Tag Archives: SWAT

A quarter of Alachua County’s middle and high school students use vape products. Here’s what’s being done to combat usage.

As a respiratory therapist, Alisha Berry knows firsthand the medical dangers e-cigarette and vape products have for kids. “They start coughing, and their lungs will literally collapse,” she said. From hospitalizations to addiction, Berry said the next generation of children need to be careful not to fall into a nicotine …

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DeSantis suspends Orlando-area prosecutor

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday suspended Orlando-area State Attorney Monique Worrell, accusing the prosecutor of “neglecting her duty” and being lax on criminal enforcement. DeSantis’ suspension of Worrell, elected in 2020 as state attorney for Florida’s 9th Judicial Circuit in Orange and Osceola counties, marks the second time …

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Gainesville man with history of indecent exposure arrested for possessing child pornography, soliciting child sexual abuse material

Sixty-three-year-old Thomas Duval Andrews was arrested by the Gainesville Police Department Tuesday evening for possessing child pornography. The investigation into Andrews began last November when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from the adult video chatting app Flingster, which said one of its users was soliciting child sexual abuse material online. The tip was referred to Gainesville police. The user’s IP address was tracked to Andrews’ residence, where police seized several electronic items after serving a warrant in October.

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Prosecutors drop criminal charges against prominent real estate agents; related civil lawsuits settled

The State Attorney’s office has dropped its criminal investigation of  employees of a prominent commercial real estate firm whose offices were stormed by an armed SWAT team last year.  Around the same time prosecutors abandoned their criminal case, on Nov. 1, at least three related civil lawsuits and countersuits in …

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