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Charlotte County cautions residents against providing credit card, bank, or other personal information to callers claiming to represent EMS billing or other county departments.A resident recently alerted the county’s Fire & EMS headquarters, stating they were contacted via phone by a party claiming to have an EMS billing refund due to overpayment and requesting the caller's banking information so they could receive the refund amount.
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A Florida man charged with interfering with police during the Jan. 6, 2021, siege at the U.S. Capitol is connected to a “network” of supporters who have helped other Capitol riot defendants avoid capture by the FBI, prosecutors said in a court filing this week.A federal judge on Thursday ordered Thomas Paul Osborne to be released from a Florida jail while he awaits trial on charges that he grabbed a police officer’s baton during a mob’s attack on the Capitol. Before the judge ruled, a Justice Department prosecutor argued that Osborne poses a risk of fleeing after his Feb. 22 arrest.
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The sad and terrifying case of 9-year-old Diana Alvarez came to an end Wednesday with a life sentence in prison given to Jorge Manuel Guerrero Torres after he was found guilty of the child's 2016 kidnapping and murder.Diana disappeared from her Unique Circle home at the Sheltering Pines mobile home neighborhood off U.S. 41 in south Lee County early in the morning of May 29.
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ond was set Friday at $350,000 for a Fort Myers woman who allegedly sexually battered a male teen when she worked as a teacher's aide in a Lee County School.Lauren Angelica King, 32, remains in custody at the Lee County Jail on charges of lewd lascivious behavior/molestation and lewd lascivious behavior/lewd or lascivious battery. A Lee County School District spokesman said King no longer works for the school. The spokesman would not say if she was fired or quit.
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The shooting death of Kristopher Smith as he sat in his car after dropping off his son at school in January 2013 eventually lead to charges against Robert Lee Ward and his sentencing to life in prison.
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A female paraprofessional in a Lee County school has been arrested on charges of sexual battery on a male student.Fort Myers police reported that the department was alerted to the alleged assault on Sunday.
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Citing theft issues in other states, specifically California and New York, Governor Ron DeSantis Tuesday proposed legislative action to try to curb retail theft and porch piracy of delivered goods.According to the governor's office, in 2022, retailers across the country lost $112 billion to retail theft, with sharp increases in major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. DeSantis' office also said shoplifting in Florida has decreased by 30% since DeSantis first took office.
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A man who held up the Bank of America at Bell Tower Shops Tuesday was later shot and killed by a Lee County Sheriff’s Office sniper as the man held a knife to a hostage.
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Survivors of crime and family members of victims gathered Tuesday at the Capitol to join lawmakers and advocates in calling for expanded support for victims and public-safety changes.