson with a can of air freshener and a potted plant before jabbing him in the back with a key. Wilson, who told police he had overheard his roommate of three months "talking about murder/suicide" that morning, called police when she wielded a knife. He was not stabbed.

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From Tampabay.com

Broward Sheriff seeking ugly robber with weird disguise

The Broward County Sheriff's Office is looking for a rather brazen bank robber who showed up at a Pompano Beach bank branch last week wearing "an ill-fitted, light brown, long haired wig, a surgical mask over his mouth, dark sunglasses, black gloves, a long sleeve, dark colored sweat shirt with a white t-shirt underneath and blue pants," according to a press release.

The evil-doer walked up to a teller with a backpack, demanding money. The teller didn't hear him and said, “Excuse me?” Whereupon the evil-doer pointed a gun at her and repeated his request. But he was too impatient to wait for a response. He walked to the next teller counter, jumped over it, approached the teller, pointed a gun at her and repeated his request. She handed over the money. The robber stuffed it into his backpack, jumped back over the counter, and "fled the scene on foot," according to police.

The man is described in the press release as a 30-something black male with a stocky build, approximately 5’7” in height, sporting a goatee.