By Michael Shen
Herald Intern
Creep at Culver’s
A Casselberry Police officer responded to a Culver’s in the City of Casselberry on the night of August 1 in reference to an individual he previously trespassed from the property. The officer began speaking with the property owner of the restaurant, who said he was notified by his staff that a known man was parked next to their property and waiting for staff to walk to their cars once the restaurant closed for the night. As multiple employees began to clock out, the property owner pulled one of his male employees aside, who began explaining the suspect’s history to the officer. The employee said that one late night, the suspect came into the restaurant and said to him “that girl out there is beautiful,” referring to the employee’s friend and fellow coworker who was parked outside in a white chevy. The suspect came back to Culver’s the next week and began asking the employee about the girl, saying “she’s a real beauty.” The employee ignored the suspect, saying the woman was dating his coworker. This did little to curb the suspect’s curiosity, he responded with “I’m going to steal her away.” Shortly after, the suspect asked if he could get a job at the restaurant and the employee told him they were well staffed. On July 27, the suspect returned to the store once again and offered the employee fifty dollars to “hook him up” with the girl. The employee reported this to his managers, who asked the man to leave. The man refused, resulting in him being trespassed by the officer and his colleague. The employee said that even after being trespassed, the man had shown up at the restaurant multiple nights, parking next to the business and waiting for employees to leave. The woman, the man was fixated on, was leaving her car in the parking lot, in an effort to confuse the suspect and having different coworkers take her home. The officer then spoke to the woman who was involved in the incident, who said she first saw the suspect waving at her from his car while they were both stopped at a red light. She thought nothing of this and waved back. She became worried after he followed her to the Culvers, where she was picking up her boyfriend who informed her the man was inquiring about her. The woman had a few days off from the restaurant, but when she returned on July 27, her manager informed her that the man was trespassed from the property after offering her coworker fifty dollars to “hook him up” with her. The woman assumed she was safe to work, but another manager informed her the suspect was spying nearby. The officer then spoke with the suspect, informing him he would be filing charges against him for stalking. The suspect replied, “go ahead, I don’t care.” Later that afternoon the officer arrested the man at his residence, where he defended his actions by claiming he was a Door Dash driver waiting to pick up orders. Warren Willard Campbell, 71, of Casselberry was charged with stalking, follow, harass, cyberstalk another.
A Rough Night out
A Sanford Police officer responded to a Sanford address on the night of July 31 in reference to a woman sitting inside of a vehicle that was not hers. On arrival, the officer noticed the female suspect sitting in the passenger seat of a black Mazda Hatchback and a group of people surrounding the vehicle. A woman from the group approached the officer and stated the Mazda was hers, showing her registration. The officer asked the suspect to step out of the vehicle. The woman did but began to yell that the vehicle belonged to her. The officer noted a strong odor of alcohol from her, then put her in handcuffs. The officer spoke to the owner of the vehicle, who said she was alerted by a witness that someone was in her vehicle and attempting to start it. The owner then went to the parking lot and saw the woman doing this and noticed that she accidentally left her keys in the vehicle. The owner and several other witnesses then spoke with the suspect and attempted to get her out of the vehicle. The suspect exited but then went into the passenger seat. The officer then spoke with the suspect and asked her if she lived there. The woman’s words were slurred and confusing, but she eventually said that she did not, but insisted the vehicle belonged to her. As they were talking, a woman approached from an upstairs apartment and said that the suspect was her friend and that they had just gotten back from a night of drinking alcohol. She said she left the woman in the parking lot to wait for her ride. The owner of the vehicle said that as long as she got her keys back, she did not want to press charges. Her keys were found nearby and the suspect’s friend said she would take her back to her apartment until her ride arrived. The suspect was taken out of handcuffs and began to yell at her friend, saying her vehicle was there and that she was going to drive home. She stumbled away and attempted to open other vehicles. After multiple attempts to get her to go with her friend, the woman was placed in handcuffs again. Jennifer Maria Ruiz, 36, of Deland, was charged with disorderly intoxication disorder, intoxication in a public place cause disturbance.
Sneaky Suspect
An Altamonte Springs police officer was notified of a suspicious male subject inside an office building in Altamonte Springs after midnight on August 6. The officer was provided security footage, which showed a white male subject walking around the building’s second floor, looking into the office of a lawyer. No one else was in the building at the time; all businesses were closed, and the cleaning crew had left. The officer set up a perimeter and him and his colleague began walking towards the buildings north entry doors, while two other officers positioned themselves at the south entrance. These officers saw the man and secured him in handcuffs. The man said he had recently moved to Florida from Illinois and was staying at a nearby hotel. He claimed he entered the building at 7:30 p.m. so he could walk around and escape the rain. The officer noted that the rain had stopped at 10:00 p.m. and the man’s hotel was less than a minute away. On search of the man’s person, two rocks were found in his pants, alongside two pairs of gloves and a black skullcap in his backpack. The man claimed he found the rocks on the side of the building and the gloves were for a motorcycle he no longer owns. Daniel Russell Bright, 36, of Illinois, was charged with loitering or prowling and possession of burglary tools.
Picky Eater
Sanford Police officers responded to a Sanford residence in reference to a physical disturbance on the afternoon of August 5. The victim explained that her son asked her to make him lunch, and he wanted it to be a specific meal they had recently talked about. When the woman said she wouldn’t make this meal, her son began to yell and get upset, eventually pushing her down. The victim said she never gave permission to her son to touch her but did not want to press charges. Her son immediately refused to speak to officers. Jake Albert Barbernera, 25, of Sanford, was arrested for battery touch or strike (domestic violence).
