Sentinel stirred mind, emotions, feelings
To the GOP: The Constitution limits presidents to two terms. Period.
Either Donald Trump won the 2020 election and is ineligible to run in 2024, Trump is eligible to run in 2024 and 2020. Please pick your poison.
Jerry Tarnowski
While reading the Feb. 24 issue of the Orlando Sentinel, my emotions ran the gamut. After reading “China to impose restrictions on elections in Hong Kong,” I thought to myself, “Wow. The Communist Party is trying to control dissenters and ensure Communist Party leadership. How unfair. I’m glad to be an American.”
A few pages later, I read “DeSantis, lawmakers fight imaginary voter fraud and other non-issues.” I thought to myself, “Wow. Our governor, who consistently seems to confuse hypocrisy with democracy, is trying to ensure Republican control of Florida by making it harder to vote. Is this America?” The parallels with China were apparent.
A few pages later, I saw a giant picture of a beautiful eastern gray squirrel looking happy to have a big nut in its mouth. I thought to myself, “Wow, nature is remarkable. It is good to be alive.”
Thank you for waking up my mind, emotions and feelings.
Gloria Groome Windermere
The late Peter Pritchard’s world-class collection of turtle and tortoise specimens in Oviedo will be taken over by the Turtle Conservancy in California, his widow, Sibille, announced Thursday.
A Florida zoologist and University of Florida doctoral graduate, Pritchard had acquired thousands of specimens of turtles and tortoises from around the world, housing them at his Chelonian Research Institute in Oviedo. He was recognized by
searched the vehicle, finding more than three pounds of the drug.
Deputies placed the driver in handcuffs, but the metal cuffs did not fit Stanley’s wrists, so James-Potts used two pairs of flex cuffs, which are lightweight plastic or nylon restraints, the report said. However, the investigation found James-Potts applied the second flex cuff to Stanley’s “left lower forearm,” instead of tight on his wrist, giving him “almost full range of motion, which should have been noticed by the deputies.”
Both Sauri Le Hardy and Silva searched Stanley, but “failed to locate a firearm concealed in [his] waistband,” the report said. Deputies repeatedly talked about how they expected to find a gun, but didn’t, body-worn camera footage from the traffic stop showed.
The report said that the loose flex cuffs “facilitated in concealing of the firearm during the searches.”
When deputies arrived at the jail, body-worn camera video showed Stanley had “removed the flex cuff from his left wrist, putting both wrists into the right flex cuff,” the report said. Once inside the jail’s nurse triage area, “Stanley removed his left hand from the flex cuff [and] retrieved a firearm from the left side of his waistband.”
He pointed the firearm at officers and staff, and said, “Not today,” the report said. Stanley took James-Potts hostage as well as a jail officer and nurse, investigators found. Stanley then “handcuffed Deputy James-Potts and began removing his police radio,” the report said.
At one point, James-Potts attempted to take the firearm from Stanley, but he “struck Deputy James-Potts with his forearm, which caused law enforcement officers in the Booking and Release Center sally port to discharge their firearms,” with one round hitting Stanley’s shoulder.
According to the FDLE report, Stanley repeatedly put his gun to James-Potts head, threatening to kill him, and also pistol whipped him and punched him. In an interview, James-Potts said he thought he lost consciousnesses, but continued to try to negotiate and deescalate the situation.
“I thought I was going to die today . ... I didn’t expect to make it out,” James-Potts said in his interview with FDLE investigators.
After more than an hour, SWAT officers entered the area where Stanley had been barricaded, and he surrendered, the FDLE report said.
At least one other deputy was recently reprimanded after a different person under arrest brought a pocket knife into the jail a few months after the hostage incident, with a different internal investigation finding Deputy Thierry Augustin violated OCSO protocols. The Sentinel has been unable to obtain more details about that incident.
According to a recent report from WKMG-Channel 6, Orange County Corrections Chief Louis Quiñones Jr. has made several changes to booking protocol since the hostage situation, including banning plastic handcuffs like those Stanley was wearing and making sure people under arrest immediately go through metal detector and are patted down.
He told the TV station that an extra officer and surveillance camera has been added to the intake area, and some officers have been given stun guns.
Tracy Zampaglione, a spokeswoman for Orange County Corrections, did not respond to questions from the Sentinel about these changes.
The criminal case against Stanley, who has been charged with a slew of crimes including armed kidnapping and aggravated assault on law enforcement officers, is currently set for trial in June.