A Spring Lake woman accused of DUI manslaughter has been granted bond. 63-year-old Bobbi Lynn Smith was given a $50,000 bond Friday by Judge David Ward. Prosecutors initially sought to keep her in jail until trial but withdrew that request. Smith was arrested five years after allegedly crashing a Dodge Journey in 2020, killing passenger Joseph Delsignore. Investigators say Smith was driving drunk and had multiple drugs in her system. She has prior DUI and felony convictions.
A traffic crash in Frostproof Monday afternoon sent one person to the hospital by air. The collision, involving an oil truck, happened around 3:26 PM at 760 Palm Avenue North. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, one victim was trapped and had to be rescued. Polk County Fire Rescue confirmed the patient was flown out as a trauma alert. Witnesses say roads were blocked while crews worked the scene. The cause of the crash and the patient’s condition have not been released.
A man is hurt after he was shot by a deputy in Polk County. It happened yesterday morning in Poinciana. Sheriff Grady Judd says deputies got a call about a man planning to kill his wife and himself. When a deputy arrived, Wilfredo Morales allegedly fired several shots at his wife and the deputy before going back into his home. The deputy called for backup and crisis negotiators. Judd says a SWAT team put chemical agents in the house to get Morales to come out, and when he did, he was armed. When he pointed the gun at SWAT team members, he was shot. Judd says Morales told deputies he wanted to commit suicide by cop. Morales was airlifted to the hospital, and he’s in extremely critical condition. No one else was hurt.
Florida’s budget is signed after the governor cut millions in spending. Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed over 500-million dollars from the state budget he signed yesterday. The vetoes include 200-million dollars to buy land for the state’s wildlife corridor. He did not veto raises for police, teachers and other state employees. The budget also includes two billion dollars in tax relief by permanently repealing the business rent tax. It also includes over 400 million dollars in savings for families through several sales tax holidays. DeSantis also says the budget includes a record amount in per-pupil K-through-12 funding. The budget totals over 117-billion dollars. DeSantis says the state is spending less than the previous year, adding to the rainy-day fund and repaying almost half of the state’s debt.