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Flashed: Fort Myers Beach
? Sheriff’s office investigating abduction attempt of 12-year-old girl
? Deputies: Woman steals coworker’s car after getting kicked out of home
? 18-year-old charged with Golden Gate home invasion
? Teen charged in Immokalee home burglary
? San Carlos couple’s home burglarized while they were inside
Domestic assault arrests
? A 16-year-old boy whose address was not released was arrested Monday by Lee deputies at South County Regional Library, 21100 Three Oaks Parkway in Estero. He was charged with battery/domestic violence. He is accused of hitting his mother with drum sticks.
? Michael P. Hunt, 44, of the 1000 block of Danford Street, East Naples, was arrested by Collier deputies Monday at home. Hunt was charged with battery, after reports said he beat his live-in girlfriend.
? Margaret Ann Jacobs, 40, of the 5000 block of Hickory Wood Drive, Golden Gate Estates, was arrested by Collier deputies Sunday at home. She was charged with battery/ intentionally causing bodily harm to another, after reports said she hit her boyfriend several times while drunk.
? Gabrielle Leigh Pynckel, 20, of the 13000 block of Hickory Run Lane, Fort Myers, was arrested Monday by Lee deputies at home. She was charged with two counts of battery/domestic violence. She is accused of hitting her father and sister during an argument.
DUI arrests
? Adolfo Eugeno Briceno, 24, of the 3000 block of Santa Barbara Boulevard, Golden Gate, was arrested by Collier deputies Monday near the 3000 block of Pine Ridge Road.
? Renee Lynn Etter, 44, of the 14000 block of Pleasant Bay Lane, Golden Gate Estates, was arrested by Marco Island police Monday near the 500 block of N. Collier Boulevard.
? Benjamin Jacome, 44, of the one block of Walnut Street, East Naples, was arrested by Marco Island police Monday near the intersection of Kendall Drive and N. Collier Boulevard.
Drug arrests
? Dustin C. Cuevas, 25, of the 3600 block of Carson Road, Immokalee, was arrested Monday by Lee deputies in Lee County. He was charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia.
Grand Theft arrests
? Keith Anthony Middleton Jr., 20, of the 600 block of Jefferson Avenue, Immokalee, was arrested by Collier deputies Monday near the 600 block of Jefferson Avenue. Middleton was charged with grand theft $300 to $5,000, after reports said he stole the tires and rims from his neighbor’s car.
? Mabel Puertas, 44, of the 8400 block of Bamboo Road, Fort Myers, was arrested Monday by Lee deputies in Lee County. She was charged with grand theft between $300 and $5,000.
Police Beat is compiled and written by the Naples Daily News staff/ contributors from oral and written reports by Naples police, Collier Sheriff‘s Office, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Marco police and other agencies. Arrests indicate suspicion of crime, not guilt.
1:26 P.M. UPDATE — Fort Myers Beach will soon have a gulf-front park that is ?a beach park and not a beach parking lot,? Lee County Parks and Recreation Director Barbara Manzo said. She is among a contingent of county and Fort Myers Beach town officials meeting this afternoon to discuss the future of the project.
The county could spend about $150,000 turning about three acres of Gulf-front property into a public park with benches, landscaping and perhaps a volleyball court. The site will include only a pair of handicapped parking spots.
The county purchased the property this year for $5.6 million in a foreclosure sale. The Seafarer?s Village property across the street was part of the deal. However, plans for that property are still in the area. Town officials from Fort Myers Beach have floated purchasing the property, which would give them a direct say on its fate, whether it becomes a parking lot, a town building or a roadway.
10:44 A.M. UPDATE ? Lee County and Fort Myers Beach officials plan to meet this afternoon to discuss the future of the county-owned Seafarers Village property and beach renourishment among other issues.
Lee County earlier this year spent $5.6 million on three acres of bank-owned gulf front property. The purchase included the Seafarer?s Village ? a dilapidated strip mall ? across the street from the gulf property. Fort Myers Beach officials expressed interest in purchasing the property from the county. Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah called the meeting today to discuss options for that property.
Beach officials also need to reach some agreement on a plan to add sand to the beach from the fishing pier north to Bowman?s Beach. The federal government has promised $2 million to the project.
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Tough Weekend
Crime Incidents Database with Map
To report a crime or any suspicious activity in your neighborhood, call the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at 477-1000 or you can remain anonymous and call Crime Stoppers at 332-5555 or 1-800-780-TIPS.
? Thanksgiving shopper arrested on grand theft charge
? 2 arrested in Thanksgiving shopping spree — in home
? Bonita Springs man falls victim to bogus e-mail requesting money
? Bonita family’s Thanksgiving argument ends with arrest after woman throws piggy bank at sister
? Thieves break through drywall to get into Comcast office to steal cash
Drug arrests
? Eric Christian Sparkman, 31, of the 4300 block of 22nd Place S.W., Golden Gate, was charged with felony possession of an opium derivative, possession of narcotic paraphernalia (a syringe), and driving with his license is revoked, second offense, after he was arrested Thursday night at a Dumpster behind an East Naples shopping center. It was a month after he’d been released from prison after serving a roughly 1½-year sentence for four drug convictions. Sparkman told him he didn’t want to go back to prison and was about to flee, reports said, when the deputy grabbed him and handcuffed him.
? Serena Kelly, 30, of the 3000 block of Sandy Lane, East Naples, who was arrested by deputies at 10:22 p.m. Thursday near U.S. 41 and Bayshore Drive after being spotted without seatbelts and trying to hide something between the seats, reports say. Kelly had two warrants for her arrest on charges she violated probation on trespassing and obstruction charges. She told the deputy name was Roberta, reports say, and was charged with providing a false name, possession of an opium derivative, possession of a synthetic narcotic, possession of drug paraphernalia, and violating probation, after a deputy found oxycodone and methadone in a pill holder inside her purse.
? Andrew James Litteral, 27, of the 1700 block of 41st Street, Naples, was arrested Wednesday by Lee deputies near U.S. 41 South and Kenwood Avenue in Fort Myers. He was charged with selling opium or a derivative.
? A 15-year-old boy who lives in the 7300 block of Coolidge Road, Fort Myers, was arrested Wednesday by Lee deputies near U.S. 41 South and San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers. He was charged with possession of paraphernalia and two counts of possession of more than 20 grams of a controlled substance without a prescription.
? Joshua Charles Martell, 19, of the 22000 block of Fountain Lakes Boulevard, Estero, was arrested Thursday by Lee deputies in Lee County. He was charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana.
Battery arrests
? Alyssia Michele Currington, 26, of Cape Coral, was arrested by deputies shortly after 12 a.m. Thursday after she and her boyfriend fought over who was going to drive home from Coastland Center mall in Naples. She left him there, but felt bad and returned to pick him up. But reports say they continued arguing, he got out and walked toward a gas station, where she grabbed his shirt, kicked a cigar out of his hand, and pushed him.
DUI arrests
? Benjamin Emanuel Kolb, 21, of the 1200 block of Cypress Woods Drive, Naples, was stopped by Naples police at 2:13 a.m. Thursday shortly after he sat at a flashing yellow light at 8th Street South and Third Avenue South, preventing other vehicles from moving.
? Gloria Ann Kleis, 52, of the 1100 block of Forest Mere Drive, Bonita Springs, was arrested by Collier deputies just before 1 a.m. Thursday after a report of a woman passed out in her car by a fast-food restaurant near Immokalee Road and U.S. 41 North.
? Lauren Suzanne Demarest, 26, of the 2800 block of Mizzen Way, North Naples, was arrested at 1:38 a.m. Thursday on Goodlette-Frank Road by a deputy who said he saw her car suddenly stop, swerve from lane to lane and speed eastbound on Pine Ridge Road.
? James Edward Doughty, 63, of the 10000 Block of Noah’s Circle, East Naples, was charged with DUI third violation in 10 years after deputies responded to a crash on Thomasson Drive and Lighthouse Lane at 7:30 p.m. Thursday that landed him in a hospital, where he was charged.
? Chelsea Elisa Stephens, 21, whose address was not released because she is the daughter of a Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputy, was arrested Thursday by Fort Myers police in Lee County.
Other arrests
? William James Burgess, 55, of the 17000 block of Boat Club Drive, Fort Myers, was arrested Wednesday by Lee deputies in Lee County. He was arrested on warrants charging him with burglary of a conveyance, grand theft and failure to appear on grand theft and burglary charges.
? A 16-year-old girl who lives in the 8300 block of Coral Drive, Fort Myers, was arrested Thursday by Lee deputies near College Parkway and South Pointe Boulevard in Fort Myers. She was charged with burglary with battery. She is accused of reaching through a car window and punching another girl in the face.
Police Beat is compiled and written by the Naples Daily News staff/ contributors from oral and written reports by Naples police, Collier Sheriff‘s Office, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Marco police and other agencies. Arrests indicate suspicion of crime, not guilt.
1:10 A.M. — When he and his wife moved from Long Island, N.Y., to San Carlos Park 30 years ago, Walter Hoffmann made a point of inviting as many friends and strangers as he could to his family?s Thanksgiving feasts.
?He?d always tell people, ?Come over. We?ll just put another potato in the pot,?? said Missy Hoffman, the wife of one of Walter Hoffmann?s nine children.
Decades later, Missy and Paul Hoffmann are continuing the family?s oversized Turkey Day tradition. After weeks of planning, the Hoffmanns will host 45 people for Thanksgiving dinner tonight at their two-story San Carlos Park home. The gathering, which will include 14 friends who had nowhere else to go, is one of Southwest Florida?s largest Thanksgiving celebrations.
The feast, which will feature 53 pounds of turkey and 30 pounds of mashed potatoes, will have guests seated at eight tables in the dining and living rooms and outdoor patio.
?It?s a lot of work, but when you?re sitting there for dinner and you look around and see those faces, you know why you did it,? Missy Hoffmann said. ?I feel grateful and blessed to have this amount of family that still wants to be together.?
Missy ? whose husband owns San Carlos Roofing, a business that employs her and other family members ? declined to say how much they spent on the meal.
Although Paul and Missy Hoffmann buy and cook the turkeys, other members of the Hoffmann clan chips in to make some of the side dishes.
One family member brings the broccoli cheese casserole, another brings 10 pounds of mashed potatoes, another brings desserts and so on.
?It?s real organized,? said Mario Lopez, a family friend who will bring his wife, two sons (ages 24 and 19) and 10-year-old daughter. ?The Hoffmanns have been doing this for so long they have it down pat.?
Missy said she tries to purchase meal items a little at a time over a span of three weeks so it?s not a huge financial hit.
?Three weeks ago, I saw that green beans were on sale so I bought four cans,? Missy Hoffmann said. ?And I know I?m going to need lots of flour and butter, so I have 10 pounds of butter in my refrigerator right now.?
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The home changes
A large part of the feast?s preparations involves fixing up the family?s two-story home. In order to accommodate 45 chairs and eight tables, the Hoffmanns have to move almost all of the family?s furniture outside.
Today, you?ll find the family?s two living room couches, a recliner chair, a coffee table and an exercise bike on their porch.
?It?s only about a 1,000-square-foot home, so we?re used to squeezing together,? said Keri Harty, Missy Hoffmann?s niece. ?Missy gets a bunch of folding tables, and she has them everywhere.?
Missy likes to say that her Thanksgiving Day feast is held throughout her home.
Guests will be seated at tables in the dining and living rooms and patio. The Hoffmanns plan to leave the living room?s sliding glass doors open so guests outside can be a part of the dinner discussion.
Despite the tight quarters, Harty said her family has few quarrels on Thanksgiving. She said her extended family, almost all of which lives in Lee County, has an unspoken rule not to fight.
?We have everything in our family from super liberal Democrats to super conservative Republicans, and it can get quite heated at some points, but we don?t fight,? Harty said. ?If someone makes you upset, you just walk away, and then we come back and we?re together again.?
Inviting others
Lopez, who has been attending the Hoffmanns? Thanksgiving feasts since 1997, marvels at how well the family interacts and how it continually opens its door to strangers.
Lopez said the Hoffmanns ?adopted? him and his family 13 years ago.
?We moved here from Long Island because my wife got a job down here and we didn?t have any family here so they just adopted us,? Lopez said with a laugh. ?We met through a baseball team that had one of my sons and one of their sons.?
Lopez said the Hoffmanns invite his family for every birthday or holiday celebration, and he rarely turns them down.
?It?s great to have family, especially at this time of year,? Lopez said. ?I came from a big family in Long Island and it?s great to have a big family here in Florida.
?The Hoffmanns are very special people.?