Jacksonville News

Bryce Allen Jr. is facing charges for an incident that happened back in October in Columbus, Ohio.

According to Columbus police, on October 13, Allen intentionally hit a policeman with his car in the parking lot of a hospital as the officer responded to emergency.

That officer suffered injuries and also struck Allen’s car with a bullet as Allen drove away.

Police were kept very busy during the Springing the Blues weekend, including tracking down and arresting a woman who is accused of causing three hit-and-run crashes.

Mary Fischette Blackstock, 56, of Jacksonville Beach, was driving a 2004 GMC Envoy and damaged a home in the 2200 block of Ocean Drive South while attempting to make a three-point turn at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. She was cited for careless driving, DUI, DUI with property damage and leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.

A contract is being negotiated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office that could have red light cameras operational at intersections in Jacksonville by September.

A Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman said every citation issued as a result of a red light camera will be reviewed by an officer. While there will be no additions to staff, there will be an increased workload for those officers reviewing online reports.

A man is rushed to a hospital with serious injuries after being shot on the Southside. Lt. Jimmy Judge with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says police got the call at around 2:45 this afternoon.

“When officers arrived at the scene, sure enough they found a male down,” Lt. Judge says. “He had been shot once. He was taken to Orange Park Medical Center with serious but not life-threatening injuries at this point.”

A shooting overnight left one man dead and another in critical condition. The scene is at 2921 Myrtis Road. Sgt. Dan Janson of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the call came in at 2:30 a.m.

Responding officers found one man in his 30s dead in a car at the end of Myrtis Road, Janson said. Police have identified the man killed as 43-year-old Louis “Wayne” Cherry. He said another man, 26-year-old Tavaris Kirkland, is in critical condition at Shands with gunshot wounds.

A Jacksonville woman has pleaded guilty in the death of her toddler son, who authorities say was killed by her older child. During a Wednesday hearing, 26-year-old Biannela Susana pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter. She faces up to 30 years in prison.

The Florida Times-Union (http://bit.ly/GXHZfh ) reports that Susana waited 8 hours to take 2-year-old David Galarraga to the hospital after finding him unconscious in March 2011. Doctors say the child might have survived if he’d been treated sooner.

A 40-year-old Jacksonville man is charged with Tuesday’s stabbing death of his daughter’s boyfriend on Broadway Avenue. Carlos Maurice Dupree, who has no criminal history in Duval County court records, was booked that night on a murder charge.

Garcia Eugene Bannister, 18, lived at the house and was in a relationship with a daughter of Dupree, said homicide Sgt. T.K. Waters of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Dupree wanted Bannister “to assume more responsibility” in the relationship, Waters said.

A Jacksonville teen will soon be $5,000 richer after winning a national competition. Operation Homefront announced today, Southwest High School junior Erika Booth is the Military Child of the Year for the Marine Corps branch.

She gets $5,000, a laptop, and a trip to D.C. to receive the award and a Virginia teen beat out Morehead City finalist Collin Edge for the Coast Guard branch.

A Jacksonville man has been charged with 17 counts of animal fighting in a joint investigation by the Humane Society and police. Willie B. Coleman, 69, was arrested Wednesday at Coleman’s Kennels at 9215 Norfolk Blvd., said spokeswoman Katie Jarl of the Humane Society of the United States.

Seventeen dogs were taken to an undisclosed location, Jarl said. Coleman was also charged with one count of possessing equipment used for animal fighting, according to jail records.

Jacksonville police said a 54-year-old man struck by a hit-an-run driver on Atlantic Boulevard Tuesday was a missing person who suffered from dementia and schizophrenia.

Kevin Shawn McQuaid was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. He was hit in the 7000 block of Atlantic about 6:30 a.m. after walking into the path of an eastbound car that was pulling into the center turn lane. The driver stopped briefly then drove off, police said.