PANAMA CITY BEACH -- A Panama City Beach man is accused of leading police on a high-speed chase early Sunday morning after nearly striking an officer at an Ironman triathlon site.

Perma Benson, 32, was driving his car eastbound on South Thomas Drive near Shark Lane when he almost hit the officer, according to Panama City Beach police. He was allegedly driving at a high rate of speed, and drove over a curb and struck a fence while fleeing the scene about 2 a.m.

About six law enforcement vehicles from PCB Police and the Bay County Sheriff's Office pursued Benson east on South Thomas, according to witnesses. Benson then turned north onto Thomas Drive, where a BCSO deputy deployed spike strips that punctured Benson's tires. But he continued trying to escape, police reported.

Benson allegedly drove over a parking stop and then backed into a PCB police cruiser after turning into a parking lot near Thomas and Laird Street. That's where he was arrested. No injuries were reported in the incident, and PCB Police Chief Drew Whitman said the police vehicle struck in the incident had minor damage.

The Florida Highway Patrol charged Benson with driving under the influence, open container, improper backing, and driving under the influence with property damage. Benson was also charged by PCB Police with leaving the scene of accident and fleeing and attempting to allude law enforcement. He is being held in Bay County Jail.

Whitman said it was fortunate that no one was hurt in the incident.

"There's always a danger any time there's a chase.There's a danger for guy that’s running from us, and a danger to officers, and a danger to civilians," he said.
 

PANAMA CITY — The Lynn Haven man charged with killing his wife will attempt to convince a judge he was insane at the time and couldn’t understand the crime was wrong.

Gary Wesley Tennyson, 36, was hallucinating aliens, “energy people, time travel and science” in the months leading up to the slaying of his wife, Glenda Tennyson, according to records Gary Tennyson’s attorney filed last month. Glenda Tennyson was 28 and pregnant with twins when her body was discovered in a shed behind the couple’s Lynn Haven home in May 2012.

He had been involuntarily committed for mental health treatment under the Baker Act at least once before his arrest, and there was a pending court order authorizing deputies to Baker Act him when Glenda Tennyson was killed.

Kim Jewell, Tennyson’s attorney, will argue Gary Tennyson was suffering a nonspecified psychiatric disorder at the time of the killing. She’ll rely on medical records and testimony from members of the staff at Florida State Hospital, where Tennyson received treatment to restore his competency to stand trial.

His friends and family say Tennyson began to act differently in his early 20s, but his behavior became more bizarre during the year leading up to his wife’s death, according to records.

Jewell declined to comment because the case is pending.

Police reports indicate both Tennysons had used methamphetamine in the days before the killing. He was making “nonsensical statements” when police found his wife’s body.

Tennyson’s case won’t be presented to a jury; he has opted instead for a bench trial before Judge Michael Overstreet. The trial is scheduled for January.

PANAMA CITY — A former auxiliary officer for the Panama City Beach Police Department was sentenced to a year in the county jail Monday after pleading no contest to charges stemming from sexually explicit communications with young girls.

Justin Jenkins, 21, was fired from the auxiliary program, which employs people with law enforcement training on a part-time basis, and he was arrested in May after he confirmed for PCBPD detectives that he had been sexting with a 13-year-old girl. Jenkins sent the girl photos of his genitals and masturbated during video chat sessions between July and November 2012.

Police identified at least three young girls who had received illegal messages from Jenkins.

Jenkins entered the plea to two counts of felony child abuse and a misdemeanor count of contributing to a child in need of services last month, but he was not sentenced until Monday so his computer could be searched for illegal material.

He was sentenced to one year in the Bay County Jail and nine years of probation. He is not to have contact with any victim, and he can’t have contact with any girl younger than 16 without supervision.

TALLAHASSEE — A scathing new report is critical of the state's efforts to prevent child abuse deaths across Florida.

The Department of Children and Families on Tuesday released a report prepared by a private non-profit organization.
Interim DCF Secretary Esther Jacobo asked for the review after news reports revealed that several children died from abuse despite previous involvement by authorities.

The report by Casey Family Programs found that children had died from asphyxia, drowning, and physical abuse. The report found that investigators did not look at other family problems such as domestic violence or drug abuse that should have warned them that a child was in danger.

Jacobo said the agency was undertaking a series of steps in response to the report. But some state legislators called the rash of deaths "outrageous."
 

BLOUNTSTOWN — A handgun was discovered at Blountstown High School Tuesday.

The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office reported that Blountstown High School Principal Debbie Williams found an abandoned backpack on campus and discovered a .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun when she  looked inside the backpack to locate the name of the owner, officials said.

The backpack was turned over to the school resource deputy. The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division responded to the school and determined that the backpack belonged to a 17-year-old senior at the school, officials said.

The suspect was interviewed and admitted to bringing the handgun on campus. The suspect stated that he was having some issues off campus after school and felt his life was being threatened and brought the handgun with him for protection, officials said.

Authorities did not immediatley release the student's name.

The handgun was not loaded and no ammunition was located. The suspect admitted to stealing the handgun from his grandmother.

The suspect was arrested for possession of a firearm on a school campus, a third degree felony, officials said.

PANAMA CITY — When they tipped the van back onto its wheels after the crash, beer poured out of the passenger side door, according to a police officer who was involved in the traffic homicide investigation.

By that time, Ryan Ramsey was dead and Margarito Curiel-Agiorri was at the hospital, where he told another officer he had finished at least six beers at a friend’s house before driving back over the Hathaway Bridge to his home.

About an hour after the crash in February 2012, Curiel-Agiorri gave a blood sample that showed his blood-alcohol was nearly the three times the legal limit, according to records and testimony from his trial on DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges.

During his opening statement Tuesday afternoon, prosecutor Bob Sombathy called it a “pretty straight forward case.”

But Chief Assistant Public Defender Doug White used his cross-examinations of traffic homicide investigators to suggest their conclusions were simply “conjecture.”

“He did not cause the tragic accident that led to Ryan Ramsey’s tragic, untimely death,” White said in his opening statement.

Curiel-Agiorri, 44, of Panama City, hung his head and appeared to dab tears from eyes while White addressed the jury.

He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted as charged when the trial concludes, which is expected to be Wednesday, after he turned down a plea offer to serve a sentence of just over nine years last week. He has at least one other DUI conviction.

Though he gave Panama City Police a statement in English after the crash, he has been assisted during the trial by an interpreter. White said Curiel-Agiorri clearly didn’t understand all the questions the night he gave police his statement.

“The officer taking the statement is essentially testifying for him,” White said.

The officer who took the statement testified Curiel-Agiorri seemed to understand both his Miranda rights and the questions he asked.

White highlighted a few inconsistencies in the testimony of witnesses Tuesday and the statements they gave to police after the crash. One officer made a statement that he didn’t smell alcohol on Curiel-Agiorri, and a witness who pulled up behind the crash insisted there were no traffic barrels, though photos from scene made it clear there were.

Ramsey, who was 27, had been out celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday on the night of the crash. Amy Taylor, his girlfriend’s sister, explained the differences in her statement to police and her testimony.

“I had a difficult time expressing myself that night, finding the right words,” she said.

Taylor was driving directly in front of Ramsey when Curiel-Agiorri’s van crossed a 10-foot wide safety lane. She said she moved out of the way before the van struck Ramsey head-on.

The westbound span of the Hathaway Bridge was closed for repairs on Feb. 12, 2012, so westbound traffic was rerouted across the eastbound span.

PANAMA CITY — A Panama City man could face up to 15 years in prison after a jury found him responsible for a fatal crash last winter on the Hathaway Bridge and convicted him Wednesday of DUI manslaughter.

Margarito Curiel-Agiorri told the jury he doesn’t believe he caused the crash that killed 27-year-old father of two Ryan Ramsey. He blamed the crash on almost everything but the alcohol, which he said actually made him a more careful driver that night because he didn’t want to be stopped by police. 

“Everything falls on me, and I feel I am not guilty of anything,” Curiel-Agoirri said through an interpreter. 

He blamed the construction work on the bridge that night, saying if there had been a barrier between eastbound and westbound traffic instead of a 10-foot wide safety lane and traffic barrels nobody would’ve been hurt.

He denied crossing that 10-foot wide safety lane, saying he was driving “where I was supposed to.” 

The translation led to some confusion during cross-examination from prosecutor Bob Sombathy, who at one point believed Curiel-Agiorri was blaming Ramsey for the crash and asked if that was correct.

“No,” Curiel-Agiorri said. “We have to be fair. ... It just happened. It was a bad moment.”

Curiel-Agiorri said he doesn’t remember much of what happened after the crash. He didn’t remember giving a blood sample at the hospital after the crash that showed his blood-alcohol content was .22, nearly three times the legal limit to drive, which is .08.

“He literally has no idea what happened as he sits in this courtroom today,” Sombathy told jurors during his closing arguments. 

Doug White, Curiel-Agiorri’s attorney, argued the conclusions of the investigators were conjecture, and the statements his client made to police in English after the crash were tainted by Curiel-Agiorri’s lack of a firm grasp on the language. Prosecutors based their theory of the case on misinterpretations, White argued.

The jury of six women deliberated less than 90 minutes before finding him guilty as charged of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide, but the later charge was consolidated to avoid double jeopardy issues.

“I feel good about the outcome,” said Mary Ramsey, Ryan Ramsey’s mother. Watching the two-day trial was difficult for her, she said, and she was glad to have it behind her.

Curiel-Agiorri could be sentenced to up to 15 years when he is sentenced, and sentencing guidelines call for a minimum sentence of 124 months, Sombathy said. 

Judge Dedee Costello scheduled a sentencing hearing for Dec. 3.

PANAMA CITY -- A suspect has been arrested in a shooting that happened Sunday, Panama City police said Wednesday.

Arrested was Jamichael D. Middleton, 21. Middleton is being charged with one count of attempted murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling, felon in possession of a firearm and felon in possession of ammunition.

The arrest comes after an investigation that began Sunday when the Panama City Police Department responded to 741 Sherman Ave. about the shooting. The victim received a minor gunshot wound and refused medical treatment, police said.

Details of the arrest were not disclosed.

The U.S. Marshal's Florida Regional Task Force assisted in the arrest.

PANAMA CITY BEACH -- A Panama City Beach man was arrested Wednesday morning in connection with a narcotics investigation.

Police had been looking into allegations that John M. Joslin, 40, had been selling drugs. Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., they searched his room at the Blue Water Inn at 15328 Front Beach Road and reported finding a felony amount of marijuana, illegal prescription medication and drug paraphernalia.

Joslin was charged with sale of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held in Bay County Jail.

In his mugshot, most of Joslin’s head is shaved, but there are several untouched locks of hair, as if he was interrupted while shaving his head. However, further details on Joslin’s arrest were not released.

DAYTONA BEACH — Moments before being shot six times by police, former football star Jermaine Green held his girlfriend in a choke hold with his left arm and his right hand gripped a large knife that loomed over Katrina Johnson's chest, police body camera videos released Wednesday show.

Daytona Beach Officers Richard Maher and Kevin Connelly had just kicked in the front door of the house where Green was staying on Magnolia Avenue on Sept. 25. It was just after 3 a.m. when the officers saw Green duck into a bedroom, Johnson struggling to get away from his grasp, the video shows.

In the next few seconds, one of the policemen stood in the doorway of a cluttered bedroom and yelled at Green to release his hostage. A half-naked Green was on a bed with Johnson. She was on top of him, face up, her black shorts pulled down slightly.

“Let her go dude, let her go,” the officer yelled at Green. “Let her go man, I'm telling you right now.”

The next thing the officer saw was Green's right arm — with the knife in his hand — raise slightly and then come down rapidly as he almost plunged the weapon into Johnson's chest.

“He's doing it,” the policeman said to his partner.

The next words yelled out by one of the officers was “Shoot the (expletive deleted).”
Seven shots rang out in rapid succession, six striking Green in the buttocks-hip area, the abdomen and Green's right arm, the seventh bullet piercing Johnson's right arm, the video shows.

One of the officers grabbed Johnson, pulling her out of the way. Green had slipped off the bed and was lying on his right side, his body practically buried in a pile of clothes on the floor.

He hardly moved, his right leg bleeding near his buttocks, his mouth in an almost half-smile, his eyes closed.
The entire episode was filmed by body cameras attached to Maher and Connelly. The house where the incident erupted is the home of Clinton Henry, father of Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry.

The video starts out with the officers driving to the call, and at one point one of their cruisers raced on Nova Road at almost 100 mph.

Two 9-1-1 calls had been made that morning as Green and Johnson's argument escalated. One of the calls was brief as a woman told a dispatcher, “Please come fast. Please come fast. It's a fight.”

The next call was from Green's mother, Donna Green, who repeatedly yelled out Green's first name as she spoke to a dispatcher.

“He's gone crazy, please hurry,” Donna Green said to the dispatcher. “Oh God. Oh my God. He's gone crazy, I don't know what happened.”

In the background a child could be heard hollering at Green, as well. The youngster, Johnson's 10-year-old son, whimpered and pleaded, “Leave her alone,” referring to his mother.

When Maher and Connelly arrived at the scene, the boy was running out of the house in his pajamas, the video shows. An officer ordered one of the many pajama-clad adults who were milling about on the sidewalk and street to take the child away from the scene.

Before going inside the house, Maher and Connelly attempted to assess the situation. They spoke with Donna Green and Henry, who was standing near the locked front door when police got there. Henry and Donna Green are friends and Henry had been trying to help Jermaine Green for years, the mayor has said.

Neither knew what to tell the officers because they had been asleep when the fight broke out. Police Chief Mike Chitwood said the row between Green and Johnson had started earlier in the day on Sept. 24.

“He hit her over the head with a brick and that was not reported to police,” Chitwood said.

After police removed Johnson from the house, she sat in a wooden chair in the dirt in front of Henry's house, moaning as blood streamed down her arm, the video shows.

“I'm bleeding to death,” Johnson said. “I'm gonna die.”

Both Green and Johnson were taken to Halifax Health Medical Center that morning, police said. Green was listed in critical condition and was in the intensive care unit for several days. Johnson's injury was not serious. However, she has threatened to sue the Police Department over the shooting.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as is customary in all police shootings, is investigating the use of deadly force by Maher and Connelly. FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said Wednesday the query is still active. The officers were placed on paid administrative leave for a few days but have been back on duty for almost a month.

Once the FDLE investigation is complete, it will be sent to the State Attorney's Office for review.

Green was a star running back at Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange in the late '90s who went on to play for Washington State in college, and later had a brief stint with the New York Giants in the NFL. He's being held without bail now at the Volusia County Branch Jail on charges that include kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
 

PANAMA CITY BEACH — A man’s wife turned him in after she found a tape of women in various states of undress in the restroom at Pineapple Willy’s on Panama City Beach, investigators said Thursday.

Michael Edward Dunning, 29, of North Longwood Circle, Panama City, was taping the unsuspecting women in the handicapped stall of the bathroom, Bay County Sheriff’s officials reported. Dunning’s wife found the tape while cleaning the couple’s home. When she recognized the video was taken at Pineapple Willy’s, she handed the evidence over to authorities, officials added.

Dunning worked at Pineapple Willy’s, officials said.

“We at Pineapple Willy’s were shocked to learn of these acts from law enforcement,” Pineapple Willy’s owner Bill Buskell said in a written statement. “We had no reason to believe anything like this was occurring at our establishment. We have been cooperating completely with investigators to assure that this never happens again in the future. These actions, in no part, are a reflection of Pineapple Willy’s, and are just as upsetting to us as they are to everyone else.” 

Investigators executed a search of Dunning’s home Thursday morning and seized his computer. A “forensic examination” will be done on the device, authorities said.

“The owner of the restaurant has cooperated fully with investigators and there is no indication at this time anyone else working at the restaurant is involved,” BCSO officials said in a news release.

Dunning was taken to the Bay County Jail and booked on two counts of video voyeurism. Since some of the images on the camera appear to be of underage victims, additional charges are possible, officials wrote in a news release.

The investigation continues.

PANAMA CITY - An as yet unidentified victim apparently got very luck when Jamichael Middleton started shooting at him. 

According to a warrant issued for Middleton's arrest and obtained by The News Herald Middleton used a .380 handgun and fired at the victim while they were standing outside the victim's Sherman Avenue home. 

One of the bullets, 'grazed the victim's left index finger' when he raised his hand to protect his face, the warrant states. The victim then retreated into his home but Middleton kept firing sending bullets into the home, the warrant states. The warrant notes that the victim's wife and children were inside the home and that one of the bullets lodged into a bed frame at the rear of the home. 

Middleton was arrested Wednesday at the Days Inn on Front Beach Road, according to his arrest affidavit. the affidavit states that there was a search of Middleton's room and that Bay County Sheriff's deputies found cocaine in a safe in the room. The cocaine, about four grams, was found in two different jewelers bags as will as a heart shaped plastic conatiner. Deputies also found one gram of marijuana during the search. 

Middleton was charged with one count of attempted murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling, felon in possession of a firearm and felon in possession of ammunition. According to a previous news release the victim refused treatment for the injury to his left index finger. 

BONIFAY - The Florida Department of Law Enforcement Tallahassee Regional Operations Center, with assistance from the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Andrew James Herbert, Jr., 31, of Bonifay on 29 counts of possession of child pornography, officials wrote in a news release.

In September, the Tallahassee Regional Operations Center Cyber Crime Squad began investigating persons utilizing the Internet to collect and distribute child pornography. On Nov. 6, 2013, agents served a search warrant at Herbert’s residence, 1152 Ten Mile Road, Bonifay, Fla., and located hundreds of digital images and video files of child pornography on his computer.

Herbert was booked into the Holmes County Jail. The investigation will be prosecuted by the Office of the State Attorney, 14th Judicial Circuit.
 

ESTO -- An Esto man died in a house fire Wednesday morning in northern Holmes County.

At 6:18 a.m. Wednesday, the Holmes County Communications Center received a call of a mobile home fire on State 2, west of Esto. The Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and fire departments responded. Esto, Pittman and Graceville fire departments arrived and extinguished the fire in minutes, according to a HCSO press release.

Firefighters then located the remains of 51-year-old Bobbie Samuel Summerhill inside the residence. Summerhill was the only occupant of the residence.

The residence was a total loss. The fire is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office.

PANAMA CITY BEACH -- A man who told officers he was an active member of the Ku Klux Klan made a threatening comment toward police after being arrested Wednesday night for carrying a BB gun in a Panama City Beach bar, according to a police report.

An off-duty officer was at Coyote Ugly Saloon at 15012 Front Beach Road when he reported about 11 p.m. that the man was carrying a black handgun. The man, David Timothy Kelley, had allegedly shown the weapon and said, “he was going to shoot anyone who gave him trouble,” according to the report.

 Responding officers arrested Kelley, who immediately told them the weapon wasn’t a real gun. Kelley allegedly told officers that he carried the .17-caliber Smith & Wesson BB gun for protection. The gun was loaded with five BBs, police reported. It was taken by police as evidence.

Officers told Kelley, according to the report, that the BB gun is still a weapon and having it in a bar while consuming alcohol is against the law.

While being taken to Bay County Jail, Kelley allegedly identified himself as a member of the KKK and said that his chapter of the organization had fully automatic weapons that would riddle a police vehicle from bumper to bumper. The comment was reported to police investigations.

Kelley, 34, of Opelika, Ala., was charged with carrying a concealed weapon inside a business serving alcohol.

PANAMA CITY — The Panama City Police Department is investigating a Thursday night shooting that occurred at Oliver’s Upholstery on East Avenue.

Around 9 p.m., a store employee was shot at multiple times after being confronted by two subjects outside the business, one of which was armed. The victim was not injured during the incident.

The subjects were wearing all black with their faces covered and demanded the victim put his hands in the air and turn away from them. They are believed to have fled the scene in a white passenger car.

PCPD is asking for anyone with information to contact Detective John Wray at (850) 872-3100. Anonymous tips can be reported to CrimeStoppers at (850) 785-TIPS.

MARIANNA — A Jackson County woman was arrested Wednesday and charged with open several credit accounts in her mother’s name.

Patty Thames was charged with four counts of criminal use of personal identification information and one count of exploitation of the elderly. In addition, state probation officers obtained a warrant for Thames for the violation of her probation from a previous charge.

The investigation began when a 70-year-old woman said authorities that she had obtained a copy of her credit report and learned that someone had obtained several credit cards and had opened numerous lines of credit in her name.

PANAMA CITY BEACH -- A night of drinking and flirting with women at a Panama City Beach motel ended with one homeless man stabbing another earlier this week, according to a police report.

Officers responded about 8:45 p.m. Saturday to the Plaza Motel at 12830 Front Beach Road, where Andrew Martin Werner had been stabbed in the right leg. Werner, 55, told officers that he and some friends were drinking at the motel when Gregory Charles Weatherly “started acting weird” and began making sexual advances toward a woman in the room, according to the report. Werner said he told Weatherly to leave. Weatherly, 53, then allegedly stabbed him in the leg with a folding razor blade knife.

Werner told officers he went the bathroom to inspect the wound, and Weatherly allegedly followed and tried to stab him again. That attempt was thwarted by Werner. Afterward, Weatherly went outside, walked downstairs and sat down, according to the report.

Officers reported finding a folding razor blade in Weatherly’s pocket. Weatherly denied stabbing Werner, according to the report.

Weatherly, who police reported is a transient with no known current or former address, was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He is being held in Bay County Jail.

Werner also is a transient, police reported. He was treated at Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System and released.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — A man accused of trying to sell drugs at a Panama City Beach nightclub was arrested early Monday morning.

Police responded about 2:21 a.m. to Spinnaker Beach Club at 8795 Thomas Drive, where club security had detained Joshua Thomas Hamilton. Hamilton, 21, had allegedly offered a baggy containing a white substance to a musician performing at the club. The musician refused, according to the report.

Officers asked Hamilton to empty his pockets. They reported finding about 7.5 grams of MDMA, also known as “ecstasy.” According to the report, Hamilton confirmed the substance was the powder or crystalline form of MDMA known as “Molly,” but he said someone had planted it on him.

Hamilton was charged with possession of a controlled substance.

PARKER — A large fire gutted a home in Parker’s Donalson Estates neighborhood Friday afternoon.

No injuries were reported.

The Parker Fire Department responded about 1:30 p.m. to the one-story house in the 1300 block of Stratford Avenue west of Tyndall Parkway. Emergency personnel said there was heavy smoke coming from the house. Investigators believe the fire originated in the garage, which was destroyed. What sparked the blaze was unclear.

VIDEO

Firefighters were still spraying hot spots at the three-bedroom home an hour after being called to the scene.

As neighbors walked their dogs and arrived home from work, some of them paused to look at what remained of the home, which was heavily damaged. It appeared the fire spread from the garage and consumed most of the home’s living area and several other rooms. From the street, charred sticks of furniture could be seen inside the home. Neighboring homes were not damaged by the fire.

Thomas Odom lives across the street from the home and is its former owner. He said a pilot stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base moved into the property a few years ago. The current owner’s name was unknown Friday night.

Further details on the blaze were not available Friday night. An investigation is ongoing.

Check back later Saturday for a video.