PANAMA CITY — The mother of an Alabama visitor on whom police opened fire upon Sunday after a car chase said her son fled officers because he thought he was being robbed.

Lafabian Lawson, 23, was arrested early Sunday after a pursuit from Panama City Police Department ended in gunfire. Lawson has been charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding with injury, driving with a suspended or revoked license and leaving the scene of an accident with more than $50 in damage, according to court records.

Lawson, a visitor from Montgomery, Ala., and his two passengers of the white Camaro were down to visit family, according to Bonita Lawson, the mother of Lafabian Lawson.

Bonita Lawson said the group had been pulled over by police moments before and released. When a large, unmarked truck closed in behind them fast, the three panicked and tried to get away, she said.

“They had no idea what was going on, and they thought they were getting robbed,” Bonita Lawson said. “That’s when the officers got out and started shooting.”

However, in a news release, PCPD said the driver of a fleeing white Camaro attempted to strike police officers with a vehicle. At that point, officers fired upon the driver.

PCPD officers reported they spotted the vehicle stopped at about 2:40 a.m. in the middle of U.S. Business 98 near the Watson Bayou Bridge. The car nearly struck the curb several times as officers neared to initiate a traffic stop, police said.

The driver pulled over and made eye contact with the officer before speeding off, police reported.

“As I exited my patrol car and began to walk toward the vehicle, Lawson sped off at a high rate of speed,” the officer reported. “I lost sight of the vehicle after it turned onto Beach Drive.”

A few minutes later, an unmarked vehicle in PCPD’s Street Crimes Unit (SCU) spotted the Camaro driving north on Harrison from 11th Street and called for a marked car. When SCU initiated a second traffic stop, the driver sped off again in reckless manner, officers reported.

The officers opened fire on the vehicle, but how much force PCPD used has not been released.

Lawson crashed in the 1900 block of Harrison Avenue shortly after and fled on foot, but he was captured a short time later. One passenger in the vehicle was treated and released for an injury to his arm, but the injury was not sustained in the gunfire. The other passenger was not injured.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the officer-involved shooting.

Lawson has been charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding with injury, driving with a suspended or revoked license and leaving the scene of an accident with more than $50 in damage.

PANAMA CITY — Fire crews doused an afternoon fire Monday that ingited with an explosion within a road striping business, according to the owners.

No one was injured in the blaze at Emerald Coast Striping, 1901 N. East Ave., after the fire started at about 2:40 p.m., officials reported. However, much of the business’s equipment was not salvageable.

“It was pretty much a total loss, but we’re not shutting down,” said Jason Bense, owner.

Bay County, Panama City and Springfield fire crews responded to the fire, controlling the flames within minutes. The fire started moments earlier when an explosion caught a welder within the business by surprise. The welder was not injured.

Though all of the vital equipment of the business was lost in the fire, Bense said they plan on rebuilding without reducing in employee numbers.

“As long as everybody is safe, we’ll move forward and rebuild,” Bense said.

PANAMA CITY — Police have arrested a Panama City man for allegedly spending another person’s tax return given to him by accident, according to arrest records.

Dominique Alexander Johnson, 21, was arrested Feb. 19 after his tax return check was mixed up by Friendly Check Cashing, 540 E. Sixth St., with that of a similarly named individual. He spent a majority of the check before being charged with grand theft, according to Panama City Police Department arrest reports.

Representatives of Friendly Check Cashing declined to comment, but according to police reports, an employee of the store told police Johnson and a woman also named Dominique Johnson — although with a different middle name — had their taxes done at the business. The tax return check for the man was worth $142; the woman’s tax return check was worth $6,599, police said.

The man had come into the business earlier to pick up his check and was given the woman’s in error. The staff realized their mistake when the woman came to pick up her check a few days later. Friendly Tax Return then cut a check for $6,599 to the woman and attempted to get the man to pay back the difference, police reported.

But when the employees called him to notify him of their mistake, he allegedly told them he already had spent a significant amount of the tax return, according to PCPD.

He “stated he knew he was given the wrong check but still spent all but $400 of the $6,599 he was given,” police reported. He “also told (the employee) he was not going to reimburse them due to their mistake and hung up.”

Friendly Check Cashing employees contacted police to pursue criminal charges. Dominique Alexander Johnson was arrested a few days later and charged with grand theft. His bond was set at $7,500, and he has since posted bond. According to Bay County records, Johnson does not have a history of committing felony crimes.

He did not respond to a request for comment on this story and the woman could not be reached.

FOUNTAIN — A 19-year-old man was arrested after he tried to sell stolen jewelry to a woman who, it turns out, was the victim of the burglary, according to a Bay County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Clifton Tyler Johnson, 19, was initially arrested on charges of loitering and prowling in the Owenwood Road area, BCSO said. But BCSO has filed charges of burglary of a conveyance, dealing in stolen property and three counts of burglary of a dwelling, officials reported Monday.

According to BCSO’s report, they received a complaint on Thursday of a burglary at a home on Owenwood Road in Bay County. The victim stated a white male was seen running from home. The victim went into the residence and found that jewelry had been taken.

Several other complaints of burglaries were received from the area of Owenwood Road around the same time. Cars and homes were burglarized. Items taken included cash, cellphones, prescription pills and jewelry, officials said.

On Friday, one of the victims was approached by a white male at a store in the Fountain area who asked if she would like to buy jewelry. The victim recognized a ring as her own and stated to the suspect it was hers. The suspect gave her the ring and left the store, officers reported.

Later on the same day, a BCSO deputy patrolling on Owenwood Road spotted a white male running from one of the homes that had been previously burglarized. The deputy pursued on foot and was able to take Johnson into custody. He was charged with loitering and prowling and booked into the Bay County Jail.

BCSO investigators developed Johnson as a suspect in the burglaries during the course of their investigation and learned that Johnson, a transient, was in the Bay County Jail. Investigators interviewed Johnson and were able to connect him to several burglaries and the attempt to sell stolen jewelry, BCSO reported.

FOUNTAIN — Authorities are investigating a weekend ransacking of a local church that resulted in more than $3,000 of damaged or stolen property, according to Bay County Sheriff’s Office reports released Monday.

BCSO investigators were called to the Fountain Baptist Church, 18906 U.S. 231, Saturday at about 8:50 p.m. to calls of a burglary. Cash and several items were missing or destroyed in the church, but the perpetrators were nowhere to be found, investigators reported.

An area church group sent out a notice Monday for other local churches to be on the lookout and to secure themselves against a similar incident.

“The church was ransacked and many items stolen,” said Phyllis A. Poland of the Northwest Coast Baptist Association. “… Be in prayer for the congregation as they replace stolen items and re-secure the building.”

BCSO is continuing to investigate the incident at the church.

According to BCSO reports, several electronic items were broken or missing, including the church’s sound-mixing board for services, a laptop computer, a wireless microphone and video projector. The suspect or suspects also snagged two packs of hot dogs and $500 in cash from the church, officers said.

BCSO reported a total of $3,220 in damage or theft. No arrests had been made in the case as of Monday night.

GREENWOOD — A man died early Tuesday in Jackson County after a traffic crash, according to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).

Charles Paul Croft, 73, of Greenwood, was killed after being hit by another vehicle while on an 2011 Arctic Cat ATV on State 69, FHP reported. The crash occurred about 4:20 a.m. under foggy conditions near Sweet Pond Road, east of Greenwood, according to the FHP.

Croft was facing south on the west shoulder and the driver of the other vehicle, J. Arniel Caphart, 50, of Bascom, was traveling southbound, the report said. As the car approached Croft, he appeared to make an abrupt maneuver, putting him in the pathway of Caphart’s vehicle, a 2004 Freightliner Century, the FHP reported. The driver took abrupt action and struck the ATV on its right side in the northbound lane, FHP reported.

The driver suffered no injuries, FHP said. Croft was pronounced dead at the scene, FHP said.

A partial roadblock was reported as of 8:30 a.m., but the road was reported clear at 9:30.

The crash investigation continues.

PANAMA CITY — A Panama City man known as “Trigger Tre” has been convicted of being a felon in possession of a loaded .380 caliber pistol, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida convicted Sammie “Trigger Tre” Underwood III, 22, of being a felon in possession of the firearm Monday, for which he could face 10 years in prison.

At trial, the government presented evidence that, in May 2014, Panama City police officers were on patrol in the Glenwood neighborhood when Underwood, driving a white Chevrolet Tahoe, ran a stop sign. He then led the officers on a chase through the neighborhood. As officers finally approached Underwood’s still-moving vehicle, he jumped out and fled on foot. The driverless vehicle then collided with a residence on East 13th Court.

Under the Tahoe’s driver seat, officers found the loaded firearm and baggies of crack cocaine, bath salts and marijuana. Testimony from Florida Department of Law Enforcement Crime Laboratory analysts showed that DNA recovered from the firearm matched Underwood.

Underwood faces a maximum of 10 years imprisonment during his June 3 sentencing at 9:30 a.m.

Police have said Underwood may be connected to the unsolved slaying of 17-year-old Samuel McGriff in early June of last year. McGriff’s death remains an active investigation.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Authorities have arrested a Vernon man who allegedly kept a missing teen for days at his motel while her family sought information on her whereabouts, according to court documents.

Shedrick Hudson Conner, 44, was arrested Monday on five counts of lewd and lascivious battery on the 16-year-old girl, who is mentally deficient. BCSO also has charged him with interfering with her parents’ custody. The juvenile had been sought by BCSO and her family for days after she disappeared during a walk Feb. 16 at about 8 a.m., according to BCSO reports.

BCSO officials said Conner became a suspect after he called investigators to get information on the girl’s whereabouts as the search was underway. During that time, the teen also posted a picture on Snapchat of herself and an unidentified man lying in bed together.

The grandmother of the victim said the picture was simultaneously alarming and reassuring.

“At least we knew she wasn’t on the streets,” the grandmother said. “But we didn’t know where she was, who this man was or if she was being mistreated.”

BCSO would later determine the 16-year-old was sexually battered during her time away from home, according to arrest records.

Following the family’s retrieval of the girl, who was found outside a Thomas Drive motel Feb. 20, BCSO made contact with the family to determine what occurred while she allegedly was staying with Conner, officers reported.

The teenager told investigators she’d become upset and left for a walk when she first encountered Conner at the same motel where she would later be found. She said Conner offered her some marijuana, which she declined, but accepted his invitation to stay with him, officers reported.

During the days she was at the motel, Conner allegedly had sexual intercourse with the teen five times despite her not giving consent and telling him that she was only 16 years old, she told investigators. Conner also did not report the teen’s whereabouts as local media outlets disseminated information on the girls’ disappearance.

After the picture surfaced on Snapchat and Conner allegedly called investigators to gather information about the missing teenager, BCSO developed Conner as their main suspect. The teen identified Conner as the man she’d been staying with, and he was arrested Monday, BCSO reported.

Conner, a student at Gulf Coast State Community College, was charged with five counts of lewd and lascivious battery and interfering in custody.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Florida Highway Patrol has announced a DUI checkpoint to take place on State 79 during the coming weekend.

The “roadside safety checkpoint” will start on Friday at 9 p.m. and end Saturday at 1 a.m. Troopers will be on State 79 near School Drive north of Panama City Beach, FHP reported.

Warning devices will be placed in strategic locations leading up to the checkpoint for the safety and protection of motorists and officers. During the operation, vehicles will be stopped to check for driver impairment and other violations of Florida law.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Authorities have arrested and charged a local man who allegedly fought with an officer inside a Waffle House before trying to snatch away his radio, according to arrest records.

Corey Leeser, 34, was arrested Tuesday night at about 9:45 p.m. on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and depriving an officer of means to communicate after an alleged run-in with a Bay County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant at the Waffle House at 7000 Thomas Drive.

Lt. James Vestal responded to the Waffle House to reports of an unwanted guest moments before. When Vestal arrived, he said Leeser was pointing and yelling at employees and patrons inside the store, according to BCSO reports.

Leeser ignored the officer when asked for his name and walked away toward the counter; when the officer asked his name a second time, Leeser again ignored him but appeared agitated, the officer reported.

“At this time, I approached (Leeser) and grabbed him by his left arm and started escorting him out while asking who he was,” Vestal wrote. “As we approached the outer door in the foyer area, he wrapped up my right arm and pinned me against the wall with his back.”

BCSO reported Leeser then began elbowing Vestal in the body and grabbing for his radio. Vestal then attempted a knee spike, “which seemed to not have much effect,” he reported.

“He then started yelling, ‘Is that all you got … Is that all you got,’” Vestal wrote. “At which time he elbowed me in the left side of my face and tried to run out the door.”

Leeser allegedly was able to rip the officer’s shoulder microphone from his main radio before exiting the foyer. Vestal gave chase, his dangling radio becoming caught up in his legs, as Leeser took off through the parking lot and into a nearby neighborhood. Vestal also reported he tried to use his Taser on Leeser as he ran, but he was too far behind, he reported.

Other BCSO officers caught up with Leeser on Beach Drive, just behind the Waffle House, BCSO reported. Leeser, of Panama City, was arrested and taken to the Bay County Jail. His bond was set at $15,000.

TAMPA (AP) — A dog that was tied to railroad tracks and shot was expected to survive after her leg was amputated Thursday.

Tampa Police received three calls around 5:23 p.m. Wednesday from people reporting hearing gunshots. Then they heard a dog whimpering while canvassing the neighborhood, and followed the sound to nearby train tracks.

They found the mixed-breed female dog, about a year or two old, fastened to the tracks with a belt, suffering from bullet wounds in its neck and right shoulder.

They were able to free the dog before any trains came, and nicknamed her “Cabela.” They rushed her to a veterinarian, and she underwent surgery Thursday to remove her injured right front leg.

“It's very calm and relaxed and just in recovery mode at this point,” said Officer Derek Lang, a police spokesman.

None of the individuals who had called police had seen anyone with a gun or were aware of the dog being injured, police said, so they put out a public appeal for anyone with information to come forward.

TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by five Department of Corrections investigators who claimed they were retaliated against for exposing a cover-up involving the death of an inmate at a Franklin County prison in 2010.

Four of the investigators, who work for Department of Corrections Inspector General Jeff Beasley, claimed they were denied whistleblower status and made the subject of internal investigations after telling Gov. Rick Scott’s Inspector General Melinda Miguel about the death of Randall Jordan-Aparo, who died at Franklin Correctional Institution in Carrabelle after being gassed with noxious chemicals. A fifth investigator later joined the lawsuit.

Investigators Aubrey Land, David Clark, Doug Glisson, John Ulm, and James Padgett accused Beasley of launching the internal probe after they alleged Miguel’s office was aware of the cover-up of Jordan-Aparo’s death.

But U.S. District Judge William Stafford rejected the investigators’ arguments that their comments to Miguel and Assistant Inspector General Dawn Case were protected by the First Amendment. That protection only applies to citizens and not to employees, Stafford ruled.

“Plaintiffs have cited no cases clearly establishing that a decision to deny whistle-blower status or protection to a complainant constitutes either an adverse employment action or the denial of a public benefit for purposes of a First Amendment retaliation claim. At the very least, Miguel and Case would be entitled to qualified immunity with regard to their alleged retaliatory actions,” Stafford wrote in a 17-page ruling.

Tallahassee lawyer Steven Andrews, who represents the plaintiffs, said he plans to appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We have immense respect for Judge Stafford but we intend to appeal to the 11th Circuit because we disagree with (the) ruling,” Andrews said in an email.

Stafford also gave a sixth plaintiff in the lawsuit —- former corrections employee, Christina Bullins —- until March 20 to amend her complaint.

Bullins, whose brother was in the cell next to Jordan-Aparo the night the inmate died, claimed she was fired in 2013 because she had tried to draw attention to what happened at the Franklin County facility after Jordan-Aparo died. Bullins, a former correctional officer union representative, wrote blogs critical of the department’s handling of Jordan-Aparo’s death before she was fired.

Senate approves DOC bill: Stafford’s ruling came the day a Senate panel pushed forward a measure that would create more oversight of the Department of Corrections, including the creation of a commission that would handle investigations into prison wrongdoing, now handled by the inspector general’s office.

With the 2015 legislative session already underway, however, the proposal still lacks a House companion, and the measure’s sponsor, admits that his plan is a “heavy lift.”

The overhaul would create a commission to oversee the corrections department, now an executive agency, and require Cabinet approval of the department secretary. Secretary Julie Jones took over the agency in January and is the fourth chief of the agency appointed by Scott in as many years. The proposal would also make it easier for inmates to file complaints and would allow prisoners to pay for and receive medical care from someone unassociated with the corrections department.

The measure also would require the department to create a policy to protect from retaliation inmates and employees who report abuse, a particularly potent concern for Senate Criminal Justice Chairman Greg Evers, who sponsored the prison package.

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think the bill goes far enough in some respects … but I also want you to understand this is a heavy lift at this time. If we make it any more heavy, I’m afraid this balloon may not float,” Evers, R-Baker, said shortly before the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously approved the measure (SB 7020).

The prison measure came after media reports of inmate deaths at the hands of prison guards, claims about retaliation in the system and increased scrutiny of contracts with private vendors that took over health care for the state’s 100,000 inmates less than two years ago.

“I know that there is a crisis in Florida prisons,” said Senate Minority Leader Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa.

Lawmakers have tried “piecemeal” solutions in the past, Joyner said.

“But it’s at this point where it’s tantamount to an emergency. We have a responsibility to come up with a fix that works,” she said.

But Jones disagreed with Joyner’s analysis.

“Yes, we’ve had problems in the past. I don’t know that we’re in a crisis situation today. We need to create some improvements. We need to get some additional staffing. We need to get some facilities fixed. But crisis? I don’t think we’re in crisis,” she told The News Service of Florida after the meeting.

Evers, who has made a series of surprise visits to prisons and whose Panhandle district includes three prisons and numerous work camps, has received more than a dozen letters from corrections workers and investigators who complained about understaffing, inadequate equipment and problems with 12-hour shifts.

The corrections workers refused to testify at his committee this week because they were afraid of retaliation, Evers said. Retaliation against “whistle blowers” or those who snitch on their colleagues has a long history in the state’s prison system. Some prison workers have had their pets kidnapped and harmed, others have found dead animals in their mailboxes, and many feel their safety on the job is at risk because of threats that they will not get backup if they call for help.

In a highly critical letter, an investigator who answers to Beasley also warned that his department is understaffed and that employees have been sidelined by their superiors “with a barrage of busy work” to go after “low-hanging fruit” that would keep them from digging into more serious investigations.

But Jones dismissed those complaints Wednesday, saying the agency’s IG was doing an “outstanding job … given the resources that they have and given the nature of how they’re doing business.”

Jones said that she would send high-level investigations to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is also investigating more than 100 unresolved inmate deaths.

“We have a problem with certain individuals in the IG’s office that want to be FDLE agents. They are not FDLE agents,” Jones, a veteran law enforcement officer. “You have some individuals that want to just do the big shop and don’t want to do the day-to-day minding the shop. The more of the small stuff that you do, the systemic issues in a facility so they don’t become big things, the fewer big things you have over time.”

Evers’ measure would give the new commission investigatory powers and put it in charge of policing prisons, now handled by the Office of the Inspector General, which answers to Scott’s chief inspector general.

“The OIG has not been an effective mechanism for rooting out bad actors. That’s what it’s there for. And it hasn’t done its job. For whatever reason. We have to change the culture in DOC. Status quo is not acceptable,” said Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican who pushed for the commission.

TALLAHASSEE — A National Rifle Association-supported measure that failed to win legislative approval a year ago appears to have a clear shot of advancing now that it has the backing of the Florida Sheriffs Association.

House and Senate committees Wednesday approved similar bills (SB 290 and HB 493) that would allow legal gun owners to carry their guns without concealed-weapons licenses during the first 48 hours after emergency evacuation orders are given.

A version of the proposal, which didn’t include the evacuation time frame or other new language, died in the Senate last year amid a contentious debate.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, representing the Florida Sheriffs Association, said Wednesday his organization has altered its stance due to the new provisions. Along with the 48-hour time frame, the new version allows people to carry concealed weapons without licenses as long as they are “in the act of evacuating,” regardless of their locations.

Last year “it didn’t provide enough parameters, enough definitive information as to what somebody could be doing and not doing in a time frame,” Gualtieri said.

In addition to the 48-hour window for people to carry weapons while they get away from evacuation zones once an order is given, the bill would allow the governor to extend such an order by an additional 48 hours.

Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican who sponsored the proposal last year and this year, said efforts to alter the proposal in 2014 only created more questions, such as the possibility of limiting the carrying of concealed weapons to county borders.

“The problem is that the county line in Pinellas is the middle of a bridge sometimes,” Brandes said after the meeting. “It actually made it worse for individuals because there was complete ambiguity with the law.”

The House backed the measure 80-36 a year ago and the NRA made clear last May it would seek to bring back the issue during the 2015 legislative session, describing the sheriffs association at the time as declaring “war on the Second Amendment.”

On Wednesday, the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted 9-2 to back this year’s proposal, sponsored by Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen, R-Fort Myers. The votes in opposition were from Democrats Clovis Watson of Alachua and Randolph Bracy of Orlando.

The Senate Community Affairs Committee backed its version of the measure 5-1. Sen. Joseph Abruzzo, a Boynton Beach Democrat who supported the proposal, expressed concern that people being forced to evacuate because of a hurricane must “leave their guns in their home for looters or anybody else can come in and take them.”

But in voting against the measure, Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, said after the meeting she has concerns that more weapons will be on the road during a declared disaster.

“I just envision people leaving in an emergency and people having guns when law enforcement is not at its best in terms of being able to enforce what goes on,” Thompson said.

The Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted 4-1 on Feb. 16 to back the proposal, and the next stop before reaching the Senate floor is the Rules Committee.

The House measure must still go through the Economic Development & Tourism Subcommittee and the Judiciary Committee.

The failure of last year’s bill came despite Florida lawmakers rushing to approve NRA-supported Second Amendment proposals during the past several years.

Since taking office in 2011, Gov. Rick Scott has signed into law 12 gun-related measures backed by the NRA.

The bills have ranged from highly contentious measures, such as the so-called “docs vs. Glocks” law in 2011, to less-controversial laws such as allowing tax collectors’ offices to handle concealed-weapons license applications.

Scott’s overall total is nine more than former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist approved while enjoying an equally Republican-dominated Legislature between 2007 and 2010. Former Gov. Jeb Bush, who was in office for eight years, penned his name on 14 pro-gun laws, including the state’s “stand your ground” law.

BONIFAY — The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will begin a $481,388 improvement project on State 79 in Holmes County this week. 

Crews will resurface the highway from south of Thomas Drive near Bonifay to north of Interstate 10, perform minor drainage improvements, and place new signs and pavement markings. The entire project is slated for completion summer 2015.

Bridge inspection planned: FDOT crews will perform a routine inspection on the State 20 bridge over the Apalachicola River in Calhoun County.

Alternating lane restrictions will take place in the westbound lanes, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., March 16-19.

Routine inspections are one tool the department uses to provide a safe transportation system, an example of the dedication to making travel in Florida safer and more efficient.

ST. PETERSBURG (AP) — A woman wielding a shotgun forced her 7-year-old son to jump out of a second-floor apartment window early Thursday before she jumped as well in an apparent suicide attempt, police said.

Spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez said Michelle Vail, 32, told the child a serial killer was after them to get him to jump out the window. Vail had called police around 6:30 a.m., telling the dispatcher that her ex-boyfriend was at the door in St. Petersburg and she needed help.

Officers arrived at the apartment a short time later, but Vail wouldn't let them in, saying she didn't believe they were police, Fernandez said.

“She was babbling incoherently,” Fernandez said. “None of it made any sense.”

As officers walked away, they heard the sound of glass breaking. They returned and could see that Vail had a shotgun and was banging it against a door and a wall.

Fernandez said officers heard the boy scream. They knocked down the door, but by the time they reached a back room, the child and mother had already jumped.

The boy was taken to a hospital, where officials say he is in stable condition and being kept for observation. Vail's injuries were superficial, according to Fernandez.

Vail is being charged with one count of aggravated child abuse. It wasn't known whether she's hired a lawyer who could comment on the case.

The Department of Children and Families has been contacted to coordinate custody of the child when he's released from the hospital.

PANAMA CITY — A local man has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for the receipt and possession of thousands of child pornography documents.

Robert Leesean Williams, 30, was sentenced Thursday in the U.S. District Court of Northern Florida to 19 and a half years in federal prison for receiving and distributing images and videos of child pornography, some of which involved infants. Williams possessed more than 13,000 images of child pornography.

Williams pleaded with Judge Richard Smoak before his sentencing.

“I’m not a vicious person,” he said.

However, Williams nearly received the maximum penalty of 20 years after Smoak factored in a pattern of child exploitation in Williams’ past.

Prosecutors sought an enhanced sentence since Williams had two previous convictions. One of those charges stemmed from a sexual battery on a 12-year-old when Williams himself was a juvenile, to which he pleaded guilty. The second stemmed from a 2006 incident in which Williams pleaded no contest to lewd and lascivious molestation on a 15-year-old while he was 20-years-old at the time.

Williams’ defense attorney, Michelle Daffin, argued that not only were no witnesses present to testify Williams had admitted to the previous charges, but also that the two occasions did not constitute a pattern.

“This isn’t a pattern,” Daffin said. “This is conduct when Williams was a minor and an encounter between two people who consented to a sexual act.”

But prosecutors argued documentation of Williams’ admission of guilt to both incidents was enough to establish a pattern of child exploitation that led to the receipt and distribution of child pornography.

The Department of Homeland Security headed up the investigation into Williams’ child pornography

On Oct. 17, 2013, they began investigating a neighbor of Williams. The neighbor said Williams would come by often to download “movies” onto his personal USB jump drive, according to court records.

Williams would then return to his Lake Avenue home in Panama City where he stayed with his girlfriend and 5-year-old child, the neighbors told investigators. During a search of Williams’ home computer, investigators found more than 13,000 pictures of child pornography and 350 videos of preteen and infants being sexually molested.

Williams was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison. He is also facing four counts of lewd and lascivious molestation in Bay County Circuit Court.

PANAMA CITY — Police are investigating a case of passing counterfeit bills and would like the assistance from the public in identifying the suspects, according to a Panama City Police Department news release.

The unknown male and female passed multiple counterfeit bills on Wednesday at the Publix and Wal-Mart stores on 23rd Street. The video shows the suspects leaving the Wal-Mart store at approximately 9:30 p.m. The suspects are driving a newer model blue sedan, possibly a Dodge Dart.

If anyone can identify these two or has information about this case, they are urged to contact Detective Thore or Detective Wray at the PCPD at (850) 872-3100, or they can report their tips anonymously to CrimeStoppers at (850) 785-TIPS.

APALACHICOLA NATIONAL FOREST — One man is dead and two are in critical condition following an early morning shooting at a Rainbow Gathering near the Franklin-Liberty County line.

Capt. Chester Creamer, with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed the shooting occurred sometime before 2:30 a.m. EST Thursday, when the call came in to the Sheriff’s Office. Officers arrived on the scene at 3:09 a.m.

Creamer said the incident at the end of Wright Lake Road is believed to have taken place around a campfire at Wright Lake, and that alcohol was a factor. He declined to release any names because all the families have not yet been notified.

“These folks don’t have a lot of documentation on them,” he said. “We have to do a lot of legwork on that.

“None of them were locals — period,” he said.

Creamer said a white male was dead from gunshot wounds and that another had sustained multiple life-threatening bullet wounds. The shooter had been beaten and stabbed by some within the Rainbow Gathering, and the shooter was detained until police arrived, Creamer said. The injured were being treated at a Tallahassee hospital.

Because the incident occurred on federal land in the Apalachicola National Forest, near a boat landing, the Sheriff’s Office was being assisted by law enforcement officers with the U.S. Forest Service. In addition, the mobile crime lab from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was on the scene, gathering evidence Thursday.

Alan Smith, deputy district ranger for the Apalachicola National Forest, said the incident took place about a half-mile west of the developed campground, which remains open.

Wright Lake is about 2 miles south of Sumatra, off State 65. The Rainbow Gathering had been taking place there since last weekend.

Rainbow Gatherings are annual meetings of the Rainbow Family of the Living Light, a loosely defined collection of people associated with hippie culture. The original Rainbow Gathering was in 1972 and has been replicated throughout the years, in regional gatherings, often in national forests.

Susan Blake, public affairs specialist with the U.S. Forest Service in Tallahassee, said the Rainbow group has a special uses permit to have a seed camp between March 1 and 6, the actual gathering March 7-22, and cleanup slated for March 23-30. She said it was not yet clear whether a violation of the terms of that permit would result in the gathering being closed down by forestry officials.

“All the information’s being gathered now,” she said.

PANAMA CITY — Investigators recorded the largest street seizure of heroin on Bay County books following the death of local man from overdose, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.

Three arrests and seizure of about 56 grams of heroin followed the death of 28-year-old Justin Roberts. Other heroin-related arrests are expected by BCSO in connection with a heroin distribution ring within Bay County.

However, further charges directly related to Roberts’ death could be likely, according to Major Tommy Ford.

“That is an element of this case that is under investigation,” Ford said. “If you provide the means of either the paraphernalia or narcotics and somebody dies, you could be charged with their death.”

Pending toxicology reports, BCSO has no way of determining how many overdoses in the county have been due to heroin. But officers arrived to find Roberts with a needle in his arm, Ford said. Three arrests have now been made in connection to the death investigation.

Investigators learned that John Joseph Benton, 28, delivered drug paraphernalia used specifically for intravenous drug use to Roberts prior to his death. Benton was arrested Monday on a charge of delivery of drug paraphernalia. Additional charges could follow, BCSO said.

Investigators also developed information revealing others may be involved in a heroin distribution ring in Bay County.

The next day, officers served a search warrant on the home of 24-year-old Guy (Sonny) Hardaway. At the same time, investigators were following up on other leads related to the investigation and stopped a vehicle driven by 31-year-old Stephen Martin Combs.

Combs had a suspended driver’s license at the time, and investigators found 56 grams of uncut heroin in his possession, BCSO reported. He was charged with trafficking in heroin, driving while license suspended and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Hardaway was later arrested on a warrant for possession of heroin with intent to deliver, possession of benzodiazepine, possession of alprazolam, manufacture of drug paraphernalia, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana, less than 20 grams.

Trafficking in more than 28 grams of heroin carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison. The heroin confiscated in this case has a street value of over $13,000 and is the largest street seizure of heroin ever in Bay County.

“We are very concerned with seeing heroin in our community,” Ford said. “It’s a very addictive and destructive drug. We’ll be aggressively pursuing harsh punishment for people arrested in connection with this narcotic.”

PANAMA CITY — A school lunch employee has been arrested for allegedly having sex with two juvenile students, according to Bay County Sheriff’s Office arrest reports.

Lindsey Judith Griffith, 19, was arrested Thursday and charged with allegedly having sexual intercourse with two Bozeman students Feb. 28 at one of the victim’s house, BCSO reported.

The students’ names and ages have been redacted from BCSO reports, but officials reported the victims were 14 and 15 years old.

Griffith, of Chipley, appeared in court Thursday for first appearance. She has been charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a child younger than 16, according to court records.

Griffith was an employee of Chartwells, Bay District Schools’ food service company. Officials with Bay District Schools declined to comment on the charges against Griffith. However, they confirmed Chartwells fired her Wednesday.

Earlier that day, BCSO received information from Bozeman School about two students being involved sexually with a 19-year-old female employee. Deputies traveled to Bozeman School to interview the students.

During those interviews, both of the juveniles confirmed they had sexual intercourse with Griffith at one of the victims’ Fountain home Feb. 28 between 1 and 6 p.m., BCSO reported.

Officers then interviewed Griffith, who also admitted to the encounter with the students, officers said.

Griffith was taken to the Bay County Jail and charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on the minors.