News Cast for July 26th:
They got him
A night of searching has resulted in the capture of wanted man, Dwight Samuels, 43.
He was found hiding in a pavilion at the Okeechobee Civic Center and taken into custody.
He was arrested after a short foot chase.
The wanted man eluded capture in the Basinger area on Thursday. He apparently was able to get 14 miles away before the arrest.
43-year-old Dwight Samuels escaped from an Okeechobee sheriffs deputy near the Basinger Community Church on US 98 Thursday afternoon.
Samuels is wanted in multiple jurisdictions for violent crimes. He will be processed at the St. Lucie County jail on felony charges today.
He ran into the woods in Basinger and an all-out search from multiple agencies through the night has failed to find him.
Several state agencies including the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Okeechobee Correctional Institution, and the Indian River County Sheriffs Department also helped in the search.
Authorities earlier said they think Samuels may have fled the area.
US Marshals remained in Okeechobee along with deputies conducting searches and patrols this morning.
They also had the St. Lucie County sheriffs helicopter search the area throughout the night with heat sensitive radar in those wooded areas.
Cattleman Matt Pearce made a presentation to the Treasure Coast Council of local governments at the Okeechobee Methodist church.
He educated the coastal folks on the importance of agriculture to our food supply, our environment, wildlife, and economy.
Pearce said agriculture is not the reason for water pollution on the coast.
“When the Kissimmee River was diked and channeled a lot of the water didn’t get in the river because of the natural barrier it stayed on the landscape. There is a lot of perception that ranchers are the bad guys.”
Pearce notes cattlemen send out more phosphorus and nutrients each year than they bring into the basin
He also spoke in favor of the rural and family lands program that the state uses to conserve agriculture land.
“I’m having to defend my way of life and my families against the outside forces. The people have misperceptions about what we do. There are more of those people than the people that are working the land. You have to wield the sword every day, you have to fight these perceptions. My motto is I want to leave the land better than I found it.”
Lorida has a new cell phone tower at 1700 US 98.
Highlands County also will delay resurfacing the segment of Arbuckle Creek road from Bishop Dairy Road to 98.
County engineer JD Langford explained it will be delayed until 2030. They had planned to do the work in 2026.