SHERIFF'S REPORT 4-1

Wakulla County Sheriff's Office officials are planning a special event at Riversprings Middle School on Wednesday, April 9 that will have the look of a disaster, according to Sheriff David Harvey. But it will just be an exercise.

Operation Secure School will be a training exercise to determine how well the law enforcement operation responds to an unannounced situation.

There will be four different phases to the operation and most of the sheriff's office staff will be involved with the exception of the SWAT unit. SWAT was tested last year during a special exercise at Wakulla High School.

Major Maurice Langston said the scenarios have been determined for the event, but will not be revealed until officials respond to the school so they will not have extra time to prepare. The event will include the neighboring Shadeville Elementary School as well.

"People are going to see a lot of law enforcement vehicle at the school and we want them to know what is going on," said Major Langston. Sheriff's office administrators hope to determine how well the school resource officers work with patrol deputies and others.

The SWAT exercise at WHS last year went very well as teachers did an outstanding job of locking down their classrooms and leading their students to safety from a threat from a "shooter," said Undersheriff Dale Wise.

In other activity reported by the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office during the past week:

• On March 28, William Hayward Cotton, 36, of Tallahassee was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell, sale of cocaine, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of narcotic equipment following a controlled purchase by the Special Operations Division and Criminal Investigations Division. The controlled purchase was conducted and law enforcement officials recovered $1,300 worth of cocaine including crack and powder. Deputy Nick Boutwell, Det. Eddie Wester, Captain Cliff Carroll, Lt. C.L. Morrison, Det. Scott Powell and Det. Jason Newlin investigated.
• The sheriff's office officials said various types of frauds have occurred in Wakulla County recently. The fraud artists using the scams are trying to get money from residents, access credit card and bank accounts, and possibly steal your identity. If residents are contacted via telephone, fax, mail, or e-mail stating that they have won a free prize or sweepstakes, use caution. These scammers will attempt to make you pay money to receive the "prize" or sweepstake winnings. Remember, never give out your credit card, bank account, or personal identification information to anyone who has contacted you. Free means free and residents should not have to pay to receive a "free" gift or "free" money they have won. 
• Foreign Lottery scams. Residents are contacted and told, "Congratulations, you have won the lottery" (Usually a foreign lottery). All you have to do is send them money to receive your winnings. They will tell residents that this small fee is for taxes, processing or insurance. Sometimes the fraud artist will even send residents a counterfeit check or money order to cash so that they don't have to come up with the tax money out of pocket. The bank will cash the check with no way of knowing that the check is fake until days later. The bank will then hold the resident responsible for the amount of money received from the counterfeit check. This is a scam!  Residents will never receive any money from them. Ignore all solicitation attempts and lottery material that appears to be from a foreign country. Turn it over to the Postmaster at your nearest Post Office. Even if the scam was real, it is against federal law to accept winnings from a foreign lottery. Don't invite federal charges on yourself.
• To report a crime, call the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office at 926-0800.
• If defrauded on-line, contact the FBI cyber crime complaint center at http://www.ic3.gov/.
• If you are a victim of identity theft, call the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or contact them on-line at http://www.ftc.gov/.
• On March 27, Elaine K. Herndon of Sopchoppy reported the theft of bird feeders from her business. The feeders were valued at $50. Deputy Casey Whitlock investigated.
• On March 26, Susan B. Bredendieck of Crawfordville reported a criminal mischief as someone removed her gate from its hinges and tossed it into the azalea bushes. Deputy Robert Giddens investigated.
• On March 31, Barney Harrell of Sopchoppy reported a grand theft of construction machinery valued at $3,000. A root rake was removed from a pit. Deputy Andree Brown investigated.
• On March 31, Julia L. Pumphrey of Crawfordville reported a school bus fire. Trooper Dennis Revell responded and helped put out the fire. The children were removed from the bus and were not injured. The flames came from the control panel. The 2000 Thomas bus was transported to the bus garage. Damage estimates were unavailable. Sgt. Jud McAlpin investigated.
• On March 31, John N. Taylor of Panacea reported a criminal mischief at the recreation park in Medart. Someone damaged the electronic gate. The gate appeared to have been pushed open by a vehicle. Damage was estimated at $1,500 Deputy Mike Crum investigated.
• On March 31, Dallas J. Porter of Tallahassee reported the theft of his tractor, valued at $13,000. The tractor was entered into the FCIC/NCIC computer. Deputy Casey Whitlock investigated.
• On March 28, Matthew W. Fitz-Randolph of Tallahassee reported a burglary at Wakulla Credit Union Service in Crawfordville. A power meter had been tampered with and a forced entry was discovered. A small amount of cash was stolen. Deputy Andree Brown, Captain Randall Taylor, Lt. C.L. Morrison, Lt. Ray Johnson, Sgt. Scott DelBeato Deputy Robert Giddens investigated.
• On March 28, Deputy Jeremy Johnston charged Jaime Alejandro Aponte, 29, of Panacea with possession of cocaine, possession of narcotics equipment and possession of a controlled substance following a traffic stop. Baggies of narcotics were allegedly tossed from the vehicle and the suspect faces charges of attempting to destroy or tamper with evidence.

The Wakulla County Sheriff's Office received 777 calls for service during the past week.

Note to our readers: The people who are reported as charged with crimes in this column have not yet been to trial and are therefore innocent until proven guilty.