BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor STARKE—A judge determined that defendants in two Starke criminal cases were not competent to proceed. Robert Lee Shipes and Daniel Clifton Dail were ordered to appear at competency reviews later this year. Shipes was arrested by Starke police on Sept. 16, 2021, for shoplifting televisions and other merchandise from a … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor STARKE— The State Attorney’s Office dropped charges against Mario Lavon Hankerson and Frank Harold Warring. Hankerson was arrested on July 1, 2021, for the distribution of cocaine. Warring was arrested by Bradford deputies on June 29, 2021, for trafficking in methamphetamine, possession of drug equipment and possession of a firearm … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor LAKE BUTLER— The Union County Sheriff’s Office said it is looking for a suspect that shot three people in Lake Butler Saturday night, killing one person. Deputies are searching for 56-year-old Anthony George, who they say should be considered armed and dangerous. The sheriff’s office said the incident occurred around … Read more
March 12 through March 18 The following individuals were arrested recently by local law enforcement officers in Bradford, Union or Clay (Keystone Heights-area) counties. All defendants are considered innocent until convicted in a court or until pleading guilty or no contest. Information in this report is from law enforcement agencies and court documents, which are … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— Sheriff Michelle Cook brought her Hammer and Hope program to the Lake Region on Monday, March 21 in the parking lot of Keystone’s First Baptist Church. The initiative combines a crackdown on drug activity with an event that makes residents aware of substance abuse, mental health, and housing … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— A recently retired Florida National Guard chaplain gave a Lake Region civic group a look behind the scenes of what it is like meeting the spiritual needs of military members. Michelle Lawson spoke to the Keystone Heights Rotary Club on March 17. Lawson said she joined the military … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor KEYSTONE HEIGHTS—A former Moscow station chief for the Central Intelligence Agency died in Keystone Heights in January after retiring to the Lake Region in 2018. Murat Natirboff, 100, also served as a CIA agent in Africa, Asia and Europe. He retired in 1989 and moved to the Lake Region in … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor CLAY HILL— The Florida Highway Patrol said two people were killed and four more were injured when a truck rear-ended a van Saturday morning. According to an FHP report, the northbound truck pushed the van into an SUV as the van and SUV were accelerating from the traffic signal at … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor STARKE— Starke police arrested a 67-year-old man after they said he attacked a 34-year-old Lawtey woman at a Starke self-storage facility. Alvin Jerome Fayson was arrested for assault, battery and false imprisonment on Monday, March 13. According to court papers the incident occurred on Saturday, March 12 at Allen’s Attic … Read more
BY DAN HILDEBRAN Monitor Editor STARKE— Justin Anthony Garrison, 22 was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading to 29 counts of viewing child pornography and one count of using a two-way communications device while committing a felony. According to court papers, on Nov. 29, 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children … Read more
