Man Faces Life For Robbing Six Outside Mexican Restaurant
October 27, 2015
An Escambia County man is facing up to life in prison for holding up six people outside a Mexican restaurant.
Tolland Bonner was convicted of one count of robbery with a firearm, five counts of attempted robbery with a firearm, one count of aggravated battery while in possession of a firearm, six counts of aggravated assault, one count of fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer, and one count of resisting an officer without violence.
On January 6, 2015 Bonner held up six victims standing outside the Los Rancheros Mexican Restaurant on Plantation Drive. Bonner fled the scene and was pursued by one of the victims until law enforcement joined the chase. Bonner eventually stopped his car on the side of the road and ran into a residential area in which he resided. Law enforcement later discovered that the vehicle was registered to Bonner and his passenger also identified Bonner. Furthermore, two of the victims identified Bonner in a photo lineup.
Circuit Judge Ross Goodman scheduled sentencing for November 18. Bonner faces the possibility of life in state prison with a 70 year mandatory minimum sentence. This means that Bonner will be required to serve 70 years in state prison without the possibility of gain time or parole.
Bonner was convicted of six robberies in 2003.
Tribe Goes To Court Amid Gambling Talks
October 27, 2015
The Seminole Tribe of Florida sued the state Monday, setting in motion what could be a protracted legal fight over the tribe’s exclusive rights to offer “banked” card games like blackjack at most of its casinos.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Tallahassee, comes even as the Seminoles for the first time said they have made “significant progress” in negotiations with Gov. Rick Scott’s office and legislative leaders toward a deal that sources close to the talks say could allow the tribe to add craps and roulette.
The exclusive rights to the banked card games expired July 31, and a 90-day grace period ends Thursday. The lawsuit accuses the state of acting in “bad faith” — a legal “term of art,” according to the tribe’s lawyer, Barry Richard — and asks a federal judge to allow the Seminoles to keep offering the games. The Seminoles are also asking for mediation to try to work out another deal.
Tribal leaders have been meeting with Scott’s general counsel, Tim Cerio, and Republican House and Senate leaders for weeks, hoping to expand on a 20-year agreement signed in 2010, called a “compact,” that authorized the tribe’s slot-machine and table-game operations. A provision of the deal gave the Seminoles exclusive rights to operate banked card games for five years in exchange for a minimum payment of $1 billion. While that portion of the compact expired this summer, the compact gave the tribe 90 additional days to shut down the games.
The Seminoles have said they do not intend to stop running the games, even after the Oct. 29 deadline.
“We are continuing the card games, but in order to do that, we thought that it was only appropriate that we start the process in court and find out,” Richard told The News Service of Florida on Monday. “The court will say if it’s OK or no. Or the state and the tribe will reach an agreement that will render it moot. This is not an in-your-face or anything. We’re not saying to the Legislature we’re doing this because we haven’t negotiated a deal. It’s completely separate.”
A Scott spokeswoman said the governor’s office did not have a comment Monday on the lawsuit and the tribe’s intention of continuing to offer banked card games.
The lawsuit alleges that the state failed to negotiate in good faith by demanding that the tribe agree to modifications of other portions of the compact “to substantially increase the tribe’s payments to the state.”
Under the current talks, the Seminoles would pay the state at least $3 billion over seven years in exchange for exclusive rights to roulette and craps, according to sources close to the negotiations. A Palm Beach County dog track could have slot machines, a new gambling operation in Miami-Dade County could start up with slot machines, and dog tracks could stop racing greyhounds while retaining lucrative card rooms.
The lawsuit also alleges that the state breached the compact by allowing pari-mutuel facilities to offer what are known as “player-banked” card games in which “the bank” is another player instead of “the house.” The tribe contends that allowing such games violated its rights to exclusivity in operating banked card games, which typically involve players betting against the house instead of each other.
Even if the state and the tribe reach agreement on the parameters of a new compact, getting the requisite blessing of the Legislature could be tough.
Any agreement would have to include some perks for the state’s pari-mutuel industry in order to get the political support necessary for a bill authorizing the compact to pass. But loading too many elements into the legislation could kill it.
Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, a Miami-Dade Republican and the House’s chief negotiator on the deal, has likened the complicated gambling deal to a “Rubik’s cube.”
The tribe “remains hopeful that a positive outcome will result” and “believes that a legislative solution would be in the best interest” of everyone, the Seminoles said in a statement Monday — their first public comments on the ongoing negotiations.
The tribe filed the suit as part of a dispute resolution process included in the compact and also laid out in the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the statement said.
“The tribe has no option but to file in order to protect its interests and those of the 3,100 employees and their families whose jobs are in jeopardy,” the statement said.
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Northview’s Wilson Wins VFW Democracy Essay Contest Winner
October 27, 2015
Northview High School sophomore Dykota Wilson has been named the local winner of the local Voice of Democracy 2015-2016 essay contest, sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
With a theme of “My Vision for America”, Wilson’s entry will now advance to the district level, followed potentially by the state and national level. The national level competition includes an all-expense paid trip to Washington, DC, next year. The local Voice of Democracy essay contest is open to students in grades 9-12 and is sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 7016, in Atmore. Students from Florida and Alabama compete in this contest.
Pictured: Essay contest winner Dykota Wilson (middle), her 10th grade English teacher Vicki Baggett VFW Post 7016 Representative Noah McBride. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
FWC To Adjust Sights On Future Black Bear Hunts
October 27, 2015
State wildlife officials will take some time to review the first bear hunt in 21 years — shut down Sunday night quicker than they expected — to make adjustments before the next one.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials, who acknowledged Sunday that the agency “underestimated the hunter success for the first day,” said a number of scenarios from the planned week-long hunt — cut down to two days — will have to be factored into future planning.
Black bears hadn’t been hunted in Florida for 21 years and they’re relatively naive about being prey. The weather was ideal for hunting over the weekend. There was an abundance of hunters, and some went out ahead of time to scout for bears. The population of bears —- the state expects to have updated statewide projections next year — has been growing.
“We’re going to take all the information from this year, and take a look at it, and consider everything we’ve got, and learn as we go, and consider how to adjust the management for the future,” said Diane Eggeman, commission director of hunting and game management.
The commission has been pursuing other methods of reducing human-bear conflicts for years, such as getting more communities to require bear-proof trash containers. But state officials remain adamant that the hunt is a “management tool” for the increasing bear population, estimated around 3,000 in Florida.
Opponents, who called the hunt a “disaster” for the state’s recently threatened black-bear population, said the commission should limit who is allowed back in the field for future hunts and better define future targets.
Chuck O’Neal, director of the Seminole County group Speak Up Wekiva, which failed earlier this month to persuade a circuit judge to block the hunt, said the agency needs to first determine if the hunt “adversely impacted” the state’s black-bear population.
“I can’t see any point of this hunt being successful by any means,” said O’Neal, whose group has filed suit challenging the commission’s ability to approve bear hunts. “The 320 quota was supposed to be over in seven days. How can they rejoice over that? It’s just one spin after another.”
O’Neal said the state needs to impose a lottery system to limit the number of hunters, prohibit female bears from being killed, increase the minimum weight limit of bears that can be killed from 100 pounds to 200 pounds and prohibit anyone who killed a bear in this year’s hunt from being able to get a permit for a future hunt.
A total of 3,778 bear-hunt permits were issued at a cost of $100 to Florida residents and $300 for out-of-state hunters.
Each permit allowed a hunter a single kill.
The sales brought the agency more than $376,900, which will be used to reduce human-bear conflicts.
“When we started this, we started with harvest objectives that were very conservative and very mindful that we are doing this for the first time in 21 years,” said commission Executive Director Nick Wiley. “There are uncertainties. But we put many good buffers in place, because it was those uncertainties and we’re still very confident we’re within those sustainable limits.”
Fish and Wildlife officials said Sunday that though the projected one-week hunt went quicker than expected, the numbers remain within the 10 percent “harvest” objective.
“From biological sustainable population perspective, none of these numbers are worrying to us,” said Thomas Eason, director of the commission’s Division of Habitat and Species Conservation. “We have large, resilient growing bear populations.”
Most of the bears killed in the hunt were taken Saturday in the East Panhandle and Central Florida bear-management regions, which were both closed to hunters on Sunday.
The state divides Florida in to seven bear management units. Four with the largest bear populations were opened to the hunt.
Officials had used a 2002 estimate of 600 bears living in the East Panhandle region to set a quota of 40 bears. That area includes the northwestern Big Bend area to west of Apalachicola Bay. With 112 bears reported killed as of Sunday in the East Panhandle, Eason said that’s a sign that there are more bears in the woods.
Eason also noted that hunters were reported to have been scouting for bears in the East Panhandle prior to the start of the hunt.
Other areas where the hunt was allowed were the South region, which includes Broward, Collier, Hendry, Lee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties; the Central region, which includes the St. Johns River watershed to the Ocala National Forest; and the North region, which goes from Jacksonville west to Hamilton and Suwannee counties.
As of Monday afternoon, 22 bears were reported killed in the South region and 25 in the North region.
Wiley noted that in the South region, Big Cypress National Preserve was closed to bear hunting and a number of large private land owners had not opened their land to hunters.
“That’s a factor that I believe does figure, just availability of places to go, that figures into this,” Wiley said.
Commission Division of Law Enforcement Maj. Craig Duval said officers issued two citations Saturday.
A hunter in the East Panhandle region was issued a citation for killing a cub that weighed just over 40 pounds. To prohibit the killing of cubs, the rules for the hunt required targeted bears to weigh more than 100 pounds.
The other citation went to a hunter in the Central region for using bait to lure a bear.
The penalties in both cases are second-degree misdemeanors if the hunter is a first-time offender.
A warning was also issued to a hunter in the Central region for killing an 88-pound bear, while investigations are underway into other cases of baiting bears.
Several hunters were also found hunting without their permits. Duval said those hunters were “educated” on the law that requires hunters to carry their permits.
Duval said there were no reports of hunters being injured.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Two Trapped When Tree Crashes Into Home
October 26, 2015
Two adult females were trapped in a home about three miles west of Flomaton this afternoon after a large tree came crashing down into the home.
The tree fell about 5:15 p.m. in the 2200 block of old Atmore Road near Kadeee Lane. The women were rescued from the home by the Flomaton Fire Department and the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue. There occupants were not injured.
Atmore Ambulance and the Escambia County (AL) Sheriff’s Office also responded to the incident.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Deputies Seek Clues In Early Morning Murder
October 26, 2015
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an early morning shooting that left one man dead.
Deputies responded to a shots fired disturbance in the 600 block of Rue Max Street about 2:50 a.m. Monday. That’s where they found the victim, 28-year old Alvin Don Anderson deceased from gunshot wounds.
During the preliminary investigation, it was discovered that the victim confronted two suspicious males who were outside at an adjacent residence. The victim got into a verbal altercation with the two males at which time the victim was shot, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The two males were seen fleeing the scene.
A witness described the men, a white male and a black male, as “young looking” with short hair. The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information on this investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers (850) 433-STOP.
State Charges Couple With Insurance Fraud Over $15K Engagement Ring
October 26, 2015
A Cantonment man and his former fiancee have been charged with insurance fraud by the state for alleged false claims over a custom-made engagement ring.
Zian Scott Snyder, 29, and Alicia Maria Hill, 26, were charged with scheme to defraud, insurance fraud, grand theft, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud by the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud. Both were released from the Escambia County Jail on $15,000 bond each. Snyder was also charged with petit theft and burglary by Pensacola Police.
According to arrest affidavit, the couple filed a false claim on a $15,000 ring that Hill claimed she lost swimming in the Gulf and was also recorded claiming she lost the ring on a boat in the Gulf.
Four days after filing the claim with an insurance company, Hill entered the Ft. Walton Beach Marks and Morgan Jewelry store to have the ring repaired, a different store location that where the ring was purchased on a finance plan. The custom-made ring was identified by photographs taken at the Ft. Walton Beach store.
About the time the insurance claim was made, a jewelry store manager told authorities she witnessed the ring for sale on Craig’s List, and she was positive it was the ring in question because she had custom made the ring herself. She said the couple changed their story about the ring being stolen, saying it had been ate by a dog and later recovered.
The couple ended their relationship, but Snyder then burglarized Hill’s home, stealing back the ring, according to Pensacola Police.
About a month later, Hill called the insurance company to report that the ring had been recovered, with the insurance company telling her that the ring or the check must be returned. Three days later, according to investigators, she reported that it was actually a different ring that was recovered.
The insurance company told state investigators that neither the ring or insurance proceeds were ever returned.
On The Road Again: Giant Equipment Makes Final Leg Of Trip
October 26, 2015
A giant piece of equipment being moved from the port of Pensacola to the Georgia Pacific Mill in Brewton was on the road again Sunday night, reaching its final destination about 1:45 Monday morning.
The generator turbine was parked all weekend in Century, having made the slow, methodical trek from the Port of Pensacola over several nights. It had been parked about 5:30 Friday morning, with state officials not allowing it to move during the weekend.
As the trailer passed through Escambia County, FL, a small number of people lost electrical power as lines were moved out of the way. It was estimated that some 400 or more obstructions were moved, including up to 100 power, cable and phone lines in Century.
Electrical power was cut for much of Flomaton late Sunday night as the equipment crossed into Alabama from Century because of electrical lines that had to be removed or pulled up and out of the way. Along the route in Flomaton, numerous residents gathered along Sidney Manning Boulevard to watch the turbine pass on a trailer that is 18-feet wide, almost 25-feet tall and 173.5-feet long. Some posed for selfies or took photos of their kids with the giant turbine in the background.
For additional photos from the turbine’s trip through Century early Friday morning, click here.
A second large trailer with a generator was to make the same trip from the Port of Pensacola to Brewton. Local media was not notified of the generator’s movement or transportation plans, but it was reported to be parked at the former Winn Dixie in Cantonment over the weekend.
Pictured: A giant generator turbine passes through Flomaton late Sunday night, seen at Highway 31 and Highway 29 (top) and at Highway 29 and Poplar Street (below). Photos by Katie Fowler for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
UPDATED: Road Closures – Nokomis, Pine Forest, North Pineville, Highway 168
October 26, 2015
Road closures are planned this week on Nokomis Road, Pine Forest Road, North Pineville Road and Highway 168 in the North Escambia area. The closures are for repair and construction and unrelated to forecasted rain.
Nokomis Road in Davisville is set to be closed Wednesday at 7 a.m. through Thursday at 4:30 p.m. for railroad crossing repairs. Drivers may detour on Meadows Lane.
Pine Forest Road in Walnut Hill is set to be closed Tuesday, November 3 at 7 a.m. through Thursday, November 4 at 4:30 p.m. for railroad crossing repairs. Drivers may detour on Rockaway Creek and Pelt Roads.
Highway 168 will experience single lane closures on the Hobbs Branch Bridge (between Pine Barren Road and Wiggins Road) through Wednesday, November 25. Lane closures will be from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
North Pineville Road work has been canceled.
Work may be rescheduled or prolonged due to inclement weather. Any updates will be posted on NorthEscambia.com.
Florida’s Black Bear Hunt Is Now Over
October 26, 2015
Florida’s 2015 black bear hunt was declared closed Sunday night.
More than 3,500 people armed with guns and bows were expected to take to the woods across four swaths of the state starting Saturday morning to begin a quest to kill formerly threatened Florida black bears.
Taking aim at bears is something hunters haven’t been permitted to do anywhere in Florida since 1994.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission closed the beat hunt with a total of 295 bears taken, approaching the statewide objective of 320. The total harvest count was subject to rise as check stations remained opened after the hunt was closed, with hunters having up to 12 hours to check their bears.
The harvest success was higher than expect in the Eastern Panhandle, likely reflecting a higher bear population in that area. FWC expects the 2016 survey to show populations to be significantly higher than the East Panhandle’s 2002 population estimate of 600 bears.
In addition to updated population information expected in 2016 for three additional BMUs (East Panhandle, West Panhandle and South), FWC also will use information from the 2015 hunt to guide management efforts in subsequent years.
Regulated hunting has a long, successful history of contributing to wildlife conservation in North America. Of the 41 states with resident bear populations, 33 of them conduct hunts and all have stable to increasing bear populations, according to FWC.
Some opponents turned out Friday at protests across the state.
“We’re concerned that too many of the bears will be taken,” said Sally Sanders, organizer of a “Stop the Bear Hunt” protest Friday that drew about 70 people outside the commission’s Tallahassee headquarters. “We’re concerned that the population could drop down below a level that it can recover.”
But, state officials remain adamant that the hunt, which limits each permit holder to killing a single bear weighing at least 100 pounds, won’t exceed the overall 320 bears targeted for what the commission calls a “harvest.”
NorthEscambia.com file photo.