A Brevard County man accused of pawning a stolen, professionally graded first edition "Walking Dead" comic book is now in the Brevard County Jail, according to the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.![]()
![]()
Deputies say a local comic book store reported in June that the certified comic, which carried a serial number and a value of about $2,000, had gone missing as the store was preparing to take it to an event. Deputies entered the item into the state database as stolen.![]()
![]()
In August, Agent Dylan Weber learned the comic had been pawned at a shop in Port Orange. Surveillance video from the pawn store showed John Higgins making the transaction, according to the Sheriff's Office, and employees there told investigators they were familiar with him as a regular customer.![]()
![]()
Agent Weber located and questioned Higgins on Wednesday. According to the Sheriff's Office, Higgins claimed he got the comic book from a friend who had died.![]()
![]()
Higgins was also wanted on a warrant from the Melbourne Police Department, accused of stealing a high-value Pokémon card and attempting to sell it to another store.![]()
![]()
He was arrested on charges of dealing in stolen property and false verification of ownership to a pawnbroker, along with the Melbourne warrant. He is being held without bond.![]()
![]()
All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.![]()
![]()
#BrevardCounty #SpaceCoast #BrevardSheriff
...
Photo
**$500 CHECKS START GOING OUT TODAY: Some Florida Obamacare enrollees are in line for one**![]()
![]()
The federal government begins mailing $500 refund checks today to more than 950,000 Affordable Care Act enrollees in 30 states, and Florida is one of them.![]()
![]()
President Trump announced the payments in a video on X on Sept. 10. The White House says the money is a refund of excess "user fees" insurers paid to operate HealthCare.gov during the Biden administration, costs it says were passed on to consumers through higher premiums.![]()
![]()
WHO QUALIFIES:![]()
You bought your plan through HealthCare.gov.![]()
You did NOT receive premium tax credits or other subsidies, meaning you paid full price.![]()
You live in one of the 30 states that use the federal exchange, including Florida.![]()
![]()
That narrows the field considerably. About 19 million people get coverage through ACA marketplaces, but most receive subsidies and will not get a check. Residents of the 20 states that run their own exchanges are also excluded.![]()
![]()
No application is needed. Checks come from the Treasury Department with a letter signed by President Trump. If anyone asks you for money, bank information or personal details to "claim" your refund, it is a scam.![]()
![]()
KFF's Cynthia Cox challenged the administration's account, saying the surplus could have come from fees collected during President Trump's first term. A KFF analysis estimated his first administration collected about $1 billion more in user fees than it spent. It also remains unclear whether the payments require congressional approval.![]()
![]()
The checks arrive about five weeks before the November midterms, and after premiums doubled or tripled for many enrollees when enhanced COVID-era subsidies expired this year.![]()
![]()
#Florida #HealthCare #BrevardCounty
...
Photo
Two Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputies have been arrested for misusing automated license plate reader systems, weeks after the agency told a reporter nothing was wrong.![]()
![]()
The sheriff's office announced the arrests Wednesday, saying the deputies were accused of improperly accessing agency systems. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri scheduled a 1 p.m. news conference at the sheriff's administration building on Ulmerton Road in Largo to release details.![]()
![]()
The arrests trace back to TCPalm reporter Jack Lemnus. On Aug. 20, he asked the agency about an anomaly he spotted in publicly accessible Flock search logs. On Sept. 21, the sheriff's office told him the activity was tied to ongoing investigations and "all queries were valid."![]()
![]()
Nine days later, the agency reversed course. A spokesperson told TCPalm that after further research into its other plate reader vendors, the office did identify misuse.![]()
![]()
The searches in question ran through an account labeled "S ACC," which the sheriff's office says is a service account built to search across its three vendors: Flock, Vigilant and Axon. The agency has not said which system the deputies abused.![]()
![]()
On Sept. 2, Gualtieri told reporters there were no active investigations into Flock misuse by his deputies. At that same news conference, he defended the technology, saying the agency has used plate readers since 2006 and credits them with helping reduce crime.![]()
![]()
The Pinellas deputies are now among 27 law enforcement officials across the country who have been placed on leave, fired or arrested following the TCPalm and USA TODAY investigation. Reporters analyzed more than 75 million Flock searches spanning 3½ years and over 6,300 agencies. Many of the officers flagged are accused of using the cameras to track former romantic partners.![]()
![]()
Lemnus says a new Flock policy that redacts officer names and license plates from audit logs will make similar outside investigations nearly impossible going forward.![]()
![]()
The arrests come as the Florida Department of Transportation has revoked general use permits for plate reader cameras on state roads.![]()
![]()
#FlockCameras #FloridaNews #PoliceAccountability
...
Photo
Vehicle flipped in 2-car accident on US-1 just north of Scooter's Coffee Shop. The other vehicle involved appears to be a black Dodge Charger.
...
Photo
PSA: The Space Coast Rocket group is NOT the Space Coast Rocket page. This is the actual page.
...
