ORLANDO, FL – An alert Disney employee helped a woman escape from a domestic violence situation when the woman called pretending to buy tickets, but was actually attempting to get away from an abusive boyfriend.
On Saturday, January 9, an unidentified Disney ticket booker accepted a call from a woman, also unidentified, who lived in Pennsylvania.
According to Orlando’s WESH 2, the ticket booker became concerned when she heard the woman yelling “get off me” and “get away from me” while they were on the phone together.
Disney World ticket booker alerts police to domestic violence victim https://t.co/kpO3vzjGnH
— WLWT (@WLWT) January 23, 2021
The Disney employee began asking the woman “yes” or “no” questions.
According to a Northern York County Regional Police Department report, as reported by WESH 2, the employee asked if the woman was actually calling to book a Disney trip, and the woman answered, “no.”
Then, when the ticket booker asked if the woman needed police officers at her home, the woman replied “yes.”
The woman also replied “yes” to the Disney worker’s question about whether someone was hurting her.
The Disney employee called 911, and police arrived at the woman’s home to find 38-year-old Wayne Shiflett. Shiflett admitted that the woman was in the home and allowed police to enter.
According to Fox 43, the police then spoke with the woman, who told them that she wanted Shiflett removed. Police immediately separated the pair.
Officers learned that Shiflett and the woman had been arguing about Shiflett’s job. Shiflett had just started work as a fire extinguisher salesman, and he reportedly became angry “when the victim told him that it was ‘not a realistic job’ and that he needed ‘a real job’ if he wanted to be with her.”
Fox 43 reports that after hearing that, Shiflett attacked the victim, threatening to kill her, choking her at least three times, and slapping her.
Police also reported that “the victim showed visible signs of the alleged attack, including scratches to her face and red marks on her neck.”
A ticket booker at Walt Disney World is being called a hero after helping a woman who was the victim of domestic violence. https://t.co/uZol4ItrZr
— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) January 23, 2021
According to Fox 43, Shiflett allegedly admitted to choking and slapping the woman.
Shiflett, who had an outstanding warrant for theft, was arrested and charged with “strangulation, terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, and simple assault.”
Also in January 2021, Orlando was able to hail another hometown hero for using quick thinking to help another victim of domestic violence.
On New Year’s Day, according to WESH 2 News, waitress Flavaine Carvalho was working a shift at a Mrs. Potato restaurant.
A family of two parents and two children, ages 11 and 4, were seated in her area.
Carvalho noticed that the parents ordered food and drink for only the four year old child. The other child, they told her, would eat at home later.
‘Do you need help?’ Courageous Orlando waitress saves child from extreme abuse, cops say https://t.co/aciEomaN1U
— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) January 15, 2021
Carvalho took a closer look at the little boy and noticed bruising on his face and arms.
She wrote a note asking if the boy needed help and held it up behind the adults so that only the boy could see. The boy nodded yes, and Carvalho notified police.
According to WESH 2, the boy’s stepfather, Timothy Wilson, was subsequently arrested on one count of third-degree child abuse.
Further investigation revealed a horrifying story about the boy’s life at home, which police detectives described as “torture.”
WESH 2 reports that Wilson tied the little boy’s ankles and wrists, and hung him upside down.
For Christmas, “Santa” decided the boy deserved punishment, so he was handcuffed, behind his back, to a furniture dolly.
Furthermore, the boy told police that he was regularly kept from eating as punishment, and had been hit with a broom.
He was also forced to do planks for 30 minutes, and he was beaten when he could not do them.
Doctors at a local hospital found the boy had bruises on his entire body, and they noted that he was 20 pounds underweight.
On January 6, Wilson was arrested again, and he was charged with “multiple counts of aggravated child abuse and child neglect.”
In addition, Kristen Swann, the little boy’s mother, admitted to knowing about the abuse and to failing to seek medical care for the boy. She was charged on January 6 with two counts of child neglect.
An 11-year-old boy was removed from his home and his parents are in jail after police say an Orlando waitress noticed something was wrong and used a note to ask him if he needed help https://t.co/iZvqHvFjwG
— CNN (@CNN) January 15, 2021
According to CNN, the 4 year old child was removed from the home and showed no signs of abuse.
Orlando police Chief Orlando Rolon praised Carvalho’s actions as life-saving.
He told WESH 2:
“We probably would’ve been talking about a potential homicide investigation if she had not intervened when she did.”
One St. Petersburg officer shot, another injured in gunfight that killed child abuse suspect
ST PETERSBURG, FL – One officer was shot and another was injured during a gunfight involving a child abuse suspect in the south side of St Petersburg on Wednesday.
The harrowing confrontation that unfolded outside a grocery store that has already been the scene of two other fatal shootings this year.
The two St Petersburg police officers were involved in a confrontation with a suspect in the 1400 block of 18th Avenue South at 4:17 p.m., the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office told Fox News.
One officer was shot by the suspect, and another suffered minor injuries during the affray. The wounded (shot) officer is expected to survive, and is listed in stable condition after surgery.
The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Dominique Harris, was pronounced dead at a hospital, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told reporters. Officers with the department’s Special Investigation Unit were trying to locate Harris, who was wanted on a child abuse charge.
He was found sitting in a parked car outside a store.
The suspect’s brother was inside the store when plainclothes officers called for uniformed officers to respond. A uniformed officer arrived and asked Harris for his ID, which he handed over.
Sheriff Gualtieri stated:
“They confirmed that he was the person they were looking for. He rolled the window up on the car and refused their commands to get out.”
According to further statements by Sheriff Gualteri, the on-scene officers tried opening the car door and attempted to break a window. Harris attempted to flee, backing his vehicle into a police patrol vehicle, and then pulling forward and hitting a pole.
He hit several other vehicles, both police and civilian, and then stuck a handgun out the window and fired several shots from the semi-automatic pistol at officers only a few feet away from him.
A St Petersburg detective was hit by the gunfire and transported to a hospital. Officers at the scene returned fire on Harris, and he was hit several times. Paramedics treated Harris at the scene and then transported him to a hospital, where he later died.
Sheriff Gualteri commented on the shooting:
“I would almost call it point-blank range. He is very fortunate and we’re all very fortunate that it wasn’t worse, that he wasn’t shot in a more vulnerable location.”
Sheriff Gualteri said that the wounded officer was pulled to safety by another officer. He underwent surgery at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg hospital and was in stable condition. The officer asked that his name not be released until all of his family members had been told of his injury.
Another officer injured her knee and may have suffered a concussion. She was treated at the hospital and later released.
The investigating officers recovered a handgun used by Harris and spent shell casings.
Sheriff Gualteri said the child abuse charge stemmed from an altercation between Harris and a 15-year-old boy at a playground. He allegedly slammed the teenager to the ground.
The Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force is investigating the shooting.
St Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman commented via Twitter:
“One of our @StPeteFL officers was shot late this afternoon. I spent a moment with the officer at the hospital and will continue to pray for his full recovery. The County’s Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force is conducting the investigation.”
One of our @StPeteFL officers was shot late this afternoon. I spent a moment with the officer at the hospital and will continue to pray for his full recovery. The County's Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force is conducting the investigation.
— Rick Kriseman (@Kriseman) December 3, 2020
Rob Wing, a local St Petersburg personality, also commented:
“Suspect shot cop in the groin first before any cop fired back according to the news reports. He was the only one shot. One other was injured but not shot. Suspect continued shooting.”
Suspect shot cop in the groin first before any cop fired back according to the news reports. He was the only one shot. One other was injured but not shot. Suspect continued shooting.
— Cat in the cradle (@RobWing4) December 3, 2020
From the Tampa Bay Times:
“Wednesday’s shootout was the latest incident of gun violence that has marred the city in recent weeks. In November there were seven shooting incidents that left three people dead and injured seven.
City Council member Deborah Figgs-Sanders, who visited the scene soon after the shooting, noted that the violence comes as the community is already dealing with the loss of jobs and income in the wake of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.”