Mickey Bearden wasn't sure whether he had struck something while driving along St. Joe Road on Thursday evening, so he didn't bother to stop, a Florida Highway Patrol report says. ...more

October 4, 2008

Mickey Bearden wasn't sure whether or not he had struck something while driving along St. Joe Road on Thursday evening, so he didn't bother to stop, a Florida Highway Patrol report says. Unfortunately for pedestrian Michael Weiss, 41, of Dade City, Bearden, 24, had indeed hit something. Records said Weiss suffered serious injuries and taken to Tampa General Hospital after being hit by Bearden's 2009 two-door Toyota near 23rd Street. After leaving the scene, Bearden was arrested at a gas station near 21st Street, records said. He was charged with leaving the scene of a crash with injuries, but more charges are possible after toxicology tests are completed, the highway patrol said. ...more

October 3, 2008

After hearing arguments for more than an hour today, Judge Peter Estrada said he would decide on Nov. 12 whether to toss out evidence in two grow-house cases. ...more

September 24, 2008

BRADENTON – "I was somewhere else" is the only defense offered by former Lakewood Ranch High quarterback Timothy Brooks, who faces charges he fatally shot a man in mid-July. ...more

September 23, 2008

MANATEE COUNTY - A 74-year-old Manatee County man was sentenced Friday to nearly 20 years in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking organization. ...more

September 20, 2008

A federal judge sentenced a 74-year-old man to nearly 20 years in prison today for his long involvement in a drug-trafficking organization. ...more

September 19, 2008

A Highlands County man with an Okeechobee address was free Tuesday on $21,000 bail after his girlfriend called the sheriff's office and reported that he had strangled her during an argument. ...more

September 17, 2008

A Highlands County man with an Okeechobee address was free Tuesday on $21,000 bail after his girlfriend called the sheriff's office and reported that he had strangled her during an argument. Deputies arrested Bruce Yates, 28, of an undisclosed Okeechobee address, charging him with felony battery or domestic violence battery by strangulation, possession of a controlled substance (Xanax) without a prescription and possession of not more than 20 grams of marijuana. ...more

September 17, 2008

A judge revoked bail Thursday for a man facing murder and attempted murder charges after sheriff's deputies said he threatened a witness with a gun and had smoked marijuana. ...more

September 12, 2008

An Oldsmar man was arrested Wednesday on charges he let his 10-year-old daughter steer a boat when it collided with an anchored vessel and one of their passengers died. Jeremy Rettman, 32, of 603 Baylakes Trail, was charged with vessel homicide. ...more

September 11, 2008