Charlotte County Sheriff's detectives arrested a man from Toledo, Ohio for allegedly stealing the catalytic converter from a shopper's van parked in the Englewood Walmart parking lot on Feb. 25.

The Fort Myers News-Press reports that deputies received a call from a woman at 1:43 p.m. who came out of the store and saw a man under her van and asked what he was doing. The subject said he was working on a friend’s van; she said it was hers. She saw the muffler hanging down and told him to put it back or she was going to call the cops. The man pushed the muffler back up, and then got into a white Pontiac Fiero sports car occupied by another man and they left. ... Read more

NORTH PORT -- The man who used his "monster van" to crush a 16-year-old girl's car over the weekend made good on his mistake Tuesday, WBBH-TV of Fort Myers reports.

Norman Nowling was arrested on a charge of felony criminal mischief after squashing the Toyota Corolla early Saturday morning at the Redneck Yacht Club in Charlotte County.

"I'm sure there's no other 16-year-old who can say, 'My first car got run over by a monster truck,'" said Amanda Kent.

Nowling met with the Kent's stepfather Tuesday, and gave her a $6,500 check to cover the cost of getting her a new vehicle. She says she'll start shopping for a new car this afternoon.

"I need to go to sleep every night with a clear conscience," Nowling said.

But Nowling says he still takes issue with the way the incident was handled. He admits to driving over the car, but says he wasn't the first to do it -- and he feels security at the venue unfairly singled him out. ... Read more

Upset that prostitutes have staked a claim at Woodward Avenue and Clark Street in Palmona Park, North Fort Myers resident Carla Marker on Monday nailed a wooden sign to a utility pole in her yard.

Fort Myers News-Press columnist Sam Cook reports that the sign expressed the outrage of law-abiding residents. It read: “Whores are no longer allowed on this corner.” The message wasn’t well received.

“My sign was gone by Wednesday morning,” says Marker, 50. “I was so angry. I want to know who stole my sign. I still have my ‘Crack Free Zone’ sign, but I want to chase these whores out of my neighborhood.”

How prevalent there are women engaged in the world’s oldest profession?

“We counted 13 hookers one morning,” says Teresa Edwards, Marker’s neighbor. “Their offices are the bus stop seats.”

Thirteen prostitutes? Before noon?

“The best time is 10 in the morning,” Marker says. “Men come by and pick them up. When they miss a ‘john,’ they say: ‘I’ll get the next one.’” ... Read more

MANATEE -- A boat owner saw his boat on Craigslist even though he didn't place it there.

The Bradenton Herald reports that the boat owner told authorities he had made a deal to sell his boat without the trailer to a suspect recently for $2,500 according to a sheriff's office report.

The suspect was allowed to take the boat from the 37800 block of State Road 64 East in Myakka City with the promise of $800 immediately and $1,700 later, according to the report.

But instead of getting his balance due and his trailer back, the boat owner instead saw his boat listed on Internet buying and selling site Craigslist without his permission or knowledge, the report states.

Neither the boat owner nor law enforcement know where the boat or trailer have been taken, the report concludes. ... Read more