SWFL NowVERIFIED NEWS. LOCAL IMPACT.83°F in Cape Coral,Sunny · Cape Coral
The Southwest Florida stories that are too local, too early or too ongoing for the evening news.
A Cape Coral man has been arrested and is accused of drawing a swastika on a sign for U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, WINK News reports. Reports say the sign was a reserved parking sign outside the Lee County Tax Collector's office in Cape Coral and was marked on Election Day.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
Police arrested a Cape Coral man accused of leaving the scene of a head-on crash with injuries on US-41.
Source: Gulf Coast News and 1 more
Fort Myers police on Monday arrested a 19-year-old Fort Myers man, Rolando Velasquez-Castro, accused of spray-painting three limestone columns at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center, the 1933 former post office downtown. He is charged with criminal mischief involving historic property, a third-degree felony, and police say surveillance footage led to the arrest. Conservators say the porous stone needs careful treatment so the paint isn't pushed deeper; no cost or timeline has been given.
Source: WGCU and 1 more
Lee County Sheriff's Office detectives arrested Noah Lils Alcantara on a charge of aggravated child abuse after a 9-day-old was brought to a children's hospital on Oct. 31 with severe breathing trouble. Deputies say doctors found injuries consistent with violent shaking. The infant remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition, WINK reported.
Source: Gulf Coast News and 2 more
Someone spray-painted the exterior limestone columns of the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center, the 1930s former post office at 2301 First Street in downtown Fort Myers, the center said in an Oct. 31 post. Because the historic stone is fragile, the paint can't simply be covered or scrubbed off, and the center is working with the city, which owns the building, and restoration professionals. No one has been identified as responsible.
Source: The News-Press (via Yahoo News)
Punta Gorda police say one person died in a shooting Saturday night near Showalter Avenue and Milus Street. The department's criminal investigations section is handling the case and says there is no ongoing threat to the public. No names have been released.
Source: WINK News
State agents arrested Jerry Sneed, 31, of Orlando on Oct. 28 after investigating social media posts that threatened a planned Jewish community in Glades County, FDLE says. Investigators say the posts showed the community's location and a gun, which he had when he was arrested. He is charged with making written threats to kill or carry out a mass shooting or act of terrorism and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Source: FDLE via WINK News and 3 more
Charlotte County deputies responded in force to the Palm Drive area of Punta Gorda late Friday morning, Oct. 30. By early afternoon the sheriff's office said the scene was safe and posed no threat to the public, though some deputies would stay for an ongoing investigation. The reason for the response has not been released.
Source: WWSB/MySuncoast and 1 more
Lee County deputies arrested Leonardo Rivera, 28, on Oct. 22 at an I-75 rest area near Daniels Parkway, according to an arrest report cited by WINK News. He is charged with luring or enticing a child younger than 14. No details of the alleged incident have been released, and he remained in custody.
Source: WINK News
Collier County deputies found a boater about 16 miles southwest of Coon Key Pass after he had been missing for three days in rough seas, Marco Island police said. A fireboat crew treated him and brought him back to shore, and his disabled boat was towed in.
Source: Gulf Coast News and 1 more
A task force that included Cape Coral police arrested Dominic Octavious Cichini in Lehigh Acres in connection with the Oct. 22 road rage shooting in the 800 block of Santa Barbara Boulevard that left two people hurt. He is charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm and one count of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
Lee County deputies and the Florida Gaming Control Commission served search warrants Oct. 27 at five arcades in Fort Myers, North Fort Myers and Bonita Springs and at a home in Pennsylvania. Ten people were arrested on charges that include racketeering conspiracy, keeping a gambling house and money laundering, and officials seized 239 illegal slot machines and about $1.59 million in cash, gold and frozen bank accounts.
Source: Lee County Sheriff's Office via WINK News and 2 more
Charlotte County deputies arrested Stephan M. Clark, 65, on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge after a road rage confrontation near Tribune Boulevard and U.S. 41 on Monday afternoon, Oct. 26. Deputies say Clark drew a handgun on a pickup driver, who then fired at the SUV's front tire to disable it. No one was hurt; the other driver was not charged, and the case went to the State Attorney's Office for review.
Source: Charlotte County Sheriff's Office and 2 more
Lina María Muñoz Posada, charged in a 2024 federal indictment along with her husband, former Naples community association manager Orlando Miserandino Ortiz, has been arrested in Rionegro, Colombia, WGCU reports, citing a Colombian news outlet. The 17-count indictment accuses the couple of wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and failing to file tax returns in connection with their Naples condo management firm. Ortiz was jailed in Colombia in 2025 and is awaiting extradition.
Source: WGCU
One person died in a fire at a home on Parrot Place in North Fort Myers around 3 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to the North Fort Myers Fire Department. The Lee County Sheriff's Office says the investigation is active, and officials have not released a cause or identified the person who died.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
Charlotte County deputies arrested Dwight Washington White, 44, after witnesses said he shouted from his Orange Street backyard Sunday evening, pointed an AR-style rifle at them and fired. No one was hurt, but investigators found bullet holes in a nearby home and a parked car. He is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon plus felon-in-possession and failure-to-register counts, and is held without bond.
Source: Gulf Coast News and 2 more
A school bus crash around 6:12 a.m. Monday closed all lanes of Tice Street near Country Lakes Drive, in front of Manatee Elementary and Oak Hammock Middle schools in Fort Myers. The Lee County Sheriff's Office says no students were hurt; it confirmed other injuries in the crash but gave no details. While deputies worked the scene, one deputy was hit by a vehicle and taken to a hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
Punta Gorda police say three drivers were arrested in separate stops on the southbound U.S. 41 (Gilchrist) Bridge after radar clocked them at 96, 98 and 102 mph in a 45 mph zone. Topping the limit by more than 50 mph counts as dangerous excessive speeding under a Florida law in effect since July 1, 2025. It requires a court appearance and carries up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine on a first conviction.
Source: WINK News
A contractor working at the Walmart on Six Mile Cypress Parkway in Fort Myers was shocked around 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25, and flown to a burn center in Bradenton. Power went out in about half the store and shoppers were told to leave; South Trail Fire responded and FPL crews were on site. Walmart says the worker was not one of its employees, and the contractor's condition has not been released.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
Charlotte County deputies were called to a home on El Campo Avenue in Englewood around 9:28 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25, where a 47-year-old man had been shot in the garage; he was pronounced dead at 10:03 p.m. Frank John Voight, 68, is charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bond. He told deputies he fired once in self-defense after the other man, an acquaintance, became aggressive; investigators say his account did not match the evidence.
Source: WINK News and 2 more
A driver who fled a Florida Highway Patrol speeding stop near State Road 82 and Gun Club Road Friday night bit a trooper's arm and ran off on foot after troopers ended the chase with a PIT maneuver, WINK News reports. The trooper was treated at a hospital. FHP says it found trafficking amounts of meth and cocaine plus a gun in the BMW, has identified the driver and is seeking a warrant on charges including battery on an officer.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
Fort Myers police arrested a driver on a DUI charge after spotting a vehicle going the wrong way near Fowler Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Police said the driver's blood alcohol level was nearly twice Florida's legal limit.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
Two people riding in the same vehicle were hurt, neither seriously, when someone fired at them during a road rage confrontation on Santa Barbara Boulevard in Cape Coral on Oct. 22. Police said the shooter was still at large and asked anyone who saw it to call the Cape Coral Police Department at 239-574-3223.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
Lee County Judge Bruce Kyle on Oct. 19 granted a new trial to Anastasiya Zadorozhna, whom a jury convicted in August of vehicular homicide in a July 2024 crash on Pine Island Road that killed a 52-year-old man. Her attorney argued that the prosecution's only eyewitness, a co-defendant, misled jurors about his own plea deal. A status hearing is set for Oct. 29; no date has been set for the new trial.
Source: WINK News
Frederick Taylor, 38, of North Fort Myers was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in March to distributing methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida said. Prosecutors said he ran the operation in the Palmona Park neighborhood through lower-level dealers and sold nearly a pound of meth to an FBI informant. A search of his home turned up several guns and about $12,000 in cash.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office and 1 more
A pedestrian died Monday after being hit by a driver who did not stop at Colonial Boulevard and Plantation Road, Fort Myers police said. Lanes in both directions were shut for several hours before reopening. Police have not identified the victim or described the vehicle.
Source: WINK News and 2 more
Cape Coral police say two registered sex offenders living at a halfway house on Northwest First Place were arrested Oct. 12 and charged with violating probation by having internet-capable phones. The investigation began after a fellow resident reported that one of the men was viewing child sexual abuse material; detectives seized several devices and say more charges may follow. The men, identified by police as William Plumley, 29, and Enrico Mendes Jr., 49, are due in court Nov. 9.
Source: WINK News and 2 more
A vehicle drove into Mel's Diner on Trails Edge Boulevard in Bonita Springs around midday Sunday, Oct. 18. The Lee County Sheriff's Office confirmed the crash and said the driver was transported, and a patron told WINK News she saw people being treated for injuries. The cause and the number of people hurt have not been confirmed.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
Charlotte County Fire & EMS put out a fire at a home on Joseph Street shortly after noon on Sunday, Oct. 18. No injuries were reported. The State Fire Marshal's Office is looking into the cause, and the Red Cross was called to help those affected.
Source: WINK News and 1 more
