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Police Briefs 2/16/17

Clay County Sheriff's Office
Posted 2/15/17

Bestbet arson arrest made GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A resident of Panama City is currently residing in the Clay County Jail with a court date set for March 15, after allegedly committing first …

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Police Briefs 2/16/17


Posted

Bestbet arson arrest made
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A resident of Panama City is currently residing in the Clay County Jail with a court date set for March 15, after allegedly committing first degree arson in Orange Park’s bestbet building last fall.
On Feb. 13, Sarman was extradited and transported from the Columbia County Jail to the Clay County Jail after a warrant for his arrest was issued Feb. 2.
According to the affidavit for arrest, after becoming intoxicated and belligerent on Aug. 20 of last year, Jeremy Lee Sarman, 36, was asked to leave the bestbet facility at 455 Park Ave. in Orange Park.
A Clay County Sheriff’s deputy working security escorted Sarman outside, but before Sarman left the building, he asked to go to the restroom. While being escorted outside, the deputy was notified via radio that the bathroom Sarman had just exited was on fire. Sarman then attempted to run but was soon apprehended by the deputy, according to the police report. Sarman was investigated in an effort to determine if he was responsible for the fire.
In the period since the fire, Sarman had left the area and ended up in Columbia County where he held this week for extradition.
Sarman is charged with first degree arson in a building with people present and, at press time, remained in jail with bond set at $250,003.

Lineman in critical condition after accident
ORANGE PARK – A lineman who was injured in an industrial accident Monday afternoon in Orange Park was listed in critical condition at UF Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
At 5:43 p.m. on Feb. 13, Orange Park Police Department and Orange Park Fire Department Personnel responded to the accident in the 1400 block of Park Avenue near Stiles Avenue.
They gave immediate medical attention to John Bowman, 18, who was working for Fiber Comm Connect who had suffered an electrical injury while laying fiberglass line under the roadway, according to a media release from OPPD.
According to police, witnesses said they heard three explosions and saw a flash of blue light. Bowman and his crew members were laying a fiberglass line when the line somehow “got away from them” and traveled about 75 feet in the air where it struck a power line.
Bowman and a co-worker tried to run when two or three transformers exploded. According to the report, Bowman yelled, “I think it got me,” at which point, he collapsed. Bowman was revived at the scene and then transported to Orange Park Medical Center for treatment. He was later transferred to Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
During the incident, traffic was briefly shut down on Park Avenue/U.S. Highway 17 to allow rescue workers to treatment the man and clear the road of a downed wire. Officers with the Clay County Sheriff's Office and Florida Highway Patrol assisted with traffic control.

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A Jacksonville man is free on bond after authorities investigated a bizarre case of computer theft.
On Feb. 10, Ken Camanga, 47, was arrested by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office for grand theft.
According to the police report, the investigation revealed that in November of last year, Albdios Fioravante contacted Camanga in an attempt to donate more than $13,000 worth of computing equipment to the Duval County Public School. Camanga, who worked for the DCPS Technology Division, agreed to meet with Fioravante at Camp Blanding to receive the items, which led Fioravante to believe that the items were being received by the DCPS as a donation. The police reports states that, “once in possession of the items, [Camanga] took a majority of the items to Main Metal Recycling LLLP and scrapped them for over $300.”
Camanga is free from jail after posting $5,003 bond.

Alleged ATV thief awaits hearing
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A Green Cove Springs man is in the Clay County Jail with a court date set for March 1, after being charged with grand theft auto.
On Jan. 28, Matthew Self, 25, was seen trespassing on the old Gustafson’s Farms property by two witnesses. The two mean approached Self and found him sleeping on a green 2010 Honda Rancher ES all-terrain vehicle. They recognized Self as someone wanted by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and told him to leave as they called the police, according to the police report.
When deputies arrived, Self attempted to run away but was detained. One deputy located the owner of the ATV, who then verified the vehicle was his and it had been stolen.
Self later told police that he obtained the ATV earlier when he was walking through the area he was found, according to the police report. Self saw the ATV and saw that the key was in the ignition. Self said he was planning to use the ATV to leave Green Cove Springs because he knew the police were looking for him.
Before this incident, Self was wanted for stealing a 1999 Ford E350 box truck from a locked storage yard of Concrete Specialist, located on 4421 Industrial Park Rd. in Green Cove Springs, on Jan. 20.
Self is being charged with grand theft auto, burglary, driving on a suspended or revoked driver’s license and resisting officers without violence and is in the Clay County Jail with a bond of $52,521.

Suspect No. 2 in illegal hunting case collared
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A Green Cove Springs man remains in the Clay County on charges of illegal hunting, weeks after his arrest in January.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commision took out an arrest warrant for Michael Shawn Nolf, 26, of Green Cove Springs after an investigation. Nolf is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, taking a deer by illegal method and more after an incident that occurred Oct. 25 of last year.
On Oct. 25, Florida Wildlife Officer Troy Starling received a call from an anonymous caller saying that he was aware Nolf had allegedly walked into the Bayard Wildlife Management Area with a firearm and illegally killed a six-point buck using bait during closed season. The complainant escorted Starling to an area in the Bayard Wildlife Management Area where, according to Starling, it was obvious that a dear had been shot and taken.
Nolf had an accomplice, Keith Allen Ysbrand, 26, who police located on Oct. 26. Ysbrand confessed that he was a convicted felon and that he had a gun in his home. After some questioning by police, Ysbrand admitted to illegally shooting a deer in the Bayard Wildlife Management Area during closed season with a shotgun. Ysbrand also confessed that Nolf was with him, according to the warrant.
On Oct. 27, police attempted to locate Nolf at his last known job in Green Cove Springs, but receptionist told police that Nolf had stopped working there on Oct. 12.
Nolf later contacted police stating, “that he was terrified about the trouble he was in,” according to the warrant. Police asked to meet with Nolf in person, which occurred Nov. 1 at Nolf’s residence. Nolf admitted to participating in the illegal hunt in question.
Nolf sits in Clay County Jail with a bond amount of $62,011.

Green Cove Springs Police assist feds in steroids case
JACKSONVILLE – Federal authorities have unsealed an indictment five people in a steroids abuse case that led authorities to Georgia and New York state.
United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley III said Donald McCloud Long, 50, Sarah Ann Long, 33, Armando F. Aman, 37, all of Jacksonville, and Shelby Travis Phillips, 26, of Savannah, with conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with the intent to distribute, anabolic steroids. Taylor Salvione, 25, of Gloversville, N.Y., was also charged separately for the same offense. If convicted, each faces a 10-year term of imprisonment and a $500,000 fine.
According to the indictment, from in or about December 2013, through on or about September 27, 2016, the defendants conspired to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids, a Schedule III controlled substance. Salvione is charged with participating in the conspiracy from March 2015 through April 2016.
An indictment is a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
These cases were part of Operation Total Package, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was a collaboration among the DEA, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, the Green Cove Springs Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly S. Karase.

New state and federal partnership aims to combat gun violence in Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE – State Attorney Melissa Nelson recently announced a Fourth Circuit partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida to ensure appropriate referral and federal prosecution of violent criminals and drug dealers who use and possess firearms.
This strategic initiative includes having a Special Agent from ATF on-site who will review all firearm cases the office handles for potential federal firearm charges when appropriate. Cases in which a defendant qualifies for federal prosecution and lengthier sentences will be referred to federal prosecutors for appropriate prosecution.
Having an on-site special agent permits greater intelligence sharing on cases with federal partners and provides a speedier referral of cases suited for federal prosecution to federal authorities. One goal of the initiative is to ensure that armed career criminals (who have violent felony records or have engaged in serious drug trafficking offenses) face federal minimum mandatory sentences of 15 years instead of the three years normally faced under Florida law when they possess a firearm.
“We will be working closely with our state and federal law enforcement partners to ensure crimes involving the illegal possession and use of firearms will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Nelson in the Feb. 9 press release. “This is another step in showing the community that these types of crimes will not be tolerated.”
The ATF Tampa Field Division’s jurisdiction includes the Fourth Circuit counties of Clay, Duval and Nassau. Part of ATF’s mission is dedicated to combating firearm violence through efforts targeting violent repeat offenders, career criminals, gun traffickers, and gangs. ATF does so through working with partner agencies at the local, state and federal levels.
“A key component of ATF’s mission is reducing violent crime,” said Daryl McCrary, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Tampa Field Division. “The Fourth Circuit State Attorney’s Office commitment to reducing firearms violence effectively enables ATF and our partners to execute its investigative strategies and priorities.”
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida also has increased its prosecutorial resources and efforts to address firearms and violent crimes. The office routinely coordinates with the Jacksonville Gun Crime Unit, consisting of members of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, ATF and state and federal prosecutors who regularly meet to discuss investigation and prosecution of gun crimes. The office has operated the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, a nationwide commitment to reducing gun and gang crime.
“This new partnership will leverage state and federal resources and enhance our ability to fight violent crime in the Jacksonville area,” said United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III.
This latest local collaboration builds on past efforts and follows in the footsteps of similar working arrangements in Orlando and Tampa.