Human remains identified as missing senior
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The human remains found on Hattie Nolan Road last month in Jennings State Forest have been identified as Hal Graham Warth.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office reports that foul play is not suspected, according to CCSO statement issued Feb. 3. Warth, who was 79 and from Middleburg, was reported missing on August 22, 2016.
Detectives with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, surrounding agencies and volunteers conducted an extensive search for Warth for five days when he was reported missing.
Hunters found Warth’s remains on Jan.8, more than three miles from his property line. CCSO Public Information Officer Angela Spears said additional testing will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.

Orange Park Police investigate shooting
ORANGE PARK – Detectives with the Orange Park Police Department are investigating a shootout that took place Feb. 2 in the 200 block of Park Avenue.
Detective Cody Monroe said officers went to the scene at 11:18 p.m. after receiving a report that shots had been fired in the area of the BP Station.
At the scene, officers determined that minutes prior to their arrival, a verbal disagreement had taken place between the occupants of two separate vehicles who were parked near each other at the gas pumps. As the suspect vehicle began to leave the parking lot, someone in the car fired shots in the direction of the victim’s vehicle.
No one was injured in the shooting, Monroe said.
“It is unclear what type of weapon was involved in this incident,” he said in a prepared media release. “At this time, the suspect vehicle can only be described as a dark-colored sedan occupied by between two to four individuals.”
He said investigators are conducting interviews and reviewing video footage from the gas station cameras in to help identify the suspects involved. Anyone who may have information regarding this incident is asked to call the Orange Park Police Department at (904) 264-5555.

Officer-involved shooting second in 2 months
TANGLEWOOD – A week and two days after Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels and staff conducted his first community walk in the Tanglewood area, a suspect was shot by police while serving a warrant.
Around 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 2, the CCSO SWAT Team served a search and arrest narcotics warrant at a home in the 1200 block of Bay Hill Boulevard.
According to Public Information Officer Angela Spears, four people exited the home, but a fifth person refused which prompted officers to enter the home. When inside, police found Michael Sword, 57 who had a lengthy criminal history, holding an unidentified firearm. He was shot by an officer.
Daniels and his team obtained the search warrant after residents discussed possible drug activity with Daniels and his staff during the Jan. 24 community walk. The walks aim to root out crime at the source and build trust between residents who normally would fear speaking with law enforcement.
“You’ve got options,” Daniels said at a press briefing held near the scene last night. “You can leave Clay County, or we’re going to come.”
No information was given about the two deputies involved in the raid, however, Daniels said they were placed on administrative leave, which is standard practice in officer-involved shootings.
In the meantime, CCSO detectives are questioning the four people who were in the home. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will now investigate the officer involved shooting.
Spears said no deputies were hurt.
The last officer-involved shooting in Clay County took place on Christmas Day in Middleburg and involved two CCSO officers. Michael Allen Altice, 61, told 911 dispatchers “that he wanted to shoot somebody, that he was going to commit suicide by cop. He said y’all better bring help, y’all better bring it with you…be ready when you get here and made those type of threats,” said former Sheriff Rick Beseler. Altice exited the home and pointed the gun at a CCSO officer, at which point, he was shot.
That shooting took place at a home near the intersection of Calendula Avenue and Cosmos Avenue off County Road 218 in Middleburg.

Flagler crash claims Orange Park man
PALM COAST – The Florida Highway patrol said an Orange Park man was killed in Flagler County along the side of Interstate 95 while tending to his broken-down Mercedes.
Police said Olando Ellis, 63, of Orange Park, had stopped his 2005 Mercedes S420 around 3:12 a.m. on Jan. 30 in the outside lane without his lights on when a semi-tractor trailer truck rear-ended the car.
Ellis was pronounced dead at the scene as the driver of the semi, Edson Da Silva, 55, of Orlando, was unable to see the disabled Mercedes.
When the tractor trailer hit the car, it overturned and slid through the guardrail in the median and ended up blocking four lanes northbound and southbound of I-95.
Da Silva was not injured.

Slap ends in assault arrest
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – A Keystone Heights man faces felony assault charges after slapping his live-in girlfriend who is disabled.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrested Daniel Raymond Smith, 33, on Jan. 29 after a brief investigation at the home they shared in the 7200 block of Purdue Street.
According to the police report, the alleged violence began when the victim – who has no use of her legs and limited mobility with her arms – asked Smith what they were going to do for dinner. Smith, police said, was intoxicated at the time, got angry, slapped her with an open hand on the right side of her face and then twisted her right arm behind her back. Police said Smith then grabbed the woman’s cell phone and iPad and left the room.
CCSO charged Smith with one count of felony abuse on a disabled person. He was booked into the Clay County Jail, but has been released on bond.
The Florida Department of Children and Families were also called in on the case over concerns of their two children.

Jax man faces child abuse charge
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A Jacksonville man is free on bond after being charged with child abuse without great bodily harm in Clay County.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office had transported Kentravious O’Brian Humphries, 31, from the Duval County Pre-Trial Detention Center to the Clay County Jail on Jan. 26 after detectives obtained a warrant for his arrest.
According to the warrant, Humphries was watching a young boy on Nov. 5 for about an hour and while the child was in Humphries’ care, “he sustained bruising to his buttocks, thigh and leg area consistent with repeated strikes to his lower body. The victim also presented with bruising to his left lower eye area, right forehead area and an abrasion to his left chin,” states the warrant.
The child was hospitalized at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and two days later, Humphries was interviewed for the first time by CCSO detectives.
Members of the Child Protection Team determined the child’s injuries were the “result of excessive physical abuse.”
Humphries was released after posting a $25,003 bond.