Former school transportation director, wife arrested for grand theft

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Derald Lee Sweatt, the transportation director for the Clay County School District was arrested on Feb. 8 along with his wife after the district said he was seen on surveillance taking tools from the depot.
Sweatt, 55, and Shannon Lee Sweatt, 46, were both charged with grand theft. The District said some of the tools were recovered at Sweatt’s home.
Derald Sweatt resigned after the District presented the allegations to the couple.

Man brought back to Clay following series of 2021 robberies

CLAY COUNTY – A Jacksonville man was arrested Feb. 7 following several thefts, including a grad and dash of a diamond ring from store at the Orange Park Mall.
Antonio Theron Fagan, 20, was charged with grand theft, two counts of petit theft and one count of shoplifting.
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Fagan was suspected of running away with a ring valued at $3,999 on Nov. 17, 2020, as well as a $658 theft from the Middleburg Lowe’s Home Improvement store on Feb. 16, 2021; and, two different $499.99 thefts from the Fleming Island Target on Feb. 5, 2021.
Fagan was at the Duval County Jail when he was arrested and brought back to Clay County. His bond was set at $125,009.

CCSO: Sleeping man caught with cocaine in running car

MIDDLEBURG – Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested a man for having cocaine and crack cocaine after they found him sleeping in a parked car in somebody’s driveway.
According to the arrest report, Desmond Bennett Turner, 58, was passed out in the car with the engine running. As deputies knocked on the window to wake him up, they noticed a red clear plastic bag with “a white rock like substance” and another baggie with white powder.
Turner tried to hide both bags when he exited the car. Both substances tested positive for cocaine.
Turner’s bond was set at $5,003.

Sheriff’s office, police departments ramp up DUI enforcement

CLAY COUNTY – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office wasn’t kidding when it posted a warning on its social media pages, warning everyone to “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.”
Deputies, along with the Green Cove Springs and Orange Park police departments, already have arrested 15 people this month for driving under the influence.