Investigators are in the middle of an arson investigation after the remnants of a fire was found Wednesday morning at an unoccupied Spring Lake area home. ...more

November 12, 2009

An Avon Park motorcyclist has died after running into the back end of a school bus early Thursday morning. ...more

October 29, 2009

A man was injured Sunday after a shooting lesson between a father and his two children backfired. ...more

September 22, 2009

Law enforcement and fire officials think an attempt to hot wire and steal a truck led to an early-morning fire Monday in the 4000 block of Mondale Avenue. ...more

August 11, 2009

An organization that was born out of grief by a leader in search of awareness celebrated its 25th candlelight vigil on Thursday at the Temple Terrace United Methodist Church. ...more

December 10, 2008

An incident on July 6, when a sheriff's deputy fired his gun in defense of a fellow deputy who was injured when a driver swerved toward him, was ruled justified by an administrative review. ...more

September 13, 2008

The use of taser, pepper spray and physical force to detain and subdue a suspect who the arresting deputy later learned was legally blind was justified, according to a Highlands County Sheriff's Office administrative review. ...more

August 22, 2008

SEBRING - Highlands County Sheriff Susan Benton fired road patrol deputy John Stock on Friday, after an internal investigation into a citizen complaint revealed he used a mobile computer in his patrol vehicle to run the driver's license information of people for non-law enforcement reasons. The complainant alleged Stock had made complaints on him to the Florida Department of Children and Families as well as to Highlands County Animal Control. ...more

July 14, 2008

SEBRING —A Highlands County Sheriff's internal investigation cleared one deputy of an accusation that she tipped off friends at Paul's Harbourside Restaurant and Lounge about a sheriff's undercover operation on Aug. 4, involving the sale of alcohol to minors. The sheriff's deputy was a trainee at the time of the undercover operation. While she was cleared of the accusation, she was later counseled about discussing an open investigation with others. ...more

June 25, 2008

SEBRING — Sheriff Susan Benton accepted a letter of resignation Monday from a deputy who was charged in April by the U.S. Coast Guard with intoxicated operation of a vessel, while boating in a Pine Island canal. Former deputy Craig Skipper reportedly took an excursion in his boat on April 18, when he was stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard after a complaint was filed. Coast guard officials reported Skipper appeared intoxicated but he refused twice to take a sobriety test, an investigation report by Sheriff's Internal Affairs Officer Lt. Gus Garcia stated. The agency received a complaint that the boat was "operating on plane" (speeding) in a no wake zone and that the boat operator was "exposing himself," Garcia's report stated. ...more

June 24, 2008