St Johns County: Weekend crime reports

An update was received by Historic City News this afternoon, summarizing selected crime reports that came in over the weekend. Additional information may be obtained from the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office records as well as jail and court records if an arrest was made.

Hit and Run: Deputies in the northwest district received several 911 calls on Saturday night regarding a silver pickup truck crashing into a street sign along Durbin Creek. According to the report, Deputy J.D. McGinnis was responding to the crash location when he observed a silver pickup truck with heavy front-end damage driving away from the scene. McGinnis performed a vehicle stop on the truck and found the driver to be under the influence of an intoxicant.

The driver, 29-year-old Adam Joseph Hinson, who resides at 1729 Heatherwood Drive, St Johns, told deputies he had attended a funeral earlier in the day and had been drinking. He admitted running off the road and admitted deciding to leave the area.

The driver provided breath samples that registered over twice the legal limit. After being arrested and booked into jail, he was charged with hit-and-run, a second-degree misdemeanor, driving under the influence of alcohol, also a misdemeanor, and causing an accident with property damage while intoxicated, a first-degree misdemeanor. Hinson was released on bonds totaling $4000.

Aggravated Battery: Deputies in the southwest district responded when a landlord-tenant dispute turned violent. The tenant, 53-year-old Michael Eugene Carver whose address was reported as 501 Sugar Pine Court in St Augustine, reportedly garnered a large kitchen knife and struck the victim several times, causing one serious laceration and several other minor cuts.

The victim’s son came to the residence after a call summoned him to assist his mother. Once he arrived, he called 911 due to the significance of his mother’s injuries. Fire Rescue treated the victim at the scene and transported her to Flagler Hospital for additional medical treatment.

According to the report, the victim stated she was in the process of evicting Carver and had recently been called to court to testify against him in another matter. Carver did not discuss the incident with officers at the scene and requested an attorney. He was charged with battery, a first-degree misdemeanor, and released from jail after posting a $1500 bond.

Hit and Run Arrest: Deputies in the southeast district responded to a report of a two-car motor vehicle crash where the driver of one of the cars drove away from the crash site, then fled on foot into a nearby wooded area. Deputies established a perimeter around the wooded area and located a subject who was wet and covered in mud.

Before requesting his attorney, the defendant made statements that potentially implicated him in the incident. A witness to some of the events, stated the driver had gone to a concert earlier in the night and struck a car around A1A Beach Boulevard and SR-312 before fleeing the scene. The driver was arrested and taken to the St Johns County Jail without further incident.

Road Rage Incident: An apparent road rage incident between two drivers in the southwest district led to a disturbance call at a community store. When deputies arrived, witnesses and participants in each vehicle could not agree on the events prior to the fracas.

The parties were separated by investigators. According to one of the drivers, he exited his car and began yelling at the occupants of the other vehicle who he says cut him off.

Investigators were told by the female occupants of the other vehicle that the man approached their car, screaming obscenities and verbal threats, because they had cut him off. Further, they alleged the male driver approached their car with a blunt object, threatening to harm them; however, this could not be collaborated with witnesses. The irate driver stated that it was “the Big Dude” who wanted to fight him when he came out of the store. Due to conflicting statements regarding a weapon being used, deputies filed simple assault charges against the man, which were forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office for review.

Quick Stats:

• The SJSO responded to 922 calls for service this weekend
• The northwest district received the heaviest call volume
• Saturday was the busiest day with 539 of the 922 calls occurring
• There were 87 traffic citations issued over the weekend
• There were 8 careless driving and a total of 40 reckless driver citations
• Friday evening until Sunday morning 54 disturbance calls reported
• Between Saturday at Midnight and Monday at Midnight
• booked 21 persons into the county jail
• released 25 persons from custody