TILDEN LAW – Orlando Criminal Attorney

Merdeith Witt, a former Oviedo High School special education teacher, entered a plea before Seminole County Judge Jerri Collins earlier today. Witt had been formally charged with 4 counts of serving alcohol to a person under 21 and one count open house party. Two of the individuals alleged to receive alcohol from Witt were her students.

According to law enforcement, Witt, 32, gave one of the students the keys to her vehicle which was later involved in an accident leading to the arrest of one of the teens who was driving. Witt resigned from her teaching position shortly after her arrest.

Witt was sentenced to 30 days Seminole County jail by the court and placed on years probation. During her sentencing, Judge Collins stated “We have to trust and have confidence in our teachers, and you violated that trust and that confidence. … We cannot accept this from teachers.”

Daytona Beach authorities have received reports of 6 sexual assaults during the first week of Spring Break 2010. Detectives were called by a 37 year old woman to reported that she was grabbed by her hair by a unidentified male while walking to the restroom at the newly renovated Ocean Center and pulled into a men’s bathroom stall where she was sexually assaulted. The attack occurred sometime after 4:00 p.m. in broad daylight.

It is common for sexual assaults to increase during the Spring Break month of March. “All of last year we had a total of 41 sexual assaults,” Police Chief Mike Chitwood said Tuesday. “Here we have six in one week.”

In an unrelated incident, Daytona Beach police arrested a rape suspect in another incident that involved heavy drinking. The suspect is accused of raping a Spring Breaker at the Plaza Resort & Spa, on North Atlantic Ave. According to an arrest report, the suspect engaged in sex with a woman who was unconscious because she was drunk. The suspect admitted to investigators the woman was already drunk when he met her earlier in the day on March 14. He said he decided to buy her more booze and then had sex with her at least twice in two different hallways of the hotel, an arrest report states.

The other four rapes occurred at another hotel, behind a popular beachfront restaurant and one on the mainland after a woman met a man at a nightclub and invited him over, the chief said.

Anthony Ducasse, 25, of Clermont was arrested by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and accused of attempting to smuggle approximately 7 ounces of Marijuana into a state prison facility in Clermont.   Ducasse had been employed as a contracted food service worker. 

According to Lake County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Jim Vachon, the drugs were discovered during a daily pat down of workers entering the Lake Correctional Institution off U.S. Highway 27 in Clermont. Deputies responded to the scene at the request of prison officials and apprehended Ducasse today, Vachon said.  The drugs were in a plastic bag and concealed in Ducasse’s pants.

Antony Ducasse, 25, was found in possession of the narcotics during a staff inspection at a prison gate, according to a statement from LCSO Sgt. Jim Vachon. The street value of the drugs was estimated at $500.  No additional illegal drugs were found after authorities conducted a search of Ducasse’s vehicle.

Ducasse is facing charges of possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, introduction of contraband into a state facility and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, all felony charges.  He is now held at the Lake County Jail on $12,000 bond.

If you have been arrested or charged with a Drug Crime or other criminal offense in the Orlando area and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Osceola County, Volusia County or Seminole County, Florida, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

Two Orlando men were arrested earlier today after being stopped by an Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy for a traffic infraction.  Deputy Richard Febo pulled over driver Derrick Newton, 30, who was driving with his door open while trying to flirt with a woman in the parking lot near Hiawassee and Silver Star roads. When asked by the Deputy why he was driving with his door open, Newton reportedly stated, “Man, I was hollering at that girl.”

 As Deputy Febo spoke with Newton, he could smell marijuana coming from Newton’s vehicle and called for a back-up deputy to assist him.  After stepping outside his vehicle, Newton agreed to be patted down, but would not let the deputy search his car and told the deputy he didn’t have an illegal guns or drugs, according to an arrest report.

The Deputy’s search of Newton’s vehicle netted 40.7 grams of crack cocaine, 249.7 grams of marijuana and a loaded .357 revolver, according to the report. Deputies also found a large pink purse in the trunk, which held a digital scale and most of the marijuana, the report stated.

Newton’s passenger, Andrew Johnson, was also arrested. Deputies found more than $4,960 in Johnson’s pockets when he was patted down. Johnson told deputies he recently sold a gold necklace for $3,800, but couldn’t tell deputies where he sold it and didn’t have a receipt.  He later changed his story about why he had so much cash in his pockets, according to his arrest affidavit.

Johnson was charged with seven counts, including drug and gun charges. Newton is facing six charges, including trafficking in cocaine and possession of a firearm in commission of a felony. He faced an additional charge of introducing contraband into the jail, after he told officials he had marijuana in his wallet, reports show.

Both men are being held at the Orange County Jail on more than $100,000 bond each.

Three Volusia County Beach Patrol officers were fired based on allegations of sexual misconduct with under age girls.   Capt. Jecoa Simmons, lifeguard Christian Duarte and Beach Patrol officer Robert Paul Tameris were accused last year by the former lifeguard of having sex with her. Citing insufficient evidence, no charges were brought against the three by the State Attorney’s office for allegedly having sex with the 17-year-old, the State Attorney’s Office said.

After the initial accusations, a second teenager came forward, alleging multiple sexual encounters with Tameris who was charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor.  The victim who was 16-years old told authorities she met Tameris while she was sunbathing on the beach. The two engaged in sex 20 to 25 times at the officer’s home, according to State Attorney’s Investigator Michael K. Taylor.  On at least one occasion, Tameris video-recorded sex with the girl without her knowledge, and sent a lewd photograph of the girl, Taylor said.

Investigators monitored phone calls and text messages between Tameris and the girl, including two calls they set up in which Tameris acknowledged having sex with the girl “frequently” when they first met, as well as videotaping one of the encounters, according to an arrest report.

The county is firing Simmons and Duarte on grounds of unprofessional conduct and inappropriate relationship with a minor. Simmons also was accused of tampering with or harassing a witness victim or informant and improperly using state driver’s license and criminal justice data bases.  Miranda, who is accused of lying for Duarte, is being fired on grounds of unprofessional conduct.

An Orlando News Channel 13 anchor was arrested on allegations that he impersonated a law enforcement officer.  Spanish language broadcaster, Victor Juan Martinez, 33, faces 3^rd degree felony charges.  The allegation stemmed from a February 15, 2010 report that Martinez flashed a fake police badge at a man while driving in an attempt to scare him after following him home in February.

While Martinez denies any wrongdoing and claims he was working as a news anchor on the day in question. After interviewing the alleged victim, investigators with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office believe otherwise.  Investigators used information gathered from Martinez’ E-Pass and determined he was in the area alleged by the victim and spoke with Martinez’ supervisor who dispute his story. 

According to investigators, the victim had seen Martinez swerving in and out of traffic on State Road 417 in Orange County. At some point, Martinez tried merging into the victim’s lane, but couldn’t make it and was forced to merge after the victim had passed him.  When the victim arrived home with his toddler and pulled into his driveway, he spotted Martinez’s car suddenly drive behind him and partially block him.

“[Martinez] got out of his car and told the victim he was a police officer,” Lizasuain said. Martinez then flashed a badge that resembled a star-shaped badge and said he knew where the victim lived and had his auto tag number.
Martinez then jumped into his car and sped away.   The victim later identified Martinez in a photo lineup. He was arrested Friday at his home on an arrest warrant and booked him into the Osceola County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

Orange County law enforcement agencies teamed up for a multiagency DUI checkpoint in Ocoee Friday night.  The checkpoint accounted for nearly 20 Orange County DUI arrests with another 10 arrests on a variety of other criminal charges.  The DUI checkpoint was conducted from 9 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Saturday, March 13^th.

One motorist attempted to avoid the DUI checkpoint by accelerating to what officers described as a high rate of speed in an attempt to enter Florida’s Turnpike.  The driver was unsuccessful and ended up crashing his vehicle.  After a short foot chase, the driver was arrested and was later found to have almost three pounds of marijuana in his vehicle. 

About 150 personnel were on duty for the event, with volunteers from Mother’s Against Drunk Driving “MADD” and the Ocoee police union also providing support.

If you have been arrested or charged with a Orange County DUI or other criminal offense in Orlando and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Seminole County, Florida, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

An Osceola county Postman was arrested and held in the Seminole County Jail without bond on allegations of drug delivery and use while on his delivery rout. Kissimmee Postal worker, Juan Fonseca, 37, is accused of delivering tens of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine and marijuana to empty homes and residences in foreclosure in Osceola County, federal officials have said.

Fonseca was originally picked up on state charges, but is now charged in a criminal complaint on counts of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiring to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and mail theft by a postal employee.

According to the criminal complaint filed against the men, a postal inspector in September found a suspicious package addressed to an address on Philadelphia Circle, Kissimmee, and determined it contained about 24 pounds of marijuana. Several days later, the inspector found another package addressed to the Philadelphia Circle residence, and found out it contained about 22 pounds of marijuana. In November, postal inspectors found another suspicious package mailed from Puerto Rico to an address on Alaqua Trail, Kissimmee. Inspectors seized the package and found more than five pounds of cocaine

If you have been arrested or charged with a Drug Crime or other criminal offense in the Orlando area and are facing criminal prosecution in either Orange County, Osceola County or Seminole County, Florida, contact the attorneys at Tilden Law for an initial and confidential consultation, 407-599-1234.

According to the Lakeland Police Department, 42 year old Mark Douglas McElwee was arrested on a 3^rd degree felony charge of video voyeurism during a tanning session. The report indicates that at about 5:40 p.m. McElwee, a banker with Wachovia Bank, used his cell phone to record a female patron tanning nude at Leon’s Tanning Salon in Lakeland, Florida.

It is alleged that McElwee reached his arm over the wall partition and used his phone to capture the woman’s nude images. When the woman noticed what was happening, she yelled at McElwee who then removed his arm and left. After reviewing the tanning salon’s computer, the police believe McElwee was involved.

During questioning, McElwee told police he had used his cell phone camera to take still photographs of the woman in “various stages of undress,” reports said.

McElwee was booked into the Polk County Jail and was released later that day on $1,000 bail.

Winter Park Police officer Carlos Calderon, 31, was fired by the department on February 16, 2010, over alleged misconduct while under cover and subsequently covered it up. Calderon, whose undercover name was “Luis Lopez” is accused of becoming too intimate with a strip club dancer leading to kissing the dancer.

The Winter Park Police Department conducted an internal police investigation which concluded that Calderon lied when he denied having a romantic relationship with the 38 year old dancer. Calderon is appealing the decision.

Witnesses to the allegation also report that Calderon and the stripper engaged in sexual fantasy role playing; repeatedly bought drinks for an underage topless dancer; and spent about $4,200 on drinks and exotic dances to buy $275 worth of cocaine.

A Winter Park police official would not comment, saying the department will not speak publicly until Calderon’s appeal is resolved.