FHP, CCSO team to arrest Jacksonville man for trafficking drugs

OAKLEAF – With the help of a traffic stop by the Florida Highway Patrol and a confidential informant, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office charged a Jacksonville man on Tuesday, July 8, with trafficking drugs following controlled purchases of fentanyl, cocaine and MDMA.

Eric Jawaah Geddes, 30, was booked into the Clay County Jail with a $1,420,017 bond after being accused of two counts of trafficking fentanyl, cocaine and MDMA (also known as ecstasy or molly), as well as possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

According to three separate arrest reports, Geddes was stopped by the Florida Highway Patrol on Oakleaf Plantation Parkway because the front window tint was determined to be too dark. A subsequent check revealed the window was 14% beyond the legal limit for darkness.

While stopped, FHP deployed K-9 Pablo to do an exterior sniff of the car. The dog alerted patrolmen to the likely presence of illegal narcotics inside the car, which allowed patrolmen to search the car.

FHP uncovered $8,020 in cash, 57.9 grams of fentanyl and 42.3 grams of MDMA and 241.9 grams of marijuana. One of the arrest reports revealed there were three children in the car when Geddes was stopped.

That stop ran concurrently with an investigation by CCSO. An informant reportedly bought 145.3 grams of cocaine under the direction of CCSO on June 11 and 28.4 grams of fentanyl on June 26. He was already at the county jail from the FHP stop when CCSO filed its charges.

Geddes is scheduled to be back in court on Aug. 5.

CCSO: Man caught answering fake child solicitation post

ORANGE PARK – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office created a fictitious social media profile of a 15-year-old boy to catch a 34-year-old man who was charged with making obscene communication by using his computer to solicit or seduce a child and using his cellphone to facilitate a felony.

Bond for Nicholas Raymond Fey, of Jacksonville, was set at $100,006 after CCSO posted the profile and photo of a shirtless boy on the site Sniffles.

According to the heavily redacted, eight-page arrest report, Rey responded to the post and sent inappropriate messages. The sheriff’s office got a warrant to get information from Sniffles and Fey’s cellphone company to identify him. Deputies arrested him on Tuesday, July 8.

Naked woman charged with setting apartment on fire

FLEMING ISLAND – A woman was charged with first-degree arson after the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said they were called to the Cobblestone at Eagle Harbor apartment complex on July 1 to investigate a fire at an occupied unit.

CCSO reported that a fire was set by Emily Ann Dunaway, 42, in an apartment where her husband lived. She was arrested on Saturday, July 12.

Deputies were then called to Old Pine Trail for a suspicious person. They found her naked along the tree line.

According to Clay County Fire Rescue, there was fire damage to the carpeting at the top of the stairway, kitchen, dining room and living room.

Dunaway’s bond was set at $150,003.

Homeless man accused of breaking into home with 5-inch knife

MIDDLEBURG – A homeless man was charged with breaking into a home on Halpern’s Way on Friday, July 11, with a knife.

Stephen Casey Costley, 45, of Middleburg, was jailed with a $250,003 bond after two women called the Clay County Sheriff’s Office to report someone in their home at 3:33 a.m.

The sheriff’s office said Costley left the home, but he was located behind a fast-food restaurant near the corners of Blanding Boulevard and County Road 218.

Costley remained in the Clay County Jail. His next court appearance is scheduled for August 12.

Man arrested for breaking into New Beginnings Church

ORANGE PARK – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man it believed stole items and vandalized the New Beginnings Church on Blanding Boulevard on Monday, July 14.

Brandon James Stadnicki, 35, of Orange Park, was charged with vandalizing a church, burglary and criminal mischief after deputies found several of the missing items – a recipocating saw, two toolboxes, a battery charger, a set of keys and a first aid kit – at his home on Sherwin Oaks Lane while responding to an unrelated call for service by his wife later in the day. She said he was “acting suspiciously after being out all night and pointing a Sawzall at his mother.”

According to the arrest report, Stadnicki is accused of forcing a door open. Once inside, he caused damage to several cardboard signs and broke an Automated External Defibrillator. The church’s surveillance system captured him rummaging through some tool bags. The system also said he removed his clothes while in the sanctuary.

Video from Stadnicki’s doorbell surveillance showed him leaving the house wearing the same clothes as the man videotaped breaking into the church, according to CCSO.

Stadnicki admitted to taking the tools, according to the arrest report.

His bond was set at $80,008, and he will be back in court on Aug. 18.

Jacksonville man charged with shooting on Fleming Island

FLEMING ISLAND – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrested a man wanted in Clay County following a shooting on Monday, July 14.

Torance Lamont Collins, 52, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and shooting into a dwelling after the Clay County Sheriff’s Office accused Collins of shooting at a man on U.S. Highway 17.

The victim wasn’t injured, and the CCSO alerted JSO of their interest in finding Collins. JSO’s Community Problem Response Unit arrested him near his home on Dorchester Street in Jacksonville.

He was returned to Clay County, where his bond was set at $100,006.

Man charged with boating recklessly on Black Creek

MIDDLEBURG – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 25-year-old man after three deputies said they saw him operate a boat on the North Fork of Black Creek recklessly, which led to a passenger being thrown from the vessel.

Donald Randall Hickox, of Middleburg, was also charged with boating while intoxicated, resisting arrest and refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test after the deputies ordered him ashore at the Main Street Boat Ramp on Sunday, July 13.

According to the arrest report, the deputies suspected Hickox of being intoxicated because of “the strong odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage emanating from the Defendant’s facial area.”

Hickox’s bond was set at $4,506, and he is scheduled to be back in court on Aug. 11.

OP Sunrise Rotary honors OPPD’s McKelvain, CCSO’s Nooney

ORANGE PARK – Officer Dennis McKelvain was recognized by the Rotary Club of Orange Park Sunrise as its Hero of the Quarter. At the same time, the club also honored Clay County Sheriff’s Office Real Time Crime Analyst Malynn Nooney as its Community Hero.

The Orange Park Police Department officer received this honor for his quick response to a critical incident in which he provided lifesaving emergency care to an individual who had sustained a life-threatening injury.

OPPD Chief Randy Case, right, joined McKelvain at the ceremony, while Sheriff Michelle Cook and Orange Park Sunrise President Steve Underwood joined Nooney.