Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Man in Teen Sex Sting Thought It’d Be ‘Cool’ To Watch Bust Go Down

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

James Bowen has a funny idea of what cool is

DELTONA, Florida — Buddy, this ain’t cool.

A Florida barber arrested in a undercover sting targeting men looking to have sex with underage girls, told deputies that he knew it was a setup but came to the rendezvous anyway because he thought it would be cool to watch it go down.

James Bowen, 34, a co-owner of Bob’s Barber Shop in Gainesville, was busted at a RaceTrac gas station in Deltona where he had arranged online to meet a 14-year-old girl who was really an undercover detective, the Volusia County Sheriff’s office said.

But as he was being slapped in cuffs, Bowen told officers that “he only came to the meeting place because he believed it was an undercover sting and he thought it would be cool to see it in action,” cops quoted him as saying.

Officers assured Bowen that it was not cool and charged him with attempted lewd and lascivious sexual battery on child, among other charges. He was held on $40,000 bond.

Bowen was busted as part of a broader, county-wide sting that nabbed seven suspects. Others included Jonathan William Hayes, 22, a former Florida Elks Youth Camp counselor and George Wallace, 43, who had once chatted with undercover detectives about a rendezvous with an underage girl two years ago, but failed to show.

(Visited 1,213 times, 5 visits today)

Woman Claims She Fatally Stabbed Hubby After Slipping on Dog Poop

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Rachel Findanian says she slipped on poop and accidentally stabbed a knife into her husband’s chest

LAKELAND, Florida — A woman claiming to have accidentally stabbed her husband to death when she slipped on dog poop and fell forward with a knife in her hand, plunging the blade into his chest, has been charged with murder, police said.

The Polk County Sheriff’s office in Florida said that following a three-and-a-half month investigation, detectives determined that 38-year-old Rachel Fidanian’s story didn’t add up, so they chose to charge her with killing her husband.

“The suspect made a lot of excuses, but none of them made sense. Our detectives did a thorough investigation. In the end, they determined this was an intentional act of domestic violence,”  said Sheriff Grady Judd.

Police say they received a 911 call on the morning of June 25, that 40-year-old Bryant Fidanian had been accidentally stabbed by his wife in their home in Lakeland. He died a short time later at a local hospital.

During questioning, Rachel Fidanian gave several inconsistent statements about what had happened, cops said.

For starters, she said the stabbing happened when she either tripped or slipped while holding her dog in one hand, and a filet knife in the other and the pooch began pooping and peeing on the floor. But when she attempted to demonstrate how she was holding her dog, she was unable to pick it up.

“Ultimately, detectives determined none of her explanations were plausible,” the sheriff said.

An autopsy showed that Bryant Fidanian died after four inches of the blade cut through his s second rib bone on his left side and cut the pulmonary artery. The coroner ruled the death as a homicide.

Rachel Fidanian had charged with second-degree murder.

 

(Visited 948 times, 1 visits today)

Dirty Florida Cop Busted Selling Drugs From His Patrol Car

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Dwayne Frazier White was caught selling drugs while on duty from his patrol car

BONIFAY, Florida — A small-town cop on Florida’s panhandle was busted for allegedly selling drugs while on-duty from his patrol car, authorities said.

Officer Dwayne Frazier White, 48,  of the Bonifay police department, was charged with selling a controlled substance for dealing opioid tablets from his marked police cruiser, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said.

Authorities started investigating White last month after receiving a tip that he was selling drugs. Undercover officers then went to buy drugs from him as they built their case.

At the time of the deal, White sold the undercover officers drugs from his patrol while on duty and wearing his uniform, authorities said. White was using his personal cell phone to help arrange the drug deals.

White was arrested at the headquarters of the Bonifay police department and was being held at the Walton County Sheriff’s office.

(Visited 1,157 times, 1 visits today)

Pervert Police Chief Busted for Masturbating in Front of Strangers on Elevator

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Police Chief Billy Maurice Driggers had a a bad habit of following women with his hands in his pants

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Florida — An Alabama police chief has been busted for allegedly fondling himself in an elevator in front of strangers and masturbating as he followed teen girls down a Florida beach.

Billy Maurice Driggers, 44, who is the chief of police in Level Plains, Alabama, was charged in Panama City Beach in Florida on four counts of disorderly conduct.

Police there say they first got a call last week about a suspicious person at a condo complex. There guests had told security that they saw a man masturbating as he watched women.

Police eventually identified Driggers as the suspect and determined that he was not a registered guest of the condo nor did he have any reason to be there, police said, AL.com reported.

A review of surveillance footage from the property showed Driggers using the elevators at the resort and on three occasions appeared to have his hand down his pants, masturbating in front of women and children, police said.

Driggers was also accused of masturbating while walking behind teenage girls on the beach and filming or taking photos of the girls rinsing off in the outside showers, police said.

Investigators said they were not able to determine an instance where Driggers’ exposed his genitals. “However, Driggers’ actions were found to be obscene and sexually deviant in nature,” the statement read.

Driggers has been placed on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

“The city of Level Plains will be cooperating and assisting with the ongoing investigation with Alabama and Florida law enforcement agencies. In the interim during Driggers absence, another police officer will be appointed to serve as the acting police chief pending the resolution of the investigation,” city officials said in a statement.

Driggers has been police chief for Level Plains since June of 2016.

 

 

(Visited 22 times, 1 visits today)

Florida Dad’s Murder Leads to Arrest of His 17-Year-old Daughter, Boyfriend

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Eveline Gainza (r) is charged with helping boyfriend Demar Turruellas clean after he shot her father

MIAMI — A Florida teen and her boyfriend have been charged with gunning down her father in his home and stealing his car after he disapproved of their relationship, police said.

Cops found 63-year-old Evelio Gainza’s body last week under a pile of blankets and towels in an upstairs bedroom after a relative called and asked them to check on him.

They also saw that his white Mercedes was missing, which led them to 17-year-old Eveline Gainza and her boyfriend, Demar Turruellas, 18, when they pulled them over in the car three days later.

Inside, they found what they believed to be the murder weapon and under questioning, Gainza confessed, the Miami Herald reported. Turruellas was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly shooting the elder Gainza in the back. She was charged with attempted tampering with physical evidence and accessory after the fact, for helping clean up the bloody crime scene.

Police said Turruellas and Eveline had recently moved back to Miami from near Fort Myers and were staying with her mother. Last Thursday, Eveline’s father picked up his daughter and brought her back to his house to collect some things.

While he was upstairs, police said, Eveline stole his car and drove to her mother’s house to pick up Turruellas. They then returned to her father’s home and police say Turruellas went upstairs and shot Gainza in the back several times with a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun.

They then dragged his body into a bedroom that was undergoing renovation and covered it up with blankets and towels while cleaning up blood stains with bleach and paper towels. They also gathered the shell casings.

Turruellas then gave the gun to a friend, but later retrieved it. When police found the weapon it was painted over and its serial number was obscured.

 

(Visited 2,984 times, 1 visits today)

Balcony Sniper Charged With Cruelly Gunning Down 8-Year-Old’s Pet Pup

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Johansen Concepcion De La Ros is charged with opening fire on Princess from a balcony

DAVIE, Florida  — A heartless Florida teen has been charged with gunning down an 8-year-old girl’s pet chihuahua with a pellet gun from a balcony as her mother took the dog for a walk.

Cops say Johansen Concepcion De La Ros, 19,  took a knee on his pal’s second floor balcony in Davie, Florida on Saturday evening, and opened fire at the 6-pound pooch with a high-powered pellet rifle equipped with a scope.

The pellet passed through Princess’ chest, dealing a fatal wound. The little girl’s mother and her boyfriend heard the dog yelp and noticed blood coming out of its mouth, but didn’t immediately know Princess had been shot.

“We heard the pop, but it didn’t register that someone had shot the dog,” Roshelle Pearson, who bought the Chihuahua pup for her 8-year-old daughter in April, told the Sun-Sentinel.

The woman had just moved with her daughter to Florida from Wisconsin the day before, police said.

As chance would have it, an off-duty cop from Pembroke Pines happened to be walking nearby and saw a man armed with a rifle on the balcony and made the connection. He called 911 and was able to direct officers to the apartment from which De La Ros fired.

Offices found the gun, but De La Ros insisted he had simply been aiming at the water of a nearby lake and had accidentally shot the dog as it walked into his line of fire. His pal, Daniel Alvarez, told a different story.

He said he was on the balcony when De La Ros got down on one knee, looked through the scope and said, “I’m going to shoot the dog,” according to the police report.

Sadly, the dog died within minutes and when officers arrived, they found Pearson covered in blood and holding a small, limp body of a brown and white dog.

At first, Pearson said she didn’t have the heart to tell her daughter that her puppy was gone.

“I told her someone shot her dog and they were trying to save it,” she said. “I wanted her to sleep last night. Today I will tell her that her dog didn’t make it.”

De La Ros was charged with felony cruelty to animals.

 

(Visited 26 times, 1 visits today)

Furious Family Feud Leads to 47th Shooting Between Warring Clans in Florida

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

The nearly decade-old feud has led to five killings in 47 shootings

DELRAY BEACH, Florida — It’s the Hatfields vs. the McCoys, Florida style.

A nearly decade-long feud between two families in Delray Beach has led to its stunning 47th shooting, cops say.

The latest gun violence between the James and the Johnson clans left 25-year-old Patrick Palmer — an innocent bystander and former athlete — with significant, but not life-threatening injuries in a drive-by shooting on Monday, police said.

The bloody quarrel dates back to 2009 when two men got into a fight at a nightclub. “Now it’s expanded to associates of the families who keep shooting back and forth,” Delray Beach Police spokeswoman Dani Moschella told the Sun Sentinel.

No one quite remembers what the fight was about, but the violence began to escalate in 2014, with cops saying the bulk of the shootings happening since then. In all, five people have been killed and several children and innocent bystanders shot.

Very few arrests have been made, because family members on both sides have been reluctant to talk to police, the department says.

Shockingly, cops say they don’t believe the fighting has anything to do with drug dealing or gang violence — it simply stems from bad blood between the to families.

For years, police and local clergy have attempted to broker a peace between the two sides but with little success. Older members of the families say the bad blood isn’t universal.

“I just wish they all would stop this foolishness because they’re shooting innocent people,” Sheralita Johnson said in 2014. “So what a fight took place years ago or whatever? I don’t care. It was a fight, we had it, we’re done and we’re through with it. Just let it go.”

Police say neither side, however, has shown much sign of wanting to bring the violence to an end.

“Our department is doing everything it possibly can, from thorough investigations to extra patrols to constant community engagement,” Moschella said. “What we lack in this feud, and what is essential to solving most serious crimes, is cooperation from witnesses, victims and their families.”

 

(Visited 2,554 times, 1 visits today)

‘Cool Dad’ Busted for Driving Son and Gal Pal to Park to ‘Do Their Thang’

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Dad Laurence Mitchell admitted he’d driven the kids to a park to have sex

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida — There is such a thing as being too cool of a dad.

A 53-year-old Florida father was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor when he drove his young son and his girlfriend to a park so they could have sex, or as dad put it:  “do their thang.”

Cops initially spotted Laurence Mitchell sitting in his idling car outside a Port St. Lucie park after hours. When they asked what he was doing there, Mitchell said he had driven the young couple there to “do what kids do.”

When asked why he would do that, Mitchell said: “Well, they aren’t out there stealing. They are just having sex.”

“They could be out there doing worse,” Mitchell said, according to the police report.

Cops then spotted the young couple and when questioned, they admitted they had been in the park, “just smoking and f—ing.”

Police say Mitchell acknowledged that he had not gotten permission from the girl’s family to take her to the park for sex.

(Visited 1,977 times, 1 visits today)

Inmate Gouges Out Cellmates’ Eyes, Wears Ear as Necklace to Chow Hall

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Larry Mark had his eyes gouged out and his ear strung onto a necklace by his cellmate

LAKE CITY, Florida — An inmate serving a life sentence met a grisly fate when his cellmate allegedly choked him to death, gouged out his eyes, and then cut off his ear to wear as a necklace.

The gruesome slaying occurred just hours before a major gang-related rumble at the Columbia Correctional Institute in Florida, and only got the attention of authorities when the killer showed up for breakfast with his dead cellmate’s ear around his neck.

He had left the dead man’s blood soaked body wrapped in a bed sheet in the cell.

Authorities identified the dead inmate as 58-year-old Larry Mark, who had been serving a life sentence for the murder of cab driver in 1981. Officials wouldn’t discuss how he died, but the Miami Herald, citing prison sources, detailed his bloody end.

The killed, who had not yet been publicly identified, apparently grew angry with Mark for “pestering him.” After strangling him, the Herald reported that the killer cut off Mark’s ear and gouged out his eyeballs.

He then put the ear on a string around his neck, which he showed off to several inmates before breakfast in the chow hall, the paper reported. He left the eyeballs in a cup in the cell and told other prisoners that he intended to either eat them later.

The Herald reported that the killer had recently been transferred to Columbia from Florida State Prison where he had been on Death Row.

A few hours after the killing, an apparently unrelated gang fight erupted in another building on the compound between members of the Bloods and the Cutthroats began stabbing each other over smuggled contraband.

The prison holds 3,000 inmates and its guards complain that they are severely overstaffed.

 

(Visited 1,139 times, 4 visits today)

California Woman Fakes Own Kidnapping to Avoid Paying Employees

By HardBoiledNews Staff Leave a Comment

Maria Gonzalez claimed she’d been assaulted and robbed but just wanted to stiff her employees, cops said

FRESNO, California — She’ll pay for it now.

The owner of a California trucking company is facing charges for allegedly making up a story about being sexually assaulted and robbed of payroll cash as part of an elaborate effort to avoid paying her employees.

Fresno police say Maria Gonzalez, 33, turned up at a house on Saturday partially bound and gagged and with an injury to her head and told cops she had been abducted at gunpoint by two black men, robbed of money to pay her employees, and possibly sexually assaulted.

But after an extensive two-day investigation by cops, Gonzalez admitted it was all a hoax, according to KFSN-TV.

“The reality is she did not have the $9,000 to pay the subcontractors and that’s why she made up the story,” Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

The story unraveled as detectives probed further, turning up inconsistencies in Gonzalez’s story. For example, the robbers took Gonzalez’s money but left other valuables in her purse. There were also only one set of footprints found near her car.

When cops showed her a video of the area where the alleged kidnapping had taken place, Gonzalez admitted that she made it all up to get out of paying her subcontractors.

Police now want to charged Gonzalez with filing a false report.

“It is important that when people file a false police report, especially of this magnitude, that we hold them accountable for doing so,” Dyer said. “Not only did this create an enormous amount of work and pulled our detectives off other cases that they could have been working or should have been working, but it created a lot of fear in our community.”

 

(Visited 51 times, 1 visits today)