THE NEWSCASTER
THE NEWSCASTER
PRESORTED
STANDARD
PLEASE
RECYCLE
US Postage
Paid
Deborah Russell - Editor/Publisher
Wednesday May 27, 2009
Inglis, FL 34449
Tom Russell - Consulting Editor
A Publication of
Sally Price - Correspondent
Permit No. 14
Newscaster Publishing
Mike Moore - Photojournalist
Squawk Box
With Doug Johnston
Red on Yellow can kill
a fellow
Last week I was on my
way out the door to go to work
when a horrific sight greeted me
about 8 feet away in our drive-
way. At the very same place
where an hour and a half earlier
I had walked in the dark, barefooted as a
yard dog I might add, to retrieve the morn-
ing newspaper, was a coral snake.
The slimy creature was crawling to-
wards me, but stopped when it felt my pres-
ence. I immediately went to our screened-in
patio and grabbed a push broom. After
swinging the wooden frame at the snake
about six or seven times the broom broke
into three pieces. I grabbed another broom
and the thought occurred to me that this
could get expensive: Brooms don’t come
cheap these days. This time around I was
successful smacking the snake on its head.
After a few more whacks for good
measure, I threw the mangled snake in a shal-
low box and put the box in the back of my
Left: A quick meeting taking place inside Citrus County's famous Chicken King restaurant as the owners continue to break the business down and pack it
truck. My plan was to take the snake to work,
up. After 35 years, a devastating fire, and sluggish economy has brought the axe down on this iconic eatery. Photo by Mike Moore. More on this story on
check the markings and consult the internet
page 3. Right: Chad Floyd Jeter of Alabama awaits transport to the Levy County Jail after being charged with homicide on a police officer. Inglis Sgt.
Timothy Swiggett was stabbed by the suspect and then fled into a marshy area near Yankeetown. Jeter is also wanted for a bank robbery in Ala.
Continued on page 4 - Squawk Box
IPD Photo by Inv. John Dowd
AL. bank robbery suspect arrested
after stabbing Inglis police officer
By Newscaster Editor Deborah Russell
After an extensive manhunt in Yankeetown, last Thursday (May 21), a wanted fugitive was located in
a marsh by bloodhounds from the Department of Corrections' Cross City K9 Unit and
taken into custody. The fugitive, 30-year-old Chad Floyd Jeter, 12066 Highway 31, Canoe,
Alabama (near the Alabama-Florida state line), is suspected of the armed robbery of the
National Bank and Trust in Atmore, Alabama, at 3:34 p.m., May 19. Atmore is located about
50 miles northeast of Mobile.
The Yankeetown manhunt began shortly after 4:19 a.m., when Inglis Police Ser-
geant Timothy Swiggett noticed an older model blue GMC pickup truck, with no tag,
backed into the woods about a mile and a half west of the Yankeetown General Store, in a
secluded area of Yankeetown near the Gulf of Mexico on Hwy. 40 West.
Sgt. Swiggett spoke with Jeter, who was in the driver's seat of the car and asleep
when he first arrived. Swiggett said that Jeter had behaved appropriately, answered ques-
tions as though he were oriented to person, place and time; and had conversed with him Sgt. Timothy Swiggett
in a normal manner. Swiggett checked to see if there were any wants and warrants for him.
Swiggett soon learned that there was an active warrant for Jeter's arrest, but for a short period of time, he did not
know that the warrant was for armed robbery.
"The call came in over the radio about the warrant," said Swiggett, "And he probably heard it, too." As
soon as Swiggett returned to Jeter's car, with the plan of detaining him until backup arrived, the door was open
Adam Wood of the National Guard, joined by veteran Denise Brooks, supporter
and Jeter jumped out and started attacking him with a "throwing star," a flat metal disc weapon with sharp
Vickie Norris and Flag Planting Ceremony coordinator Rose Martin, plants one
cutting points. "There was no doubt in my mind that he would have killed me," said Swiggett, who struggled
of 300 flags on display at Seven Rivers Regional Medical Center on Wednesday,
with Jeter in an attempt to protect himself and take Jeter into custody. "We were struggling on the ground," said
May 20, 2009 in Crystal River. The flags will be on display through May 27 in
Continued on page 3 - Robbery-Stabbing
recognition of Memorial Day. Photo courtesy of Seven Rivers Regional Medical.