u/Botched_Lemon

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced Sept. 30 it arrested two deputies following allegations of misusing automated license plate reading cameras.

Both arrests stemmed from an inquiry TCPalm made Aug. 20 about these deputies' use of Flock Safety cameras. The deputies joined a growing list of now 27 law enforcement officials who have been placed on leave, fired or arrested because of a TCPalm-USA TODAY joint investigation into license plate readers.

The first was Deputy Travis Stanton, 33, who ran the plates of a 17-year-old girl he was romantically interested in, said Sheriff Bob Gualtieri at a Sept. 30 news conference.

He used license plate readers and other databases to find out where the girl lived and would frequently show up at her high school and her work, Gualtieri said.

At least 21 law enforcement officials nationwide have been arrested, fired or investigated because of a TCPalm-USA TODAY joint investigation that exposed their misuse of Flock Safety cameras to track personal targets.

The latest was Josepher Crutchfield, who was arrested Sept. 8 for using automated license plate readers to track his ex-girlfriend for 18 months while he was a Fort Pierce police officer. Here's what police said happened after TCPalm Reporter Jack Lemnus inquired about his searches on Aug. 7:

• Aug. 7: Fort Pierce Police Department immediately revoked his access to the system
• Aug. 10: The agency opened a criminal investigation
• Aug. 18: He resigned
• Sept. 8: He was charged with four felony counts of fraud and abuse of computer access.

Amid the bustle of travelers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was a family holding back tears. 

Magdalena Jimenez Juan sat with her four children, ages 15-31, and a family friend. Each waited silently until it was their turn to say goodbye. Each hug freed them to cry. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered her to board a deportation flight to Guatemala on Aug. 27 after 18 years of permitting her to live in the United States. It may be years until she sees her children again, whose fate is uncertain. 

Taking them with her is out of the question, the family said. Sons Yoni, 18, and Rafa, 31, share a rare genetic neurological disorder. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease damages the peripheral nerves in their limbs, reducing their strength and sensory function over time. Yoni also has scoliosis and is deaf in one ear, so Rafa does most of the talking on his behalf. 

“Caring for him and his brother is a full-time job,” Magdalena said in Spanish on July 31. “It would be even harder to care for them in Guatemala.” 

Magdalena Jimenez Juan pushed her son's wheelchair through the dark movie theater aisles to the accessible seating. Aug. 3 was Yoni's 18th birthday, so she took him, his sister and two brothers to see “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

Outings to restaurants and the movies are rare for the Indiantown family because Yoni and his 31-year-old brother, Rafael, share a rare genetic neurological disorder that damages the peripheral nerves in their limbs, reducing their strength and sensory function over time.

Yoni also has scoliosis and is deaf in one ear, so Rafael does most of the talking on his behalf.

For two hours, the family could forget their medical issues and celebrate family time together. But it could be their last chance for the foreseeable future.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to deport their parents by the end of August. Despite their documented medical hardship, no criminal history, and fact that ICE has permitted them to live and work in the United States for 18 years, the agency denied their stay of removal on June 23 without providing a reason.

Whenever a Florida Highway Patrol trooper stops Charlie Ray Mayhue, he calls his mother so someone knows where he is and what’s happening to him.

The 24-year-old man, who is Black, began this habit after FHP troopers searched him in 2024, but found no illegal drugs or weapons on him or in his car, FHP data show. He was stopped for speeding.

“It’s an invasion of privacy,” he said of searches. “One guy was super determined that I had something in the car.”

Mayhue is not an outlier. FHP troopers search Black drivers more than three times as often as White drivers, but are 12% less likely to find contraband on them.

Not every trooper's search statistics show racial disparities. Rather, the disparity is concentrated in a handful of troopers. Ten troopers accounted for 30% of all searches of Black drivers — making them extreme outliers.

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent smashed a legal resident's van window, dragged him through broken glass and pinned him face down on the ground as he wailed and bled from gashes, video shows.

FDLE records show the agent suspected Ernesto Puac Son, 33, was living in the country illegally, but court records show he has a work permit and a pending asylum case. 

“You have no sheriff now,” the FDLE agent said.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers drew their guns and ordered Deanne Rollison out of her car and onto the ground. Over their shouting and a barking K-9, Rollison could hear her 6-year-old daughter crying from the back seat.

Troopers had mistaken her 2019 Toyota Camry for a 2016 Toyota Corolla involved in a shooting in Columbia County that day in July 2024 — though the car model and occupants did not match the suspect's description, court records show.

A dozen law enforcement vehicles, some from other agencies, swarmed the scene.

“I feared my daughter might make any movement,” she said. “I was afraid they’d kill my baby.” 

Rollison said she thinks she was stopped simply because she is Black, since that is the only detail she said matched the suspect's description. She is not alone in that belief.

FHP troopers stopped and searched Black drivers more often than White drivers, and found drugs, weapons and other contraband in Black drivers' cars less often than in White drivers' cars, according to a TCPalm data analysis of over 1 million FHP traffic stops from 2024-25.

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/florida/2026/04/22/do-florida-fhp-stats-show-black-racial-bias-over-whites-discrimination-civil-rights-profiling/89630451007/

One family struggles to find housing in one of Florida's wealthiest counties while parenting a child with cerebral palsy. Gabby King and Dorsey DuBois are homeless in Martin County along with their 13-year-old daughter, Aleah.

The family has tried everything from Section 8 to camping, but just can't catch a break.

They're in line for Permenant Supportive Housing, but that's still in the works.

This is the first part of a series following their journey from homelessness back to home again.