Deputies: Neighbor tries to stab 82-year-old woman over liquor run

CLEARWATER – Sheriff's deputies say a woman tried to stab to death an elderly neighbor refused to drive her to buy alcohol Wednesday.

Martha Gold, 55, was arrested at 2260 Costa Rica Drive at Top of the World, accused of attempted murder in the first degree, deputies said.

Gold went upstairs to neighbor Genevieve Zebrowski's home because Gold wanted her to drive them to the store to purchase alcohol. While at the doorway, 82-year-old Zebrowski said no, and Gold pulled out a knife and began to stab her and threatened to kill her.

Zebrowski was taken to Bayfront Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

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From Tampabay.com.

Homeless sex offender requests that judge put him back in jail

Sex offender Raphael Marquez, 38, was released from prison last month after serving seven years of an eight-year sentence for sexual battery.  He was supposed to serve two years of house arrest.  However, that proved to be impossible because Marquez could not find a house in which to live.

"Every place he looked he couldn't afford or had a restriction," his attorney told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.  According to the newspaper, 24 of Broward's 31 cities have laws banning sex offenders from living near schools, parks and other places where children gather.

At the end of June, Marquez went before a judge who sentenced him to serve six months in the Broward County Jail in lieu of the two years of house arrest.  When he gets out, he will still be under supervision for 20 years and will carry the sex offender label for life.  Which means he will still have problems finding a place to live.

Lori Butts, a local psychologist who works with sex offenders, said residency restrictions don't necessarily reduce the likelihood that an offender will commit more sex crimes, but that such people are harder to monitor when they are homeless or fugitives.

"I am getting more and more clients who want to go back to jail or prison," Butts told the newspaper. "And it's costing the state and county more money to house them. My concern is that they're going back to prison and they are not getting the treatment they need."

73-year-old Largo woman charged in assault on neighbor over dog

LARGO — A 73-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday, accused of punching a neighbor because she believed the man had stolen her dog, police said.

Neva Crowder Rootes was charged with burglary with assault in the incident, which happened around 11:30 p.m.

According to arrest reports, Rootes and 46-year-old Mark Andrew Baird, both of 616 Second Ave. NW, forced their way into the home of their neighbor, Richard Wilson, because they thought Wilson had taken their dog.

Rootes, who is 4-foot-11 and 123 pounds, punched Wilson in the nose and face, drawing blood, before Baird jumped on Wilson and began choking him, the reports said.

Baird was also charged with burglary with assault. They were both taken to the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail each.

Wilson did not have the dog, which remains missing, Largo police said.

The report does not state the nature of the relationship between Rootes and Baird.

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From Tampabay.com

'Endless junk pile' is home, sweet home

   His Sunrise house has been called “an endless junk pile” and “the worst in the city,” but owner William Daeder doesn’t intend to change anything, even as he fights $200,000 in fines.

   “I like it this way,” Daeder proudly told SunSentinel.com, like a king surveying his kingdom. “It keeps the Mormons away.”

   Though he lives alone, Daeder’s neighbors call him “Sanford and Son,” a reference to the sitcom about a junkyard owner starring the late Redd Foxx.

   The city can’t force Daeder’s home into foreclosure because state law forbids that. Sunrise has levied fines and placed a $200-a-day lien on the house, but can’t collect the fines until the property is sold.

   Daeder has not hired an attorney, but he knows his rights. Should he lose his lawsuit, Daeder says he will clean up his yard before the city can get a court order.

   To see for yourself, go to SunSentinel.com.

Woman's scrap pile towers over house

   Lots of neighborhoods have human pack rats, but a woman in Indian River County has taken her collecting to extremes, according to TCPalm.

   The pile of scrap, which towers over the house, includes old appliances, aluminum window frames, patio furniture, lamps, fans, a rider mower and bird cages.

   “I know rats are breeding in that pile,” neighbor Sandi Inman said. “And when it is cleaned up, what will happen to those critters? That’s the impact on us. Those critters will have to find some place to live.”

   Inman’s husband, John, said they have lived in the house for eight years and never saw a rat until two weeks ago.

   Susan Kay McGowan, the human pack rat, blamed the rats on another house in the neighborhood. “Rats don’t eat aluminum,” she said. “They eat food.”

Fake 911 call boomerangs

   A Bradenton man is accused of making a bogus 911 call posing as his neighbor, with whom he had an ongoing dispute, according to a BradentonHerald.com.

   Police say Matthew R. Becker, 23, called to report a shooting using his neighbor’s address. When they discovered no problem at the neighbor's house, they questioned Becker.

   Becker told police he was angry with his neighbor and called 911 because he thought his neighbor had an outstanding arrest warrant, an arrest report said.

He yelled, he cursed, he...left a souvenir in the neighbor's yard

Tarpon Springs Police arrested an Inverness man early today accused of entering a neighbor’s yard in the nude and defecating on the property.

Anthony L. Smith, 29, (left) faces charges of disorderly conduct and battery.

He remains in the Pinellas County Jail on $550 bail.

Authorities say Smith entered a fenced front yard in Tarpon Springs without an invitation just after midnight. He yelled and cursed at his neighbors, then defecated, causing a breach of the peace, police said.

Two men were in the yard, and Smith is accused of punching and kicking them. Police said the victims subdued Smith until authorities arrived.

--Keith Niebuhr, Times staff writer

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From Tampabay.com

Tarpon Springs Police arrested an Inverness man early today accused of entering a neighbor’s yard in the nude and defecating on the property.

Anthony L. Smith, 29, (left) faces charges of disorderly conduct and battery.

He remains in the Pinellas County Jail on $550 bail.

Authorities say Smith entered a fenced front yard in Tarpon Springs without an invitation just after midnight. He yelled and cursed at his neighbors, then defecated, causing a breach of the peace, police said.

Two men were in the yard, and Smith is accused of punching and kicking them. Police said the victims subdued Smith until authorities arrived.

--Keith Niebuhr, Times staff writer

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From Tampabay.com

Neighbor dispute over skateboard ramp ends in flames

A man in the West Highlands neighborhood in Volusia County built some skateboard ramps for the kids living around there to play on.

However, Lewis Smith, another neighbor, was sick of seeing the $120 ramps. He complained for months about them. So when he saw them in the road at 17th St and Central Avenue, he lit them on fire with a cigarette lighter, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Now Lewis, 45, is in the Volusia County jail on charges of criminal mischief.

Dispute between neighbors culminates in...genital display

OK, so you're a 25-year old Port St. Lucie man and you've been having an ongoing dispute with your 40-year old neighbor.  Granted, you probably didn't help the situation when you spotted him doing his laundry and shouted, "Look at the (expletive) doing laundry.”  At least that's what he told police.

You told police you then backed out of your driveway and saw your neighbor following you.  When you turned around and headed home, you noticed he was still behind you.  When you exited your vehicle, you told police, your neighbor "threw up some gang signs, pulled out his penis, swung it around" and invited you to...well, as TCPalm euphemistically put it, "engage in a lewd act."

According to the police report, your neighbor denied both following you and doing That Thing with his...male organ.  An officer suggested both of you could benefit from mediation and referred the situation to a district support officer.

Man celebrates New Year's Eve by drinking, firing Glock into pond, vomiting

A man called Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputies after New Year's Eve, reports nwfdailynews.com, when he heard gunfire coming from a nearby yard.  He told the cops he'd heard some 20-30 shots and, according to the police report, another eight or so shots were fired while the deputies were in earshot.  When a deputy went to investigate, he found a man sitting next to a pond with a Glock pistol next to him, as well as two magazines -- one full, one empty.

Not surprisingly, the deputy smelled eau d'booze and noticed slurred speech.  The man, a 28-year-old Navy rescue swimmer, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor use of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.  That's the bad news.  The good news?

"(W)hile the defendant was handcuffed and sitting on the ground," the deputy wrote, "he vomited approximately three times, then stated ‘I feel better."