Florida

Florida housekeeper assaults, robs 83-year-old employer who couldn’t afford her Christmas bonus: sheriff

Published

10 months ago

January 12, 2025

Florida housekeeper assaults, robs 83-year-old employer who couldn’t afford her Christmas bonus: sheriff

No, Scrooge you!

A 29-year-old Florida housekeeper robbed and assaulted her 83-year-old employer on Christmas Eve when the elderly woman said she couldn’t afford to pay her once-trusted worker a holiday bonus, authorities said this week.

Heather Nelson, 29, became irate when her request for a $500 bonus was rejected by her octogenarian boss — and decided to take what she wanted anyway, according to a press release from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

“Nelson responded by physically wrenching the victim’s checkbook from her hand, stealing a check from the checkbook, and then, I guess in an effort to ruin other people’s Christmas as well, stole Christmas cards that were set to be mailed out also containing checks,” Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in the statement.

The housekeeper, whom Ivey repeatedly called a “Grinch,” allegedly grabbed the checkbook with such force that she nearly broke the woman’s wrist.

Nelson then allegedly wrote a check for $1,400 — and used the victim’s credit card to pay her rent and make other purchases, BCSO said.

“What’s next … kick her dog, too?” Ivey asked in the release.

Nelson was nabbed on Jan. 7 after the check cleared and credit card transactions were posted, Law and Crime reported.

“Since you were so worried about getting your bonus, we had some extra gifts for you, like a keepsake booking photo, a slightly used pair of shower slides and unlimited access to our world-famous one-star dining facility where you can enjoy absolutely nothing you eat,” Ivey snarked in the BCSO statement.

She faces a laundry list of charges, including aggravated battery, robbery, forgery, fraud, passing a counterfeit instrument and grand theft, according to court filings reviewed by the outlet.

She was held on a $30,000 bond and released on Jan 9, the outlet reported.

Source link

Related Topics:assaults Christmas Featured Florida Fraud robberies US News

Click to comment

Florida

Indiana Fever player has her Florida State women’s basketball jersey retired

Published

12 hours ago

November 17, 2025

Press Room

Indiana Fever player has her Florida State women’s basketball jersey retired

Indiana Fever forward Natasha Howard’s Florida State jersey was retired Sunday.

Howard wore No. 33 for the Seminoles from 2010-14, starting 127 games. She also holds heralded spots in program history:

1,811 points, fourth-most
1,046 rebounds, second
186 blocked shots, fourth

Howard’s scoring total was second when she left the program. She led FSU in career rebounds before Fever teammate Makalya Timpson (2021-25) grabbed more. The blocks were third most when Howard left, but Timpson has more.

The Fever selected Howard fifth overall in the 2014 WNBA Draft, and she played her first two seasons in Indiana. She returned in 2025 free agency, averaging 11.4 points and 6.6 rebounds for the league semifinalists.

Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at capeterson@gannett.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Subscribe to IndyStar’s YouTube page for Fever Insiders Live.

Source link

Florida

Coast Guard rescues eight boaters 35 miles off Florida coast in disabled boat

Published

1 day ago

November 16, 2025

Press Room

Coast Guard rescues eight boaters 35 miles off Florida coast in disabled boat

VENICE, Fla. (CBS12) — A Coast Guard boat crew rescued eight boaters on Saturday after their 26-foot boat broke down 35 miles off the Venice Inlet.

At 9:30 p.m., the US Coast Guard (USCG) says an Air Station Miami aircrew located the disabled vessel in two to three foot seas and sent a boat crew to the boat’s location.

The boat was reported overdue by an officer with the Venice Police Department hours earlier at 1:44 p.m., per USCG.

See also: Florida deputy rushes into blazing trailer to pull residents to safety

The Coast Guard says all eight boaters were brought back to the boat ramp uninjured.

“Before going out on the water, make sure you tell someone where you are going and when you will be back,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Beasley, a Station Cortez boarding officer. “We recommend being as specific as possible so rescue crews have a reliable place to start searching in case of emergency. Boaters should always have Coast Guard-approved life jackets, VHF radio, signaling devices, and an emergency position locator beacon or personal locator beacon.”

USCG also highlighted the importance of mariners taking a safety course before going on the water.

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT

Find more ways to stay up to date with your latest local news. Sign up for our newsletter to get the day’s top headlines delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the biggest stories and can’t miss video.

Source link

Florida

Ole Miss football fans chant, ‘We want Lane’ as Rebels defeat Florida

Published

2 days ago

November 15, 2025

Press Room

Ole Miss football fans chant, ‘We want Lane’ as Rebels defeat Florida

Ole Miss football took home a win in the “Lane Kiffin Bowl” in Week 12 with a 34-24 come-from-behind win vs. Florida.

Just as the Rebels closed off their 10th win of the season, moving one step closer to appearing in the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history, Ole Miss fans at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium made one thing clear to the Rebels brass and Kiffin: They want Lane.

As captured by the ESPN broadcast, “We want Lane” chants broke out in the Ole Miss student section after Kiffin has been linked to the Florida open head coach vacancy, on top of numerous other Power Four conference openings. It appeared not to faze him, as he remained locked in on the final 60 seconds of the game:

Given what he has done in seven seasons at Ole Miss, Kiffin has become a regular on coaching hot boards as positions become available across college football.

On top of his ties to the state of Florida, former Gators coach Steve Spurrier, who told USA TODAY Sports’ Blake Toppmeyer last month that he is a fan of Kiffin and thinks he is a “very good coach.”

“I wanted to be Steve Spurrier,” Kiffin said during a recent appearance on the “Pardon My Take” podcast. “When I watched him and his offenses in the visor and kind of the way he’d throw jabs at other coaches and team and stuff, I was like, Steve Spurrier is the man. That’s what I want to be.”

Kiffin himself has talked at length about his name being tossed around in the coaching carousel, including saying on an appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” that he will never “make a decision based on money” and that he hasn’t made one based on money in his coaching career.

The win over Florida moved Ole Miss’ record to 54-19 overall under Kiffin.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

Source link