FlaNative's Blog

First, let me be very clear.  I believe Casey knows a lot more than she is saying about her daughter and may be responsible for her death.

That said, what the police did with 6 cars showing up at the house to arrest her on a bad check charge  they have known about for several weeks is nothing less than grandstanding for the media.

They knew where she was.  Her attorney offered to turn her in.   I'm really beginning to wonder if these cops are competent. or have just been caught up in the media frenzy!  They knew the people outside would love to see Casey "taken away" in handcuffs.  They knew the media would eat it up.  So what exactly is their agenda???

Yet ANOTHER bad cop!!!  Yes, I know there are a lot of good cops...but there seems to be a lot of bad one lately!!!  My question is WHY???  Lack of good backgroud checks?  The "brotherhood" which does not allow cops to turn in bad cops until it's gone so far it's in the media?  Or are they just catching more of those that have been there all along?

This guy is GROWING marijuana, giving names of an undercover detective to his criminal group, putting lives in danger!!!!

What do you think?  Why all these cop arrests lately?

Nineteen people, including one police officer, have been arrested in a drug bust in Polk County, deputies from the Sheriff's Office said today.

Lake Wales Police Officer Keenan Colson, 50, of Bartow, was among those arrested in the investigation into the county's marijuana-distribution networks. Colson, who was arrested and fired today, was identified as an information source for Clayton Hoerler, a key player in distribution scene, deputies said. He and William "Big June" Cade, the boss of a "tight-knit" criminal group in Polk County, also were arrested this week, deputies said.

The multi-agency investigation known as "Operation Cast Cade" began last December, and detectives started listening to Hoerler's cell phone conversations in May. In one conversation, Colson allegedly gave Hoerler the name of an undercover detective who was monitoring the case. At one point, Hoerler promised to buy Colson's dinner to thank him for his help.

From May to August, deputies used wire taps and surveillance to gather evidence leading to the arrest of several people in connection with the drug transactions.

On Monday, detectives searched Cade's Haines City residence and found 35 cannabis plants, $2,000, and six firearms, including an AK-47 assault rifle Cade referred to as the "chopper." He and several of his associates were arrested.

The investigation led detectives to $60,000 and 20 pounds of marijuana.

Detectives said Cade considered himself part of the "gangsta" criminal culture. He told detectives that he had been in the drug trade since age 16 and that "dealing was all he knew how to do," a report shows.

Cade idolized the Al Pacino character in Scarface, they said. He had a large portrait of the fictional drug kingpin in his home. Five marijuana growing locations were also closed.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-polk-
drug-bust081308,0,1585597.story

Watching the news this morning, I heard Heidi talk about those flooded out by rising waters of the Mississippi River wouLD rebuild, with Federal assistance!!!

How many times have you heard this??  The Mississppi floods its banks, people lose their homes, the gov't bails them out, and they REBUILD IN THE SAME PLACE!!!!

Seems it happens every 10 years or so.  Sorry, if you rebuild next to the Mississippi we (taxpayers) should not bail you out time and again!!  Isn't that what flood insurance is for??

An 82 yr old Deltona man shot and killed his 72 yr old wife because she was in constant pain and declining health from a colon operation. 

It's OK to take the life of an unborn child for convience, but murder when a loved one has no quality of life, is elderly and in constant pain.

Is this the ultimate display of love or murder?  If your spouse was in constant pain and asked you to end their life, would you?  Should we have a law allowing doctors to help you end your life in that situation?  Was Dr "K" right?

What do you think????

With his wife in declining health since a colon operation in December, an 82-year-old man told Volusia County sheriff's investigators he decided to put an end to her pain Thursday morning when he retrieved a handgun that family members thought was hidden from him and shot her once in the head as she slept.

Robert Benjo faces a charge of second-degree murder with a firearm in the shooting of Peggy Benjo, 72, sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. He was being held without bail at the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.

Deputies were called to the home in the 1600 block of Rim Avenue about 10:15 a.m. by a relative who received a call from Robert Benjo, Davidson said.

Deputies arrived within three minutes, and a sheriff's dispatcher called the man and persuaded him to walk outside, where he was detained, Davidson said. Deputies went inside long enough to determine that the woman was dead and then left the home and waited for investigators to obtain a search warrant so crime-scene technicians could search for evidence, he said.

Armed with a search warrant, they re-entered the house about 2:30 p.m. and found a .22-caliber handgun they think was used to kill the woman, Davidson said.

Benjo told investigators his wife had been hospitalized during the past week.

He told investigators both had trouble falling asleep Wednesday night "and that she told him that she wanted her pain to end and that she no longer had the will to live," Davidson said.

The couple finally drifted off to sleep, but when he awoke Thursday morning, Benjo told investigators, he decided to shoot his wife.

Family members said Robert Benjo was depressed when they visited the home Wednesday and he said he felt like shooting himself, Davidson said.

Although they knew there was a gun in the house, "they thought it was hidden where he couldn't find it," Davidson said.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/orl
-mercy0608jun06,0,5868486.story

It's about time deadbeat dads (and moms) got serious JAIL TIME   I know, you can't get child support if the bum isn't working, but maybe, just maybe, if they get a few YEARS they will decide the need to start paying!!!   They should also crack down on employers paying deadbeats under the table so they don't have to pay support!!!!

Should more judges send deadbeat parents to jail????

An Altamonte Springs man who owes nearly $700,000 in child support will spend the next two years in prison, an Osceola County judge decided Tuesday.

Robert Abraham, 53, pleaded guilty in March to failing to pay support for his youngest child. In addition to prison, Circuit Judge Scott Polodna sentenced Abraham to two years of house arrest followed by one year of supervised probation, the State Attorney's Office said.

Abraham's ex-wife, Sandra Pinkham, 54, has doggedly pursued Abraham for support for their three children -- now in their 20s -- since they were divorced nearly 15 years ago. On Tuesday, she said she filed a criminal complaint after years of coming up empty in civil court.

"They [the children] weren't just robbed of money," Pinkham said. "They were robbed of a father. They were robbed of support in every sense of the word."

For several years after her divorce, Pinkham and her children lived with friends and family, were briefly on public assistance and were forced to use a food pantry to make ends meet, she said.

Meanwhile, Abraham, who is in the auto-sales business, was living with his second wife in the country-club community of Heathrow in Seminole County. The couple, who have a daughter, have since divorced.

Abraham was in custody late Tuesday. His public defender could not be reached for comment.

During the court hearing in Kissimmee, the judge also ordered Abraham to pay Pinkham the child support he owes at $1,000 a month, starting when he gets out of prison. He could not be prosecuted criminally for failing to pay support for the two older children because the statute of limitations ran out, officials said. That doesn't necessarily absolve him of the civil debt.

Abraham's case is the only one prosecuted for criminal nonsupport in recent years in Orange and Osceola counties, said State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Danielle Tavernier. The charge is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, she said.

Pinkham told an Osceola deputy in July that she had not received child-support payments from Abraham since 1993. She took him to court several times, but he still owed $651,716.40, she said.

Since 1998, Abraham has been an inmate in the Osceola County Jail on five occasions, serving a total of seven months. He was held for 27 days in 1998 for contempt of court and since 2002 has been jailed briefly for failing to pay child support.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/
orl-child2108may21,0,1023489.story

Memorial Day is coming up, and often the media, especially the weather guys, tell us  it means summer is here!!!  That may be true, but how many of us remember and think of the real meaning of the day, take a moment and be thankful that this nation has always been fortunate enough to have brave men and women willing to sacrafice their lives so we can live in freedom.

By all means enjoy the day off (if you get it), but also, please take a moment to teach your children the true meaning of the day.  If you are at the store, maybe donate a buck or two to the local VFW/American Legion that may be out front with their red poppy, a tradition started in 1915 by Moina Michael .  You may even want to attend some Memorial Day events in your area.

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS....

IT'S ONLY THE LAND OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE...

In Flanders Fields
John McCrae, 1915.

 In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

General John A. Logan
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-B8172- 6403 DLC (b&w film neg.)] Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country.

But what may be needed to return the solemn, and even sacred, spirit back to Memorial Day is for a return to its traditional day of observance. Many feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. As the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day address: "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."

On January 19, 1999 Senator Inouye introduced bill S 189 to the Senate which proposes to restore the traditional day of observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th instead of "the last Monday in May". On April 19, 1999 Representative Gibbons introduced the bill to the House (H.R. 1474). The bills were referred the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government Reform.

To date, there has been no further developments on the bill. 

http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html>

Heck, I've known that for years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationwor
ld/la-na-kennedy21-2008may21,0,7987520.story

OJ Simpson....ooops...I mean Ted Kennedy did not have a stroke or run out of scotch as first believed, but had a seizure.

Simpson...ooops...I mean Kennedy spokesperson said the Mary Jo murderer...ooops...I mean Democratic Liar...ooops ...  I mean Senator, is resting.

Senator Simpson....ooops...I mean Kennedy is undergoing tests to determine the cause of his alcoholism...ooops...I mean womanizing...ooops...I mean seizure.

Here we go again!!  Another scum sucking lawyer trying to make a quick buck!!  Sorry, but if you drive a fire truck onto someones lawn, something may happen!!  If you are a cop, firefighter, EMT, etc, things happen!!!  Will this become the trend of the future?  Do you need to clean your home and yard before calling 911 during an emergency?  Is it time for some real tort reform and stop all of these lawsuits????

MOUNT DORA — When firefighters rushed Steuart Baker's mother to the hospital in May 2005, he never expected anyone to sue her.

Elizabeth Baker, now 84, has moved into an assisted-living facility. But her son continues trying to fend off the lawsuit filed against his mother by a firefighter-emergency medical technician with Lake County Fire Rescue.

Jennifer Roland claims she suffered back and neck injuries when the front left wheel of a fire engine broke through the lid of an old septic tank in front of Elizabeth Baker's house in Mount Dora.

The lawsuit, filed a year ago in Circuit Court, seeks unspecified damages of more than $15,000.

From the start, Steuart Baker said, he's been upset that a paramedic would sue a patient.

"Police officers, firemen, paramedics are public servants," he said.

"If I call a paramedic and they hurt themselves they'll sue me? That wasn't how public service was intended."

Roland would not comment on the case. But her attorney, Kim Cullen of Orlando, said that he thought that the paramedic was within her rights to sue.

Baker, a gun-shop owner in Mount Dora, grew up on the property with his parents and brothers, including state Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis. He said no one knew about the septic tank until a fire engine arriving to take his mother to the hospital broke through the lid during an emergency call in March 2005.

The engine had to be pulled out with a tow truck.

After that, Baker said, he filled the tank in with sand himself, and thought the problem was solved. But in her lawsuit, Roland says she was hurt while riding on a fire vehicle that broke through the septic-tank lid on another emergency call two months later.

Steuart Baker is coordinating the family's defense of the suit because his mother is too ill to handle it herself.

Roland's personnel file indicates she has received above-average performance reviews since joining Lake County Fire Rescue in 2001.

The file also contains documents pertaining to Roland's multiple periods of medical leave and light duty since the accident.

Christopher Patton, a spokesman for Lake County government, said that Roland had received worker's compensation benefits, but would not specify how much, citing privacy laws.

Patton said that Roland notified her superiors when she filed the lawsuit, but that they now are looking at the case with more scrutiny.

"They didn't actually view the lawsuit. They didn't understand all of the ramifications that were involved," Patton said.

"Perhaps we're at fault for not investigating what the intentions were in the suit."

Last October, Casselberry police Sgt. Andrea Eichhorn sued the family of then 2-year-old Joey Cosmillo, who fell into a swimming pool, suffering severe brain damage, in January 2007. Eichhorn responded to the scene, slipped in a puddle, fell, and broke a kneecap.

Eichhorn dropped the lawsuit less than two weeks after she filed it, in response to numerous complaints and criticism from the public.

The Casselberry Police Department fired her in December after an internal investigation concluded that she had violated several department policies, including damaging the department's image and filing suit without giving the police chief advance written notice.

Patton would not say whether Lake County Fire Rescue would take action against Roland. But he said that the public shouldn't fear calling 911 because of potential legal ramifications.

"Any time you call 911, there is an expectation that you should be safe and not in harm's way," he said.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/orl-loc
emt04050408may04,0,1745391.story

After Forbes just named Orlando the 4th worse congested city in the COUNTRY, and gas prices soar, the trial lawyers and unions were successful in dealing a death blow to commuter rail. 

So, no dedicated funding for Lynx, no light rail, no commuter rail, I-4 at the maximum load....good job!!!!!

In 5 years, your commute time will double.  When that happens, think back to this day.

WHAT the heck is wrong with teenagers????  Making your grandmother make a "gangsta" movie????  Your mother saying it's a "misunderstanding"?????   Not sure which is worse!!!!  

This is sick!!!

Authorities say an 18-year-old man is charged with elder abuse for having his senile grandmother wear a black mask and hold a handgun for a video on thug life in Palm Beach County.

The 85-year-old woman is seen and heard on the video threatening to shoot "all the pigs," referring to police.

Michael Alfinez was arrested Monday and charged with abusing an elderly person, discharging a firearm in public and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon. Authorities say Alfinez also appears on the video firing a gun from a moving vehicle.

Palm Beach County sheriff's detectives seized the video during a traffic stop in January. Court records do not list an attorney for Alfinez. His mother, Michelle, calls the incident a misunderstanding.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl
-bk-gangster-granny042308,0,7102379,print.story

I really feel bad for this young man.  However, the school did not own this dog!!  It's like saying if someone is in my yard, and a pit bull from down the street attacks them, I'M LIABLE!!! 

The school decided to settle because they were afraid that seeing the injuries the boy incurred would result in a larger settlement.

So, is it just me, or should the dog owners be the only ones responsible???  Can you keep a dog from attacking near a playground anymore than someone shooting up the campus???

When kids feel like teasing Daniel Decembre, they sometimes call him "scarface."

It is a cruel but accurate description for a boy who five years ago was mauled by a pit bull that came tearing out of a house next to Ridgewood Park Elementary School and made a beeline for Daniel, who was waiting for his after-school tutoring. Teachers drove the dog off, but not before it had ripped into Daniel's face, taking off one of his ears.

"It's been horrible," Daniel, now 13, said of his disfigurement. "At school they just talk about me . . . other kids are scared of me."

Daniel's family settled a lawsuit against the Orange County School Board for $2 million last fall. Under state law, however, the school system has to pay only $200,000 unless the state Legislature approves the rest. This week, the Senate voted to do so, but the bill still must pass the House.

"I'm urging my colleagues to place this on the agenda early next week so we can vote on this before the end of the legislative session," said House sponsor Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando.

Daniel's family said the boy was dropped from its insurance plan shortly after the attack. Since then, medical bills have reached what the family's attorney, Charles Emanuel, described as in "the six-figure range."

Daniel's parents said they hope to use the money to satisfy those bills, pay for more reconstructive surgery and help him enjoy life.

"Everything is for Daniel," said the boy's father, Desner Decembre, 60. "We want things to go back to normal."


More surgery ahead

Daniel has had five surgeries since the attack. And more are needed.

The boy will need skin grafts to remove scars as well as corrective surgery to prepare the left side of his head for a prosthetic ear.

A large mass of scar tissue on his right ear also needs to be removed, and he still has trouble with the tear ducts in his left eye.

Daniel was in second grade when the dog attacked him near a school playground. Other students began running as the pit bull charged toward them, but Daniel tripped and the dog pounced. School employees threw objects at the 50-pound dog, and one teacher used an umbrella to chase the dog away from the 8-year-old child. One teacher tried to use her car to hit the dog and end the attack.

It wasn't the first time the school had trouble with dogs. In the three years before the attack, officials at Ridgewood Elementary called Orange County Animal Services 19 times to have dogs removed from the campus, according to a report that an administrative law judge provided to the Senate before its vote.

Daniel and his parents say the injuries were more than physical.

When he goes out, Daniel said, he sometimes startles people.

Instead of going to his friends' homes to play, Daniel invites them to his house.

"The thing about friends is that it's kind of hard to get them," Daniel said. "They are very frightened."

When Daniel is outside, he often asks his father to stay nearby to watch out for another attack.

Basketball, football and other sports are out because coaches "don't want me to get hurt," he said.

Daniel, who now attends Agape Christian School in Orlando, has avoided any contact with dogs, until a recent encounter with a dog that he described as "friendly." It was a pit bull.

"Even now we laugh, [but] we don't laugh exactly inside," said Desner Decembre. "We never feel the way we [were] before."


Not a done deal

It isn't clear whether Daniel's claim will make it through the House and ultimately past the desk of Gov. Charlie Crist. The bill is still in committee.

The Senate approved it even though administrative Judge Bram D.E. Canter recommended against it in January. Canter's report sympathized with Daniel but said the school district could not have prevented the attack because the dog ran through a school gate that was left open during the day for vehicles to come and go.

Other recent "claim bills" have had better success in the Legislature than in years past.

Senate spokeswoman Kathy Mears said no such cases won legislative approval in 2005 or 2006, but 13 claim bills became law in 2007. Insiders say that's because the governor, Senate and House are now more amenable.

The Orange County School Board, which will have to pay the additional $1.8 million if the bill is passed, has neither supported nor opposed the legislation.

School officials said they settled because a jury, seeing Daniel's injuries, might have awarded the family more than $2 million.

"We certainly realized some [financial] benefits" of settling," said Brian Moes, assistant general council for the School Board.

By some accounts, state senators were moved by Daniel's tragedy.

"He's a bright, young boy who's so traumatized . . . but his outlook is still positive," said Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, the bill's Senate sponsor. "He just wants to be able to have surgeries. I thought he needed an opportunity to present his case."

Daniel said he has learned several things from his experience: "It helps me to know life is not easy and you have to just build strength and become who you were supposed to be no matter what."

Daniel said he hopes one day to be a plastic surgeon.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/or
l-dogbite1808apr18,0,7525358.story?page=2

Once again, the anti-American ACLU is protecting illegals.  Seems they think increased partrols in Sorrento after a Deputy was attacked by a group of ILLEGALS is "profiling". 

Seems the cops are stopping and ARRESTING, then DEPORTING ILLEGALS after stopping them for things such as DRIVING WITHOUT A LICENSE (meaning they are also driving without INSURANCE). 

Of course, the Slantinal makes it sound like the ACLU and ILLEGALS are the "good guys" while the cops are the "bad guys."

Hispanics in this community have been on edge after a Lake County deputy was beaten by an angry mob of partygoers last month.

They say the Sheriff's Office has unfairly targeted them with stepped-up patrols in Sorrento, along with the arrests of dozens of people across the county suspected of being illegal immigrants.

"It's a bad situation," said Arcadio Espinosa, a landscaper who has lived in Sorrento more than three years. "Many people are afraid to leave their homes. They [deputies] see you driving or walking and they will immediately stop you and ask you for identification."

But sheriff's officials on Friday denied they are singling out Hispanics.

"We are not profiling. Absolutely not," Sheriff Gary Borders said Friday. "Our deputies are not singling out . . . but we are looking for illegal immigrants who are breaking the law."

More than 100 Hispanics -- most of them of Mexican origin -- gathered Thursday night in the parking lot of El Mercadito Del Pueblo Mexican restaurant and store off State Road 46 to talk about the sheriff's actions and the apprehension in their community.

During the meeting, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida officials passed out forms, asking those stopped by Lake deputies to write down what happened.

Glenn Katon, director of the Central Florida region for the ACLU, said the forms will be used as "a starting point" if the group decides to challenge the Sheriff's Office's practices.

"I'm convinced it [profiling] is happening," Katon said. "I think with the evidence we have and what we've heard from people, there is clearly something going on."

Katon said he sent a letter to Borders on March 31 asking him to meet with Hispanics in Sorrento. As of Friday afternoon, he had not heard back from the sheriff.

A man who gave his name only as Lorenzo said deputies picked up his 17-year-old son on March 26 while he was walking on the street. The son now awaits deportation in Miami to his native Mexico.

Maria, who would not give her last name, said two friends who worked in the restaurant's kitchen were picked up by deputies for driving without a license. Now they are awaiting deportation.

"They're worried. They're afraid," she said of Hispanics in Sorrento. "No one wants to come out of their houses."

But others applauded the law-enforcement actions.

"I say if they're illegal, then send them back," said Tanya Young, a manager of the JJ's Lounge and Package in Sorrento. "They're taking jobs away from American workers."

The controversy emerged after a party late last month that ended with the attack on the deputy.

On March 23, Lake Deputy Cliff McMennamy responded to complaints of a loud party off a Sorrento dirt road. As he pulled into the driveway, a man identified by sheriff's officials as Miguel Gomez threw a beer bottle at his car. When the deputy tried to arrest Gomez, a mob of Hispanic men kicked, punched and hit him on the head with a beer bottle, according to sheriff's reports. McMennamy suffered a bruised jaw and cuts on his head and face.

In the week after the attack, deputies added patrols in Sorrento. By March 29, deputies had detained 20 suspected of being illegal immigrants in Sorrento, sheriff's spokesman John Herrell said.

But an Orlando Sentinel review ofLake County Jail records shows that from the time of the deputy's beating through noon Friday, deputies had arrested 76 Hispanics. Of those, 47 were identified as Mexican citizens. Many were held for traffic misdemeanors, such as driving without a license.

In the same time period last year, 40 Hispanics were arrested by deputies, and 13 were Mexican citizens.

Six months ago -- from Sept. 23 through Oct. 5 -- 25 Hispanics were arrested and 15 were Mexican citizens.

Borders attributed the increase in arrests to the enhanced patrols after the beating. He added, "Increased population growth is a contributing factor."

Sheriff's officials said they have since scaled back their patrols.

Gomez, 35, who owns the Post North Rail Road home where the beating occurred, was arrested and charged with several assault-related crimes. He is free on $120,000 bail.

A second Sorrento man, Juan Gomez-Zamora, 22, was arrested Monday and charged with aggravated battery on a law-enforcement officer. He posted $5,000 bail shortly after his arrest.

Migrant workers have long been drawn toLake County. The area has offered plenty of jobs, first in the citrus groves and later in construction. That influx also has created challenges for local law enforcement.

Five days before the attack, Borders applied to have 15 deputies specially trained to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] agents to screen suspected illegal immigrants and have them deported. They also would be authorized to investigate those suspected of transporting or hiring illegal immigrants.

Lake would join Collier County and become the second Florida county with deputies cross-trained to handle ICE functions.

If approved, Lake deputies would process the arrested illegal immigrants for deportation after their local charges are resolved, rather than wait for ICE or Border Patrol.

Borders said he started the increase in immigration patrols and applied for the ICE program because residents at community meetings urged his department to do something about the growing number of illegal immigrants.

"People are asking us why we aren't arresting more of them," Borders said. "But it's not that clear-cut."

Joe Hussey, owner of Sorrento Bait & Tackle since 1985, said most Hispanics living in Sorrento are quiet, hardworking people. Unfortunately, the "bad apples" who attacked the deputy have created problems for the entire community, he said.

"That wasn't the smartest thing to do."

Alejandro Banales, 38, said deputies should focus on those who took part in the beating.

"I don't have anything against the police [deputies] . . . but they should realize that most Mexicans are good and honest workers," he said Thursday.


Martin E. Comas can be reached at mcomas@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5927.

PHOTO: Members of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida talk with Hispanics in a Sorrento parking lot on Thursday. The ACLU members asked Hispanics to write down contact with Lake deputies.
TOM BENITEZ/ORLANDO SENTINEL
PHOTO: A child waits at the meeting with the ACLU at a Mexican restaurant and store off State Road 46 in Sorrento on Thursday.
PHOTOS BY TOM BENITEZ/ORLANDO SENTINEL
PHOTO: Alejandro Banales works at a Sorrento tortilleria Thursday. He said police should focus on illegal immigrants and leave most Hispanics alone. -->

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apr05,0,614990.story

Walter Pacheco

Sentinel Staff Writer

12:08 PM EDT, March 27, 2008

An 11-year-old student is on her way to the juvenile detention center this morning after she punched a deputy in the face, causing the deputy's nose to bleed.

Orange County Deputy Donna Hudepohl pulled out her Taser and fired it at the Moss Park Elementary School student after repeated efforts to control her. The student, whose name was not released, faces charges of battery on a law-enforcement officer, disrupting a school function, as well as resisting with violence, the arrest report shows.

Rescue crews transported Hudepohl to Florida Hospital East with a possible broken nose, Corporal Susan Soto of the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

This is the third tasing at an Orange County school this year.

School principal Irma Moss said that everything was back to normal at the school, located at 9301 N. Shore Golf Club Blvd. Officials at the Orange County Public School District have not returned calls to the Orlando Sentinel.

Sheriff's records show that the student was seen pushing a smaller student into oncoming traffic earlier this morning. Witnesses reported the incident to the music teacher, who then confronted the student.

Reports show that the student turned away from that teacher and headed toward her homeroom class. Once inside the classroom, the student's homeroom teacher and music teacher attempted to speak with the student about the incident and her behavior.

"The student became agitated and began to shove her desk and chair...the student made several attempts to spit at the teachers," the report shows.

Hudepohl, the school resource officer stationed on school grounds, arrived and asked the student to accompany her to the office. The student refused, pushed the deputy and punched her in the face, causing her nose to bleed.

The deputy tried holding down the student, but she kept resisting the deputy's attempts. That's when "the officer deployed her electronic weapon device and safely secured the student," according to the sheriff's office.

Rescue crews transported the student to Florida Hospital East to remove the Taser's prongs. The agency said the student had no other injuries.

Some parents were surprised to hear the news of the attack and the student's arrest.

Nancy Winter, who lives in the North Shore neighborhood, arrived at the school at about 9 a.m. to volunteer with her granddaughter's first-grade class when she saw the fire truck and several police cruisers on campus.

"I had no idea what happened," Winter said. "This is a wonderful school."

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