AVON PARK — A man was arrested late Saturday afternoon after he was accused of smashing his car into a house and then taking off, according to an official with the Avon Park Police Department. Roberto Jimenez, of Plant City, was charged with DUI, leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a valid driver's license in connection with the Saturday evening accident at 2601 Woodruff Heights, said police Sgt. Sally Vega. All three charges are misdemeanors. Jimenez was being held at Highlands County Jail in lieu of a $2,250 bond Sunday. According to Vega and other witnesses, a red Plymouth Breeze with Ohio license plates backed through the wall of the house at around 4:18 p.m. Saturday. Vega said that car was driven by Jimenez, who was visiting a neighbor when he hit the house. The home, owned by Reina V. Rodriguez and Angel L. Maldonado according to Highlands County Property Appraiser records, was unoccupied at the time of the accident, and no injuries were reported. ...more

February 11, 2008

A man fired a gun Wednesday at the getaway vehicle of a burglar who had just broken into his home, and he managed to hit a tire, police said. Authorities say they identified and charged the burglar. ...more

February 9, 2008

LARGO - A man on Wednesday fired a gun at the getaway vehicle of a burglar who had just broken into his home, and he managed to hit a tire, police said. ...more

February 8, 2008

Like most of you, I read the newspaper almost every day. It's a morning ritual: coffee, newspaper, CNN. My mother insists that, me being a columnist for Highlands Today, I should get a free newspaper out of the deal. "What, they can't throw you a free paper?" she'll say. I explain to her that I'm already getting paid for my weekly column. I know this may be a shock to some of you, that I actually get paid for this stuff. Perhaps I've blown a fantasy out of the water for you, that world famous writers get free newspapers. Let me throw you another curveball. Writers are not exempt from police visits to their home. Wednesday of last week I was sitting inside my house, reading through the newspaper, when the doorbell rang. There were two men outside, one of them holding up a bright shiny police badge. ...more

January 14, 2008

Someone really wanted to kill Grigori and Galina Komissarchuk. The couple, in their 60s, have homes in Sarasota and Brooklyn, N.Y., and were attacked at least four times at their homes and other places, according to federal court records. One time the attacker used a hammer. Both of them suffered skull fractures and other injuries. ...more

January 9, 2008

TAMPA – Someone really wanted to kill Grigori and Galina Komissarchuk. ...more

January 8, 2008

TARPON SPRINGS - An off-duty Clearwater police officer who was taking a shower when his home was broken into today fired one shot at the suspect and continued to fire at the get-away vehicle as it sped away, Tarpon Springs police said. ...more

December 19, 2007

The Tampa Code Enforcement Division likely will start fining owners of two New Tampa houses that are in foreclosure and the subject of a lawsuit by a group of South Florida investors who say they were defrauded into overpaying for the houses. ...more

December 12, 2007

Even with a helicopter searching from the sky and a K-9 unit tracking on the ground, deputies were unable to find a man who robbed a woman in her home Monday morning. ...more

December 6, 2007

At first glance, the home of Gulf freshman point guard Nicole Adams looks like your average house in a manicured subdivision. ...more

December 5, 2007