FHP: School-bus crash left 1 child injured
A school bus carrying about 50 children slid onto a grassy shoulder and sank into a wet ditch Thursday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. One child was taken to the hospital after the accident along John Young Parkway near Harris Boulevard in Osceola County about 6:50 a.m., troopers said. The driver, Ashanta Davis, 36, made a U-turn at Harris Boulevard, and the right front tire slid onto the grass shoulder, troopers said. Davis was not hurt. Due to the rain, the tire sank into the wet grass in a ditch, Sgt. Kim Montes said. An investigation is ongoing.
UCF student’s car, credit card stolen
Deputies are searching for a suspect who stole a University of Central Florida student’s car and credit card from a student-housing apartment complex, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said. The student called deputies Friday at 8 a.m. and told them his blue 2012 Honda Civic had been stolen overnight from The Edge, deputies said. The student told deputies his credit card, drivers license and Florida Hospital ID were in the car, the incident report said. Deputies said the victim’s credit card was used after the theft at a Circle K on Buenaventura Boulevard in Kissimmee. The suspect purchased gas, Mountain Dew and Newport cigarettes, said Jane Watrel, sheriff’s spokeswoman. Surveillance footage captured the suspect at the gas station, deputies said. The suspect was seen wearing a dark-colored hooded sweat shirt. Anyone with information is asked to call Crimeline at 1-800-423-8477.
Man charged with murder after party
A 20-year-old man is charged with second-degree murder after a fatal shooting at an Apopka Super Bowl party, police said. Tevin Grace, who remains in the Orange County Jail with no bond, is accused of killing Bobby James Johnson, 36, police said. Johnson was found suffering from gunshot wounds inside a home in the 1000 block of South Central Avenue about 8 p.m. Sunday, investigators said. Johnson was rushed to Florida Hospital Apopka, where he was pronounced dead.
Mom leaves 6-year-old twins home alone
A Central Florida mother faces child neglect charges after leaving her 6-year-old twin sons home alone. Police said the eastern European native cited cultural differences after one of the boys was found wandering around a Port Orange apartment complex on Saturday evening. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports the woman told officers she had gone to a gym and the boys knew her phone number. She said that in Moldova, where she’s from, a child can be left alone for up to three hours. Police didn’t arrest her. But almost six hours later, police spotted the woman near the gym again. She told them the boys were sleeping and she had gone to retrieve her bike. She was booked into jail and bonded out hours later on a $1,000 bond.
Deputies: Woman was beaten to death
The ex-husband of a woman beaten to death in a motel room near Kissimmee was arrested Wednesday after deputies found him in a vehicle that crashed into a ditch, an Osceola County sheriff’s spokeswoman said. Thomas Pettit, 54, was charged with first-degree murder, as well as battery on a lawenforcement officer and driving without a valid license. Pettit’s exwife, 57-year-old Susan Emmerich, was found in a room where Pettit had been staying at the Budget Inn on U.S. Highway 192 Wednesday morning, sheriff’s spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said in a statement. Emmerich was found by a motel manager, who checked the room around 11 a.m. Wednesday after Pettit did not pay for his stay as he had every day since he checked in Jan. 31, Lizasuain said. Authorities pronounced Emmerich dead at the scene. Deputies found Pettit in a vehicle that crashed into a ditch on U.S. 192 eastbound, near the Osceola-Brevard county line, Lizasuain said. Pettit was in the driver’s seat and appeared intoxicated, she said. He was brought to St. Cloud Regional Medical Center, where he hit a deputy, Lizasuain said. Pettit was evaluated at the hospital, then taken to Osceola County Jail, where he is being held.