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NEWS
March 5, 2010 Two Palatka Men Accused of Kidnapping a Gainesville Woman At approximately 9 PM, Thursday, March 4th Sgt. Scott Reinhold of the Palatka Police Department was contacted by family members of a 21 year old Gainesville woman that had been missing since the previous night. According to the family members, the woman was in Palatka with two men Wednesday night and Thursday morning. She was in the company of another Gainesville woman who reported that she left the group around midnight the night before. Officers began attempting to gather additional information from the second woman (witness) and attempting to identify the men they had been with. The officers eventually learned that the women had met the men at a local hotel, the Moorings, located at Crystal cove for a party. When they tried to leave, one of the men reportedly refused to let them leave. According to the woman (witness), the man had a gun and threatened them with it. The one woman (witness) was able to run from the room and tried to get help from employees of the hotel. When she returned to the room, the men and the other woman were gone. She returned to Gainesville, but did not relay the entire story to the family of the abducted woman. The family became concerned when they could not reach the woman throughout the day and finally attempted to report her missing in Alachua County and came to Palatka to look for her. The witness gave the officers street names for the men they had been with. The officers were able to identify possible suspects based on those names and began searching for the suspects. At approximately 4:30 AM, Friday morning officers located the two men at another local hotel, the Economy Inn, located on Highway 17 and made contact with them. They located the missing woman in the room with the men. The men were identified as Wilbert Evins, age 18 of Palatka and Dominic Seymour, age 18 of Palatka. Officers detained the men and questioned the woman. She accused the men of holding her against her will. Officers also located approximately 1 and ½ pounds of suspected cannabis in the hotel room. Evins and Seymour were both booked into the Putnam County Jail for Kidnapping, Possession of Cannabis over 20 grams and Possession of Cannabis with intent to sell. Evins was also charged with Aggravated Assault. The woman who reported being abducted was returned to her family. March 3, 2010 (Update) On February 19th we reported that an unidentified man attempted to rob the Quality Inn located at 201 North 1st Street. The photos attached are of the suspect during the commission of the attempted robbery. If anyone has information in reference to the suspects’ identity, please contact Detective Danette Evey of the Palatka Police Department at 329-0115. Information can also be left on the Crime Tip Hotline 329-0170.
March 1, 2010 The City of Palatka has launched a new Community Information Service The City of Palatka has launched a new Community Information Service designed to deliver important and timely information to residents in our area using the latest technology. Residents of Palatka can now take advantage of Nixle! Nixle is a community information service that alerts you to public safety threats and community events via web, email and cell phone. Sign up at www.nixle.com to register. Register now and learn more at www.nixle.com. Then share this new service with friends and neighbors to spread the word! For additional information, citizens may contact Mylinh Reeves of the Palatka Police Department at 329-0115. From Chief of Police Gary Getchell The City of Palatka Police Department has launched this new Community Notification Service called this week to improve communication with people who live, work, and visit our area. The system provides a quick, efficient, and secure way to get neighborhood-level information out to community members who subscribe to the system. Through www.nixle.com, the department will be able to send text message (SMS) and e-mail alerts to subscribers in a specific area, down to .25 miles. Notifications might be considered in the following instances:
Through Nixle, we will deliver messages securely to citizens by e-mail and cell phone, supporting and expanding our community outreach efforts. Obviously, the system will be most effective when we have large numbers of subscribers. Please spread the word about our use of the system and add this information to the bottom of your e-mail signature: “Up-to-the-minute updates from city agencies by e-mail and cell phone www.nixle.com”. Nixle is a secure communications service available to municipal, county, and state government agencies. There is NO spam or advertising associated with Nixle Municipal Wire messages. The system is available at no cost (standard text message rates apply for subscribers who do not have text plans with their cell phone providers). About Nixle Nixle is a new community information service provider built exclusively to provide secure and reliable communications. Its authenticated service connects municipal agencies and community organizations to residents in real time, delivering information to geographically targeted consumers over their cell phones (via text messages), through emails and through web access. Nixle is offered at no cost to all governments, their agencies and organizations nongovernmental organizations and consumers. Craig Mitnick, the founder and CEO of Nixle, said Nixle differs from current services such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, which provide unauthenticated platforms for connections. Nixle solves that problem by providing a single standardized service for consumers to receive immediate and credible neighborhood-level public safety and community information. Nixle is a first-of-its-kind tool for communities that need to provide critical information to their residents. Residents of Palatka can rest easy that the local messages they receive are authentic. February 19, 2010 Palatka Police Athletic League On February 20, 2010 the Palatka Police Athletic League will be hosting the State of Florida Police Athletic League’s Region 6 basketball tournament at Beasley Middle School. The tournament will start at 10am. There will be teams from Tallahassee and Jacksonville competing against Palatka for the right to represent Region 6 in the Florida Police Athletic League’s State Tournament in Orlando Florida. Palatka will have a 10/under boys, 12/under boys and girls, 14/under boys and girls basketball teams participating in the Region 6 PAL Basketball Tournament. The SFAPAL State Tournament will be held in Orlando FL, at Walt Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex April 9th – 11th. For further information, please contact Sgt. Shaw at the above information. February 12, 2010 Underage Alcohol Operation. Ten (10) Cases Made Against Local Businesses. The Palatka Police Department Street Crimes Unit conducted an underage alcohol sales operation on Friday night, February 12th. An underage undercover operative was sent to alcohol sale establishments in the City of Palatka to attempt to purchase alcoholic beverages. The following locations sold alcoholic beverages to the undercover:
The clerk’s responsible for the sales were charged with sale of alcohol to a person under the age of 21 and issued a Notice to Appear for County Court. The owners of the businesses were notified of the charges. January 22, 2010 2 arrested for Prostitution During the evening hours of Thursday, January 21st officers of the Palatka Police Department Street Crimes Unit conducted a prostitution detail in Palatka. An undercover officer was utilized to make contact with persons suspected of being involved in prostitution. At approximately 11:25 PM the undercover officer pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store located in the 2000 block of Reid Street. The undercover officer was approached by a male suspect, later identified as Willie Johnson, age 47. Johnson offered to find the undercover officer a girl. Johnson and a female, later identified as Joann Thompson, age 48 entered the vehicle with the undercover officer. The three had a conversation agreeing on a sexual act from the female in exchange for cash payment. After this solicitation, the suspects were detained by the undercover officer and assisting officers of the Palatka Police Department. Both subjects were arrested for solicitation for prostitution. Both suspects were found to have prior convictions for prostitution that elevated the charge to a felony level. They were booked into the Putnam County Jail, bonds set at $1004.00 each. January 10, 2010 Drug Arrests On the afternoon of Friday January 8, 2009 the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Tri-County Drug Taskforce with assistance from the Palatka Police Department Street Crimes Unit and the Putnam County Sheriff's Office Drug Unit conducted a drug investigation into the illegal distribution of roxycodone within Palatka. The investigation resulted in the arrest of Lee Latrill Hall age 24 of Palatka and Ceazer Bullard age 49 of Palatka. Investigators stopped a vehicle occupied by Hall and Bullard and found a large amount of roxycodone and suspected crack cocaine. The roxycodone was approximately 61 grams (480) pills, street value of $12,600.00 and the crack cocaine was in excess of 51 grams, street value in excess of $4,000.00. Hall was charged with trafficking in cocaine, trafficking in roxycodone , fleeing and attempting to elude and driving on a suspended drivers license. Bullard was charged with trafficking in cocaine and trafficking in roxycodone. Both were held at the Putnam County Jail with no bond. January 8, 2010 Black Bear Seen In The City Limits Over the past several weeks, the Palatka Police Department and other City of Palatka staff have received numerous complaints of a bear roaming a south side neighborhood area. The bear has been seen on at least two occasions by city employees. On both occasions the bear has been seen in the area of South 12th Street, south of River Street during the late night, early morning hours. The City of Palatka wishes to advise the citizens of this and offer some advice in reference to safety and precautions to try and keep the bear away from your property.
January 7, 2010 Suspect Arrested For Two Burglaries At approximately 7:30 AM, Wednesday, January 6th a suspect broke into the Beck Chrysler offices located on Highway 17 North. The suspect stole some collectors edition watches, a laptop computer, several keys to vehicles and a 2003 Chrysler Town and Country van, red in color. The suspect was seen leaving the business by an employee who had just come to work. The employee described the suspect as a black male, 30 to 40 years of age, wearing a black skull cap, dark jacket and gray sweat pants. Officers followed up on that case throughout the day, but no leads were developed. The property stolen has not been recovered. At approximately 5:40 AM, Thursday, January 7th officers responded to an alarm call at a business located at 114 North 19th Street indicating a burglary in progress. Officers arrived and found that a front window to the business had been broken out. They began searching the business and the surrounding area. Sgt. Cornell Brown located a suspect identifying himself as Melvin Homes a few blocks from the business. The suspect was found in possession of a rolling garbage can. The garbage can contained a large quantity of merchandise that was found to have been taken from the store. According to the investigating officer, Tom Tipton, the suspect was arrested for Burglary of a Structure, Grand Theft and Criminal Mischief. The officers noted that the subject matched the description of the suspect from the burglary and theft at Beck’s on the previous day. The officers made contact with the witness from Becks and Bezell was positively identified as the suspect seen at Becks. While officers conducted the follow-up investigation, they requested and received an identity check through the Putnam County Jail. The suspect was identified as Micron Bezell through a fingerprint comparison. Bezell was charged with Burglary of a Structure, Grand Theft and Criminal Mischief in reference to the incident at Beck’s. He was also charged with Resisting Arrest without violence for providing false information as to his identity. Bezell is also a suspect in other crimes that have occurred recently. The Palatka Police Department is attempting to locate additional information on him. His place of residence and associates are not known. If anyone has information on Bezell, please contact the Palatka Police Department at 329-0115. All information will be kept confidential. |
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