Connect with us

Southeast

WATCH: Missing Florida child recovered after violent traffic stop and high-speed chase

Published

on

WATCH: Missing Florida child recovered after violent traffic stop and high-speed chase

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A convicted sex offender was arrested and a missing child recovered after a routine traffic stop erupted into violence, a foot chase and a high-speed pursuit in Florida.

The incident unfolded the morning of Dec. 31 in Flagler County, where sheriff’s deputies stopped a white Ford F-150 on U.S. Highway 1 after a tip from a concerned citizen who reported suspicious behavior.

The driver, identified as 60-year-old Darnell Hairston, was traveling with two juveniles, according to a release from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies soon discovered that one of the juveniles had been reported missing in neighboring St. Johns County and quickly secured the child, 11, in a patrol vehicle.

Moments later, bodycam video shows Hairston suddenly bolting from deputies, stumbling into the road and engaging in a struggle with deputies. Authorities say Hairston attempted to grab a deputy’s firearm before being subdued and arrested.

Advertisement

Convicted sex offender and teen face serious charges after Florida incident involving missing child rescue, weapon grab and dramatic high-speed chase. (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)

MISSING SOUTH CAROLINA TEEN MACKENZIE DALTON FOUND SAFE AFTER MONTHLONG SEARCH LEADS TO ARREST

Hairston was charged with resisting an officer with violence, attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer, kidnapping and child abuse, officials said. In a second update, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office announced additional charges – including kidnapping and child abuse – against Hairston.

As deputies focused on Hairston, the second juvenile, 15-year-old Junior Bishop, allegedly jumped into the truck and sped away.

Dash camera video captured the teen speeding away from the traffic stop and narrowly missing a deputy standing in the road. Video showed deputies pursuing the vehicle south on U.S. Highway 1.

Advertisement

A high-speed chase began, with Bishop allegedly driving into oncoming traffic and weaving in between lanes before ramming into a deputy’s patrol vehicle.

Both cars were seen crashing into a wooded area and causing the suspect’s vehicle to roll over.

Flagler County deputies arrested Junior Bishop for aggravated fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, reckless driving, driving without a license, and resisting an officer without violence. (Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility mug shot)

WATCH: FLORIDA 15-YEAR-OLD FACES FELONY CHARGE AFTER ALLEGED RECKLESS ELECTRIC DIRT BIKE CHASE THROUGH TRAFFIC

Bishop was taken into custody and charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, reckless driving, driving without a license and resisting an officer without violence. Bishop is expected to be turned over to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

Advertisement

During the pursuit, a second deputy crashed into an automotive repair building in Bunnell. Two deputies suffered minor injuries and were treated and released from a local hospital, police said. Bishop was evaluated and not seriously injured, authorities said.

According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, Darnell Hairston is a registered sexual offender and was released in 2009 from the Florida Department of Corrections, where he had been serving a 12-year sentence for three counts of false imprisonment. (Florida Department of Corrections)

FOLLOW THE FOX CRIME TEAM ON X

Hairston was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility without bond pending a first court appearance. According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, Hairston is a registered sexual offender and was released from the Florida Department of Corrections in 2009, where he had been serving a 12-year sentence for three counts of false imprisonment. 

He has a lengthy arrest history, including previous arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary with assault or battery, cruelty toward wife, disorderly intoxication, lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon a child, property damage and sexual battery.

Advertisement

Authorities say that following Hairston’s arrest, deputies confirmed that the 11-year-old had been reported missing three days earlier, and he was transported to a hospital for medical treatment. 

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office made two arrests and recovered a missing juvenile following a traffic stop that turned into a vehicle apprehension in Bunnell, Florida. (Flagler County Sheriff’s Department)

During an interview with authorities, the child said he had been lured to a wooded campsite in Flagler Estates, where Hairston choked him until he lost consciousness. After regaining consciousness, the 11-year-old told detectives, he was threatened with a knife and a gun, tied up with shoelaces and an extension cord, and had duct tape placed over his mouth. He also told detectives that Hairston held him at the campsite for multiple days and made him travel on the floorboard of his truck covered by a blanket.

Deputies said that after the interview with the child, they returned to the campsite and recovered multiple items, including duct tape, video surveillance equipment, and weapons consistent with the child’s statements.

During an interview with Hairston, detectives determined that he knew the boy was missing and endangered, but he could not explain any reason for keeping the child from his parents when he knew that law enforcement was actively searching for him.

Advertisement

On Jan. 2, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Hairston for kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated child abuse, battery by strangulation, and robbery with a deadly weapon. Detectives served the warrant at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where Hairston was already being held on a $125,000 bond for the prior arrest. He is now being held without bond.

Bishop may be facing additional charges once the investigation is concluded, officials said.

READ THE RELEASE – APP USERS, CLICK HERE

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Sheriff Rick Staly said the case remains under investigation, including how the sex offender, the teen suspect and the missing child were connected.

Advertisement

“This was a very suspicious incident that is still under investigation by our detectives, but I am thankful that nobody was seriously hurt and that we were able to recover a missing child from this pervert’s grasp,” he said. “I also do not understand why a pervert who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2004 was released after only five years in 2009. Clearly, he has not learned anything!”

Read the full article from Here

Southeast

Father claims daughter accused of sex crimes with Florida middle schoolers is the ‘real victim’

Published

on

Father claims daughter accused of sex crimes with Florida middle schoolers is the ‘real victim’

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A Florida woman who posed as a teenager to sexually abuse five middle school boys is “mentally defective” and is the real victim of the alleged sex crimes, her father said. 

Alyssa Ann Zinger, 25, dealt with various mental disorders, including ADHD, ADD, OCD, Tourette’s syndrome and anorexia while growing up in a “good Christian home” in suburban Tampa, her father, Josh Zinger, told the California Post. 

“She had a lot of problems growing up. Our daughter has been to 10 to 12 psychologists and psychiatrists throughout her life,” Zinger said. 

FLORIDA INFLUENCER, 41, ACCUSED OF INAPPROPRIATELY TOUCHING, EXPOSING HERSELF TO TEENAGE SON’S FRIEND

Advertisement

Alyssa Zinger, 23, was out on pretrial release from a November arrest when she was arrested again last week. (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)

He noted that Zinger once scored a 72 on an intelligence quotient test, well below the assessment’s 100-point average.  

“She’s defective — mentally defective. And do you know what that means under the law? If somebody is mentally defective and has sex with somebody, no matter their age, it’s illegal to have sex with a mentally defective person,” Zinger said. 

“In all actuality, she is the victim.” 

Zinger was arrested in 2023 after allegedly posing as a 14-year-old teen on social media and having dozens of sexual encounters with a boy between the ages of 12 and 15.

Advertisement

The boy, who Josh Zinger called “the little bastard,” seduced his daughter and took her virginity, he told the newspaper.  

“That boy found her [social media] account, found her dancing like a 13-year-old on it and said, ‘Hey, girl, I’ll Uber you to my $5,000-a-month apartment — come on and hang out’,” the dad said.

FORMER TEXAS COACH ALLEGEDLY USED AI DOCUMENT TO GROOM TEEN WITH MANIPULATION TACTICS: REPORT

Alyssa Zinger, pictured in court, is accused of communicating with teenage boys via TikTok and Snapchat while claiming to be a 14-year-old homeschooled student. (FOX 13 Tampa Bay)

“And then when she got there, she never said she wasn’t 14 to him, but he knew her real age, and he knew she was mentally unstable,” Josh claimed. 

Advertisement

He claimed that, over several months, the boy had Zinger over at his apartment and introduced her to other school-age boys, four of whom would become Zinger’s other alleged victims. 

“The boy who harbored her in his house for five months, he’s the one who introduced her to his friends, and they all were like, ‘Hey, this girl is 14,’ wink, wink, high-five, high-five, ‘Your turn, bud,’” Josh Zinger said.

“There will be no plea deal. There will be no sex offender registry. She’ll get time served and adios.” 

Alyssa Zinger was arrested in April 2024 after investigators allegedly identified the four other middle school victims.

Alyssa Zinger allegedly communicated with teenage boys via social media.  (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Advertisement

Zinger is slated to go to trial in May. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

She remains in jail on charges of lewd or lascivious battery, lewd or lascivious molestation, possession of child pornography, in-state transmission of child pornography by an electronic device and sexual cyber harassment, all felonies. 

In addition, other inmates have treated her poorly, her father said, adding “s— in her food all the time — fingernails, hair, objects, plastic — because whoever was making her food knew who she was, and they knew that that food was going to a pedophile,” he said. 

Read the full article from Here

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Southeast

ICE lodges detainer for illegal immigrant accused of sexually assaulting teen

Published

on

ICE lodges detainer for illegal immigrant accused of sexually assaulting teen

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an arrest detainer Friday against a criminal illegal alien from Egypt accused of raping a 16-year-old girl on New Year’s Eve while she was asleep in her bed in Tennessee.

Mena Mohsen Farez Nmn Awad, 31, allegedly broke into an apartment in Nashville and began sexually assaulting the victim while she was asleep in her bed next to her nephew, WSMV-TV reported.

The girl allegedly found Awad in her bed with a handgun tucked into his waistband and was sexually assaulted, the outlet reported. 

She later broke free, grabbed her nephew and told Awad she would not tell anyone about the incident if he left.

Advertisement

CONVICTED PEDOPHILES, SEX PREDATORS ARRESTED IN MINNESOTA IMMIGRATION SWEEP WITHIN THE LAST 24 HOURS

ICE filed an arrest detainer for Mena Mohsen Farez Nmn Awad, an illegal immigrant from Egypt accused of sexually assaulting a sleeping teenage girl, authorities said. (Metro Nashville Police Department )

According to DHS, Awad has a history of violence since entering the U.S. in 2017 through the Diversity Visa program.

He was previously charged with domestic violence, intimidation, possession of a weapon, violation of a court order and vehicle theft, the agency said.

“Horrendous immigration policies allowed this monster into our country and made victims of children and families,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “This child rapist was allowed into our country by the Diversity Lottery program. Secretary Noem paused the diversity lottery to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.”

Advertisement

ICE REVEALS ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ARRESTS IN JUST ONE DAY AFTER ROUNDING UP ‘THUGS’ CONVICTED OF VILE CRIMES

Mena Mohsen Farez Nmn Awad is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodging an arrest detainer, according to federal authorities. (Metro Nashville Police Department )

McLaughlin added that ICE’s arrest detainer would “ensure he is not released onto our streets to victimize more children.”

According to DHS, the victim called her sister, who then contacted authorities after Awad left the residence.

Awad was later apprehended by police in Louisville, Kentucky, on Jan. 16, and was extradited to Tennessee the following week.

Advertisement

ICE filed an arrest detainer for Mena Mohsen Farez Nmn Awad following allegations he sexually assaulted a sleeping teenage girl in Nashville, authorities said. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

He was charged with aggravated rape with a weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated burglary, DHS said.

Read the full article from Here

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Southeast

Virginia Democrats blasted for threatening historic military college VMI with funding threat over DEI concerns

Published

on

Virginia Democrats blasted for threatening historic military college VMI with funding threat over DEI concerns

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Virginia Democrats in the state’s House of Delegates introduced a resolution on Tuesday that would establish a task force to investigate the Virginia Military Institute and determine if the historic military college should continue to receive funding. 

The move is the latest of Virginia Democrats’ efforts to reinvigorate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy in the state after much of the DEI mandates and policies were revoked after President Donald Trump was elected in 2024.

“This takes away from VMI, takes away from its mission,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., told Fox News Digital. “I think that it’s harmful to the Commonwealth of Virginia, harmful to VMI as an institution, harmful to all the incredible military leaders and community leaders that have come out of VMI.”

“It’s just reprehensible that they would even go down this road,” Wittman added. “But, it seems to be what’s happening in Richmond.”

Advertisement

SPANBERGER SIGNALS LEFT BENT AFTER CENTRIST CAMPAIGN; GOP LEADER WARNS OF ‘FAIRFAXING THE REST OF VA’

Republican lawmakers are blaming Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger and renewed DEI efforts for what they describe as an ideological push that could jeopardize the nation’s oldest state-supported military college. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Greg Nelson /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

Wittman, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, represents the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula and parts of the Peninsula of Virginia. He attended Virginia Tech University and was a member of the Corps of Cadets, which he says had a friendly rivalry with VMI. 

VMI was founded in 1839, making it the oldest public senior military college in the country. VMI has had several notable graduates, including sitting Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, and Gen. John “Dan” Caine, Trump’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz attended VMI. (Adam Gray/Getty)

Advertisement

Wittman was not the only member of Congress who voiced concerns about the potential Democratic-driven demise of the nation’s first state-funded military college.

TOM HOMAN VOWS TO WORK AROUND NEW DEM VA GOV SPANBERGER’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ENDING ICE COOPERATION

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, also serves on the House Armed Services Committee and pointed to newly elected Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger as the culprit of the threat to VMI.

“Less than a month in office as governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger has shown a commitment to turning the commonwealth into California,” Fallon told Fox News Digital. “The left’s renewed focus on VMI is not intended to benefit our military.

“Instead, it’s yet another avenue to tear down an institution that has developed exceptional leaders and statesmen who have made significant contributions to our nation, such as George C. Marshall, Mike Waltz, and the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, whom I had the privilege of serving with in the Air Force,” Fallon added.

Advertisement

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger speaks during inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026.  (Steve Helber/AP)

VIRGINIA DEMS INTRODUCE CLASSROOM DEI CURRICULUM LAW ON DAY 1 OF LEGISLATIVE SESSION

In 2021, then-Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered a state-sanctioned investigation into VMI’s DEI structure. An investigation which specifically looked for racism and sexism. The audit came in President Joe Biden’s first full year in the White House, when DEI policies were running rampant at universities and corporations across the country. 

One of Spanberger’s first acts since being elected was appointing Northam to VMI’s Board of Visitors.

“To appoint disgraced former Governor Ralph Northam, a man of poor moral character, to the Board of Visitors at VMI is an insult to our nation’s oldest state-supported military school and the leaders it produces,” Fallon told Fox News Digital. “He has no business overseeing VMI, and leftists like Spanberger can’t help themselves from advancing their radical, far-left agenda.”

Advertisement

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered an investigation into VMI in 2021.

SPANBERGER TAKES SWIPE AT TRUMP ADMIN, SAYS VIRGINIANS WORRIED ABOUT ‘RECKLESSNESS COMING OUT OF WASHINGTON’

Spanberger has received sharp criticism for many of the liberal policies she has implemented in her short time in office, including an executive saying local and state law enforcement are no longer required to cooperate with ICE, a reversal from a previous order issued by former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“Screw any and all of you who lied to low-information voters and sold Abigail Spanberger as some kind of moderate,” Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, posted to social media. “She’s been in office like 6 hours and is already trying to turn Virginia into Minneapolis.”

George W. Bush speaking to cadets at the Virginia Military Institution in 2002.  (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Advertisement

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Should the legislation introduced in the Virginia House of Delegates make it to Spanberger’s desk, it is possible that the military institution will not survive if state funding is revoked. 

“There is no logic, there is no logical reason why you would do this,” Wittman told Fox. “If you have issues with VMI, many of those have played out in years past, the institution has done everything that the General Assembly has asked for them to do.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger, but did not receive a response in time for publication. 

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

Advertisement

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading

Trending