Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight held a ceremony today to present checks to three local charitable organizations and recognize deputies and citizens with special awards.
Donations were made to All Faiths Food Bank, Community Haven and InStride Equine Assisted Therapy. The Property Section had accumulated nearly $10,000 in unclaimed cash and employees chose to divide the money evenly among the three charities.
Deputy Donald Lewis and Deputy Carrie Luce received the Lifesaving Award for pulling a man from his burning car on April 12th after it crashed on Center Road in Venice.
Deputy Diana Darby and Deputy Nathan Hughes received the Heroic Achievement Award for saving a Sarasota man from his burning home on February 21st. Sheriff Knight presented a Certificate of Recognition to Mr. Kevin Dever, a neighbor who went into the home first and assisted deputies with this rescue.
Aviation Mechanic Scott Sims received the Meritorious Achievement Award and the North County Law Enforcement Front Desk received the Unit Citation. Another 11 employees were recognized for milestones ranging from 10 to 25 years of service to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.
“This organization has more than 950 employees and these men and women do great work on a daily basis,” said Sheriff Knight. “It is my privilege to recognize employees and citizens who go the extra mile to serve and protect this community.”
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has arrested four teenagers in a string of burglaries around the Venice East neighborhood over the past few weeks.
Deputies responded to a home on Paddington Road last night after a victim called to say he located a cooler that had been stolen the night before. An investigation began, leading detectives to 18-year-old Todd Hofmeister, 15-year-olds Roland Risse and Tyler Rasmussen, and 16-year-old Rodd Pickering.
Follow-up investigation by detectives connected the four teens to more than a dozen burglaries that occurred last night and up to 30 more in previous weeks. The group stole GPS systems, cell phones and cash from unlocked vehicles and sold many items to purchase marijuana and beer.
A number of items have been recovered. All four teens are facing felony burglary charges. The investigation into these crimes is continuing.
A dozen convenience store clerks have been cited for selling alcohol to a minor during an undercover operation conducted by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Alcohol Task Force between July 12 and July 14, 2010.
The following businesses were found to be in violation and the clerks that sold the alcohol to the undercover confidential informant were given a Notice to Appear:
1. Sunoco, 5808 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota 2. Shell, 5651 Clark Road, Sarasota 3. Citgo, 4529 Bee Ridge Rd., Sarasota 4. Sunoco, 3190 Bee Ridge Rd., Sarasota 5. Save On, 2791 Bee Ridge Rd., Sarasota 6. Texaco Station, 2788 Fruitville Rd., Sarasota 7. Circle K, 77 Tuttle Ave., Sarasota 8. BP Station, 1660 N. Lockwood Ridge Rd., Sarasota 9. BP Station, 3605 N. Lockwood Ridge Rd., Sarasota 10. Shell, 610 Tamiami Trail, Nokomis 11. Venice Food Mart, 101 Shamrock Blvd., Venice 12. Shell, 241 S. Indiana Ave., Englewood
Another 56 businesses that were visited as part of this operation were found to be in compliance. A letter was sent to each location to commend and thank owners and employees for assisting with the reduction of alcohol sales to minors.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has arrested Stephanie Ward, also known as Stephanie Dickerson, DOB 8/25/86, 1806 7th Avenue West, Bradenton, for Trafficking in Oxycodone and Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud after using a forged prescription to purchase 600 Oxycodone pills from several area pharmacies in 21 days.
Investigators found that Ward was using fraudulent prescriptions from the Sarasota County Health Department with the name a prescribing physician who no longer worked there. She presented prescriptions in her name and that of her husband at CVS, Walgreens, Publix Pharmacy and Barclay Pharmacy locations in Venice and Sarasota, and every time “Roxycodone,” the generic version of Oxycodone, was misspelled.
“This is a textbook example of the pharmaceutical drug problem and one very effective solution being implemented in Sarasota County,” said Sheriff Tom Knight. “Because of the relationships that have been established, a pharmacy contacted the Sarasota County Health Department, who worked with our Pharmaceutical Diversion Investigative Unit, which issued an alert regarding Ward to area pharmacies, resulting in these significant charges being filed.”
Ward is being held in the Sarasota County Jail on more than $500,000 bond.
