An elderly man is in custody following a deadly shooting in Lake Placid on Monday night. The sheriff’s office says 70-year-old Rosalio Astorga Sanchez admitted to shooting and killing a 40-year-old housemate at their home on Sarasota Street. When deputies arrived on scene they found the victim dead in the front yard. According to police, Sanchez told deputies he was angry with the victim for beating up another man who lived in the home. Sanchez was booked into the Highlands County Jail on a first-degree murder charge.
Another serious accident involving a motorcycle and a vehicle occured in Sebring Tuesday afternoon. Shortly before 4:00pm- emergency crews were dispatched to the northbound lanes of HWY 27 S at Sparta Road, where they found a chaotic scene. Debris and fluid littered the roadway and shutdown all three north bound lanes of traffic. Reportedly, one crash victim was transported to the HCA landing zone in order to be airlifted by Aeromed to a Trauma Center. The accident remains under investigation.
An off-duty Florida corrections officer is dead after was shot during an ambush in Palm Beach County. It happened Monday night as Corrections Deputy Basil Powell was returning to his home in Belle Glade. The sheriff’s office says Powell was shot as he was exiting his vehicle. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Investigators determined the 39-year-old was targeted and the shooting was not related to his role as a corrections officer. Powell was a three-year member of the agency, assigned to the West Corrections Center.
Florida’s attorney general is teaming up with the FDLE’s Cyber Fraud unit to shut down hundreds of fraudulent SunPass websites. The AG’s office says the sites targeted SunPass users with fake toll notices and phishing schemes in an attempt to steal personal and financial information. A new consumer protection resource is also being released, called "Scams at a Glance: SunPass Safety." The guide is aimed at helping Floridians and visitors recognize and avoid toll scams, including fake SunPass and E-ZPass websites.
A California teenager will serve time for a swatting incident in Central Florida. The US Justice Department announced yesterday 18-year-old Alan Fillion was sentenced to 48 months in prison. He pled guilty to accusations he made interstate threats to injure others. One of those threats was made in a phone call to a mosque in Sanford in 2023. Fillion claimed he had guns, pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails, and he was planning a mass shooting. Fillion also pled guilty to threatening to set off bombs at a religious institution and a business in Volusia County. Other swatting incidents took place in Washington state and California. Prosecutors say Fillion even tried turning swatting into a business by charging to swat others for a fee.
A search is underway for the driver in a deadly hit-and-run in Sarasota. Two children were killed and a woman was hurt Monday when they were hit by a car in the area of US 301 and 7th Street. Sarasota Police say a 29-year-old woman was crossing the street with her two-year-old and five-month-old when they were hit. The children died, and the mother is in critical condition. Investigators believe the car is a white Lexus ES300, a 2013-2018 model. It may have damage to its right front quarter panel and windshield.
President Trump will attend the Daytona 500 this weekend. He previously attended NASCAR’s premiere race in 2020 during his first term in office. It will be the third time a sitting president has made an appearance at the Great American Race, with President George W. Bush being the first in 2004. This past weekend, Trump became the first sitting president to ever attend the Super Bowl. The Daytona 500 is scheduled for Sunday.
A bill is moving forward in hopes of protecting Florida’s environmental landscape. A state Senate committee unanimously approved a measure earlier today that would prevent the building of golf courses, pickleball courts, and hotels within state parks. The proposal was introduced after the Florida Department of Environmental Protection released the "Great Outdoor Initiative" last year as a way to increase recreational tourism at nine parks through construction projects. Residents spoke out against the plan, which was eventually put on hold. Legislation aimed at blocking future developments at state parks will go up for discussion during the upcoming session in Tallahassee, which starts on March 4th.