A man claiming to be a “sovereign citizen” was arrested at a Fort Pierce Walmart after allegedly threatening staff and refusing to leave.

A “sovereign citizen,” who claimed to have renounced his U.S. citizenship, allegedly threatened an employee at a Walmart and refused to leave, Fort Pierce police said.

Eddie Rodriguez, 34, was arrested on a trespassing charge June 4 after refusing to leave the property when asked, according to an arrest affidavit. He was transported to St. Lucie County Jail.

Fort Pierce police officers arrived 9:14 p.m. at Walmart.

Rodriguez caused a disturbance after believing he was being followed by a Walmart loss prevention employee, according to the affidavit.

Fort Pierce Police arrest Walmart shopper accused of wielding machete

Fort Pierce Police arrest Walmart shopper accused of wielding a machete Aug. 30, 2025.

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The employee, who was unidentified in the affidavit, told police he was doing his normal walks on the sales floor, the affidavit said.

The employee claimed Rodriguez, who is homeless, made threats and was armed with a weapon, although police recovered no weapon during the arrest, according to the affidavit.

The employee declined to press charges regarding the threats, the affidavit said.

Jack Randall is TCPalm’s economy and real estate reporter. You can reach him at jack.randall@tcpalm.com.

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CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) — The Clearwater Police Department announced Friday that it has completed its investigation into the death of WWE legend Hulk Hogan.

According to their findings, Clearwater police determined Hogan, whose legal name is Terry Bollea, died of an attended natural death.

“Under the circumstances, it fell to the Clearwater Police Department to address, challenge or validate some of the concerns in the case. Investigators had to interview multiple witnesses and review various recordings to answer questions central to our inquiry.”

The department also released a 72-page report on Bollea’s death, as well as interviews with Bollea’s occupational therapist.

In the report, testimonies from various officers described what happened when Clearwater police were called to Bollea’s home on July 24, 2025.

The initial incident report stated that officers responded to the home on Eldorado Avenue at about 10:21 a.m. for a medical call.

When officers entered the home, they found Bollea lying on the floor on his back, appearing pale with no signs of life.

Bollea’s home health aide, Dana Swinton, told police that she, Bollea’s wife Sky Daily, and his occupational therapist Justin McCamey were at the home when Hogan stopped breathing.

“I got here at 7,” Swinton told police, adding that he seemed “OK” at the time.

McCamey said he arrived at the home at about 9:30 a.m. and was there for 10 minutes before Bollea began having his medical episode. Both he and the home health aide said Bollea was talking and ate yogurt before the medical episode.

When McCamey and Swinton returned, Daily noticed that her husband was not breathing. McCamey tried to get Bollea’s vitals but did not detect a pulse.

Daily called 911 and said, “My husband, it doesn’t seem like he’s breathing.”

Bollea’s home medical staff performed CPR on the retired wrestler until first responders arrived. According to the report, Bollea was taken to Morton Plant Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:17 p.m.

The report also stated that McCamey had been Bollea’s occupational therapist for two weeks and that this was his second visit with his patient.

He told police Bollea was in “very poor health” since having surgery. The report stated Bollea had “approximately 20-30 various knee, hip, and back surgeries over the years.

Daily also told police that her husband had a spinal fusion surgery on his neck about six weeks before his death and a cardiac surgery three weeks before to fix a valve. He was also diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and had been undergoing chemotherapy.

Hogan was 71 at the time of his death. A cremation approval report from the District Six Medical Examiner’s Office described it as a natural death caused by a cardiac arrest.

The cremation approval report also noted the wrestling superstar had a history of “atrial fibrillation,” an irregular heartbeat in the upper chambers of the heart, and leukemia.

A private autopsy arranged by Bollea’s wife and his son, Nick, found that he died “exclusively from compelling natural disease, with no reasonable traumatic or terminal toxicologic
contributions.”

After reviewing all the evidence, Clearwater police determined that Bollea’s death was natural and that there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

“We want to thank the family of Mr. Bollea – Sky, Nick and Brooke – and their attorney, Kevin Hayslett, for their cooperation,” the department said. “Their willingness to allow our investigators access to very personal information, at a time when they were grieving and struggling, was extremely helpful. We would not have had the legal justification to obtain much of the information without their cooperation.”

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) — Body camera footage shows the moment deputies saved a woman after her car plunged into a Pompano Beach canal on Monday.

Officers arrived at the canal and spotted the car, which was rapidly taking on water with the driver trapped inside, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

Video shows officers jumping into the canal and swimming toward the sinking car.

Deputy Zachary Kerin shattered a window, allowing rescuers to pull the woman through the water to safety.

“An elderly woman is alive today thanks to the quick actions of BSO Detective Robert Rutkowski, Deputy Zachary Kerin and off-duty Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Captain Keith Costa, who raced against time,” BSO said.

The vehicle disappeared beneath the water’s surface moments after the woman reached the shore, BSO said.