MARION COUNTY, Florida (February 13, 2018) – Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) Major Crimes detectives arrested Dunnellon resident David Romig (DOB: 10/07/1965) for reporting an alleged home invasion on Tuesday, January 30, 2018, in an effort to cover up the murder of his live-in girlfriend, Sally Kaufmann-Ruff (DOB 10/06/1953).

Romig told detectives at the time of the incident that an unknown armed subject entered his home located at 10499 SW 122nd Court in Dunnellon in the early morning hours on Tuesday, and that Kaufmann-Ruff had been shot during an altercation between Romig and the subject. During the investigation, evidence proved that David’s initial testimony was false and that he had staged the scene to support the presence of an intruder after he had shot Kaufmann-Ruff during an “out-of-body” experience. Continue reading →

It is hard to believe 2017 has come to an end and we are already in the second month of 2018. The CEP recently hosted its Annual Luncheon with a sold out crowd of more than 600. With a theme of Delivering on Success, we shared with our partners many of the successes of the past year and goals reached through the first year of our 5-year Action, Moving Forward-Phase II.

Talent

The major new initiative of this plan is actually a two-prong approach to grow and attraction talent. The CEP took several steps for this effort in 2017 with the hiring of a Director of Talent Development, Dean Blinkhorn, and the creation of two programs to focus on these efforts.

Our Talent Development Initiative is presented by Townley Manufacturing who has made a significant commitment to this effort. The CEP will be partnering with our schools systems and higher education partners to ensure that teachers have the tools they need to provide relevancy to their lessons. This does not mean that we are going to tell teachers how to teach. Instead, we are going to provide them with resourced to help them prepare students for the realities of the workforce they will be entering. Continue reading →

As part of the CEP’s mission to be the catalyst for a prosperous community, the organization partners closely with local governments (as well as state and Federal) to ensure that we are creating and maintaining a business climate which encourages growth and prosperity. A recent example of this can be found in the issue of transportation impact fees.

In December, the Marion County Board of County Commissioners held a public hearing on transportation impact fees. Among those who expressed their support in keeping these fees at their current rate was the Impact Fee Task Force coordinated by the Ocala/Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership (CEP).  The Task Force is composed of a broad range of professionals who are working on issues related to building and development every day.  This group partnered with the County to study the impact fees when first proposed in 2015 and looked at the issue again last fall. At the conclusion of this hearing, the Commission made the unanimous decision to keep these fees at their current level. Continue reading →

Hopefully, at some point you have heard someone discuss or read about “The CEP.” While we sometimes assume everyone knows who we are and what we do, we are reminded that is not always the case. The CEP is an acronym for the Ocala/Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership (now you know why we use CEP!). We are the community’s chamber of commerce as well as its official economic development organization. The CEP was formed just over five years ago with the merger of the former Chamber and Economic Development Council. While this version is only five years old, our roots go back 130 years to the founding of the Ocala Board of Trade in 1887. Continue reading →

MARION COUNTY, Florida (December 24, 2017)- Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) Major Crimes detectives are currently investigating an early morning shooting in Ocala that left one man dead. At approximately 12:00 a.m., on Sunday, December 24, 2017, MCSO deputies were dispatched to the Queens Garden Resort located at 3330 South Pine Avenue in Ocala in reference to a shooting. When deputies arrived on scene, they found a black male victim lying on the ground suffering from gunshot wounds. Deputies began performing life-saving measures on the victim until paramedics arrived. The victim was transported to the hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. Continue reading →

MARION COUNTY, Florida (November 6, 2017)- At approximately 8:30 a.m., on Monday, November 6, 2017, Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) deputies responded to assist with a vehicle accident at SE 92nd Place Road and Baseline Road in Ocala. Responding deputies observed a male subject exit one of the vehicles with a firearm. The subject fled from deputies, and multiple K9 Units, Patrol Units and MCSO’s Air One responded to search the area for him.

After several hours of searching, MCSO SWAT Team members located the subject hiding in the exterior bushes of a home in Golf Park Estates, and he was armed and refusing to cooperate with SWAT team members. During this encounter, the subject was injured by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and was immediately transported to a local hospital. He is currently receiving medical care and is listed in critical condition. This subject matches the description of Belleview Police Department’s person of interest for the homicide that occurred in their jurisdiction early this morning. Deputies are still working to positively identify the subject. Continue reading →

In an effort to comfort victims of violent or sensitive crimes, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) has obtained a therapy dog to assist deputies and detectives during criminal investigations. Lily, a five year old female Beagle/Corgi mix, was rescued from a euthanasia shelter and enrolled in the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office’s “Paws & Stripes College.” During this 8-week course, the dogs learn basic obedience skills, and selected graduates move into the advanced training program to serve as PTSD dogs, therapy dogs and child victim advocate dogs. Lily graduated from the program’s Law Enforcement Investigative Therapy Dog Course and she was given to the MCSO at no cost. Since she came to the MCSO in May 2017, Lily has received full certification as a therapy dog and is out working in our community.

Lily’s handler is MCSO’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) Investigative Liaison, Detective Janeen Henley-Freeman. Detective Henley-Freeman and Lily will focus on adult and children DCF investigations, missing persons, sex crimes, child abductions and child exploitation internet crimes assisting the victims of these crimes. Our goal is for Lily to help victims feel more at ease while speaking about their situation(s).

The Lady Lake Police Department cannot function effectively without the assistance of concerned, responsible residents.  We are depending on YOU to call and tell us whenever you see suspicious persons or activity.

Some residents fail to call the police simply because they are not aware of what seemingly innocent activities should be considered suspicious. Others may recognize suspicious activity and be hesitant to call for fear of being thought of as the neighborhood “busy-body.”  Yet others simply assume that someone else has already called the police. Continue reading →