Archive for January, 2018

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. Jan 9 2018 - A cruise set sail from at Port Canaveral this weekend but with two dozen fewer people.

Two dozen people were arrested on drug possession charges during security checks before boarding the ship for the Holy Ship! 2018 event.

Holy Ship denied a comment but on its website states that there is a zero-tolerance policy:

“Holy Ship! has a strict zero tolerance policy. You will be embarking Holy Ship! in Port Canaveral and passing through security run by Customs and Border Protection, a division of Homeland Security. Your person and your luggage can and will be searched. Forget about your right to privacy, you are passing through a port where all local and federal laws apply and are strictly enforced.

Every person and each piece of luggage will be inspected by dogs trained to detect explosives and contraband. Anyone found to be violating the law and/or in possession of illegal substances or prohibited items (weapons, illegal controlled substances, etc) will be arrested and banned from all future events. For more information on what to expect at embarkation, visit TSA.”

Twenty-four people didn’t heed that statement Saturday, deputies said.

“It ranges from marijuana to cocaine, MDMA or ecstasy. A lot of the drugs are used in a rave scene. A lot of people with paraphernalia,” Brevard County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Tod Goodyear said.

Goodyear told News 6 the port added security this weekend knowing the cruise would set sail Saturday.

“I think that based on some of the things that occurred during previous events and some of the activities that were there, there was some concern that the people that would be traveling would be trying to conceal drugs and bring them on the ships,” Goodyear said.

Among those arrested was DJ Gina Turner.

She has hired a lawyer and said she couldn’t say much about the arrest but did issue a statement.

“I had a medical marijuana card for both of the charges that I’ve been charged with. Though the report says without a prescription, and I had NO cocaine on me at all, false positive result,” Turner said.

She said she plans to fight the charges.

Norwegian is the chosen cruise line for the event. When asked for a comment, officials referred News 6 to law enforcement officials.

Steve Linden, director of communications and public affairs for Port Canaveral, released a statement about the series of arrests.

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Houston TX Jan 4 2018 Two men have been charged with aggravated robbery after taking part in the theft of more than $1.3 million from a courier carrying money to a Garda armored truck from a southwest Houston Frost Bank, according to court records.

The robbery occurred the day after Christmas in the 9300 block of Kirby Drive, when two masked men armed with guns took bags filled with cash from the courier. Denzel Miles, 25, a former Garda courier, and Davione Owens, 20 have been identified as two of the robbers and both face charges of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon charges, according to charging documents.

Owens is being held in the Harris County Jail with no bond. Miles is currently out on a $40,000 bond.

Miles has identified a Ronald Freeman as an accomplice in the robbery and the co-registered owner of the getaway car, a 2013 Lincoln MKZ, court records show.

Authorities have said the burned body of a man with the same name was found a day after the robbery in the woods near 5700 block of Wenda. But they have not said if that Freeman was connected to the robbery and it remains unclear to authorities how he ended up dead.

The case began when the Garda courier, who was conducting a drop off and pick up of the money, was exiting the Frost Bank with two plastic currency bags and returning to the armored truck. At that point, the two robbers approached him from a Lincoln MKZ, according to court records.

The robbers ordered the man to get on the ground, took the money and fled the Frost Bank parking lot.

According to court records, a Garda employee apparently told her manager on Dec. 24 that Miles was planning to rob an armored bank truck “he was formerly assigned” and said he knew the driver of the route would be an “easy target,” court documents stated.

The employee said that Miles drove a silver Lincoln MKZ vehicle and showed authorities a photo of the man standing in front of the car.

The Garda employee called Miles, but he denied knowing anything about the armored truck robbery and said he was out of town in Louisiana.

A Garda security manager told authorities that Miles had been terminated in October after “failing to cooperate with an internal theft investigation,” at the company, according to court records. The manager also said that Miles knew where the money was picked-up and dropped off at the Frost Bank “was not in a secure location,” according to court records.

Miles was found on Dec. 28–two days after the robbery– in the 3500 block of Woodchase Drive and arrested. A black Glock and a little over $14,000 was found inside the Blue Kia Soul Miles was driving before he was arrested.

After he was arrested, Miles told police that another person called “Poppa” participated in the robbery and his car was used as the getaway vehicle. He gave authorities “Poppa’s” phone number. Authorities identified the user of the phone as Ronald Freeman.

Miles said that he met up with Freeman and another person, before the three men conducted the robbery. The three men then drove to another location after the robbery where they split the money.

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ABINGDON, Va. Dec 30 2017 — A woman was arrested after Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies found illegal drugs and a large amount of money in a Johnston Memorial Hospital patient’s room.

Willie Mae Jane Berry, 40, of Pennington Gap, Virginia, was arrested after deputies recovered crystal methamphetamine, numerous pills and approximately $3,000 from an unnamed patient’s room, according to a written statement.

The Sheriff’s Office had received a call from the hospital in reference to illegal drugs being present in the room at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Upon arrival, hospital security and nurses showed the deputies a powdery substance on the sink in the room. The substance was found to be cocaine from a field test, according to the statement.

Berry was charged with six felonies and a misdemeanor, including possession of cocaine, possession of dilaudid, possession of clonazepam and two counts possession of hydrocodone. Berry was also charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute clonazepam, according to the statement.

Berry was transported to the Abingdon Facility of the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail. She is being held without bond.

Charges against the patient of the room are pending.

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