LCSO

A Cessna Stationair HD plane crashed on take-off from the Salty Approach Air Strip on the northern tip of Upper Captiva Saturday.

A raft of never-before-seen police reports obtained by the Florida Trident via a public records request portray Carmine Marceno Sr., who was then 67, as a stalker, bully, and thief who routinely roamed a Collier County gated community where he lived in his signature sweat pants terrorizing his neighbors.

Officials in Florida say an injured mother manatee and her calf have been rescued from a river and taken to SeaWorld Orlando for rehabilitation. The Lee County Sheriff's Office shared video on social media showing Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staffers netting the pair on Wednesday. Drone video shows the rescue boat circling around the manatees to corral them in what looks like a fishing net before the crew hauls the sea cows aboard. Officials didn't have details about how the mother manatee was injured or their current conditions. The mother and calf are among at least six manatees rescued in the county since Feb. 19 because of cold stress, watercraft injuries and malnutrition.

When the U.S. Attorney’s Office closed a criminal investigation into Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno in November, Marceno issued a statement calling allegations that he engaged in a kickback scheme “completely false.” But in an undercover FBI recording obtained by the Florida Trident, Marceno, while not admitting personal involvement, is heard telling his alleged co-conspirator that he has his “back” regarding payments that may have been made and assuring him they were his “personal business” and the public had no way to discover they were made.

The FBI and U.S. U.S. Attorney's Office said this week that their case against Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno has been closed. A letter sent Monday to an attorney representing Marceno referenced a Nov. 17 date and confirmed the closure. The letter, to Attorney Donald Day, said the decision was based on “information presently known to the government.”

Lee County drivers have a little more than a month to prepare to do what they should have been doing all along. Stop for school buses. The month-long grace period is part of a Lee County school district program making bus safety a priority. The district plan will capture video evidence of drivers illegally passing stopped school buses.

Bonita Springs jeweler Ken Romano, a key witness in the federal investigation of Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, stares into the camera and addresses an audience of one about rumors circulating that the corruption case against Marceno is going to be killed by the Trump Administration.In the video, Romano, whom Marceno once called his “most loyal friend,” singles out trash mogul Anthony Lomangino – a large campaign donor to both the sheriff and President Donald Trump – and U.S. Attorney General Palm Bondi.

Law enforcement officers in Southwest Florida responding to a mental health crisis stress that their duties require more than just training and fast decisions. It also requires empathy, patience, and understanding that not every emergency is a crime.Authorities in Lee County, Cape Coral, and Fort Myers are adapting to the rise in mental health calls, which police chiefs say now account for a considerable portion of their workload.

A video, which can be seen here, shows Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno driving south on six-lane South Tamiami Trail in a black Lamborghini Huracan convertible with the top down on a sunny day in Estero. Shooting the video is Marceno’s former friend, Bonita Springs jeweler Ken Romano, who drives in the lane to the right of the sheriff in the same direction. A brief race begins at Romano’s prompting.

When Lee County Undersheriff John Holloway’s daughter Morgan and her fiance Joe Trubilla posted a wedding registry on October 21, 2022, they appealed to friends and relatives for spa dates, a cruise, and other presents before their March 2023 wedding.But it was her father’s law enforcement agency that provided perhaps the biggest gift of all: a $5,000-per-month Lee County Sheriff’s Office consulting contract for Trubilla to run a youth boxing program.