Florida

The 45-year-old North Carolina man who abducted his two children after possibly killing three people shot himself during a standoff overnight, according to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities feared the man may have been headed to St. Petersburg, where he had family.

Richard Douglas Heatwole was on the run after the three bodies were found Thursday. He took his two kids, 6-year-old Hayes and 10-year-old Haley, and headed south.

Authorities found him at a residence in Taylorsville, N.C., and surrounded it, said Lt. Russ Dillingham, Buncombe County Sheriff’s spokesman. After ordering Heatwole outside, officers heard a gunshot, and found the man dead.

(Read the full post about ‘Police: Man wanted for three North Carolina deaths kills himself before reaching St. Petersburg’…)

A mullet fisherman is safe this morning after the Coast Guard rescued him off St. Pete Beach.

Robert Smith’s boat was swamped by waves driven by heavy winds about 9 p.m. Thursday. Then the engine died.

(Read the full post about ‘Mullet fisherman rescued off St. Pete Beach says he learned his lesson’…)

HOLIDAY — The parents of a 10-year-old girl were arrested Thursday after a Pasco sheriff’s deputy found animal feces, rotten food and drugs in their home.

Reports said the deputy found broken furniture, animal feces on the floor and rotten food in the refrigerator — and in the bedroom, a clear plastic baggie lined with cocaine residue.

(Read the full post about ‘Filthy home, drugs lead to child neglect charges’…)

ST. PETERSBURG — Franklin D. Cameron was riding his bike on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street S when he lost control, fell in front of an oncoming vehicle and was dragged underneath it in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, according to St. Petersburg police. The 58-year-old man was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Cameron was trying to exit the driveway in front of 5241 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S around 12:47 a.m. Thursday when the accident happened, police said.

He lost control of his bike, fell in the southbound curb of MLK and hit a southbound 2001 Chevy Monte Carlo, police said. Cameron became "lodged underneath" the vehicle as the driver, Dontavous H.

(Read the full post about ‘St. Pete bicyclist dies after fall in front of vehicle’…)

It took 21 years for police to link the 1987 rape and strangulation of St. Petersburg teen Lisa Bickford to the man she was last seen alive with: Tony Fantauzzi. Authorities caught up to the 48-year-old man in Georgia last month and arrested him for Bickford’s murder. This morning, he was booked into the Pinellas County jail and will stand trial for her murder in the courthouse next door.

Bickford, 19, was last seen alive on Feb. 27, 1987. After breaking her wrist, she was supposed to meet her sister that night. Instead, she was last seen splitting off from a group of friends with Fantauzzi, police said.

The next morning, the teen’s body was found near the 200 block of Eighth Street S.

(Read the full post about ‘Suspect in 1987 homicide brought to Pinellas to stand trial’…)

ST. PETERSBURG — Some celebratory gunshots were fired on New Year’s Eve but, unlike last year, no one was reported injured by stray bullets, police said.

Still, minor property and vehicle damage was reported as a result of the shots, said St. Petersburg police spokeswoman Jennifer Dawkins.

"It’s common on any holiday with fireworks," Dawkins said. "It’s unfortunate." No one was arrested in connection with the gunshots, she said.

Last year, two people suffered minor injuries after being stuck by stray bullets at midnight.

(Read the full post about ‘New Year’s Eve in St. Petersburg: Gunshots but no injuries from stray bullets’…)

ST. PETERSBURG — Neighbors saw smoke coming from a one-story house on Fourth Avenue S this morning. But when St. Petersburg Fire Rescue showed up no one was home. Firefighters broke in and put out the blaze — and came away with a valuable lesson.

[St. Petersburg Fire Rescue]

Neighbors called 911 when they saw light smoke from the house next door at 2532 Fourth Ave. S around 10:19 a.m. today. Firefighters banged on the locked door but no one answered. So they busted inside.

"When we forced open the door there was black smoke like crazy," said St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Lt.

(Read the full post about ‘No one home except smoke, fire and an important lesson’…)

CARROLLWOOD — A snakebitten Verizon worker was airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital this afternoon. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue was called to Northdale Boulevard and Mapledale Boulevard at 2:32 p.m. to help the man, who had been working in the area, said Vida Morgan, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.

George Lantz, a 26-year-old cable splicer, was digging in a customer’s back yard when the snake came out a wooded area and bit him on the left leg, said Sharon Shaffer, a Verizon spokeswoman.

His father, Ben Lantz, said the snake was a rattlesnake but declined to comment further.

George Lantz is in good condition, according to Beverly Littlejohn, spokeswoman for St.

(Read the full post about ‘Verizon worker airlifted after snake bite’…)

PINELLAS PARK — Le Dung Quoc is recovering from a Taser blast and sitting in the Pinellas County jail, accused of several bad errors in judgment. But the 35-year-old’s worst mistake, according to the Pinellas Park Police Department, is getting behind the wheel on Thursday night.

According to police, here’s everything that happened:

An officer spotted Le speeding north on 49th Street N in a blue BMW around 11:28 p.m. The officer activated his cruiser’s lights and tried to pull the vehicle over. Both stopped at a red light at 118th Avenue. The officer pulled behind the BMW, got out and approached the car. Le then sped off.

Le took off on southbound 49th Street.

(Read the full post about ‘Pinellas Park chase goes from car to foot to Taser’…)

TAMPA — Authorities have identified a 56-year-old Tampa woman who died in a New Year’s Eve crash.

Chang Lee was driving her 2005 Hyundai southbound on N Dale Mabry Highway just south of Van Dyke Road when a 2004 Ford driven by Jerrod Bogush, 19, of Odessa, struck the left rear of her car, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The Hyundai spun and ran off the road. Lee was ejected and the Hyundai overturned, according to an FHP report.

Lee was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where she died.

The crash remains under investigation.

(Read the full post about ‘Troopers ID woman killed in rear-end crash’…)