A suspected Jacksonville bank robber rode to the heist in a taxi with a man he owed $400.

Police said Allen Cooper Jr., 44, told the man he needed to go to the bank to get the money, so the two rode there in a cab. Once at the BB&T bank at 6319 Roosevelt Blvd., the robber went inside, where he handed a teller a note demanding cash, police said.

After the teller complied, witnesses saw the robber leave in the cab where he paid his debt. Police tracked the cab to Ortega Village apartments on Wedgewood Drive. Witnesses identified Cooper, whom they knew as "Terry," from bank surveillance and other photos, the police report said.

They were told Cooper might have slipped into a woman's nearby apartment. He was found upstairs and had changed into the woman's clothes attempting to elude police. He had to be subdued with a stun gun, the report said.

Cooper was charged with strong-armed robbery.

Dana Treen

Truck, van collision leaves 1 man dead

A motorist died Thursday in a collision on Lane Avenue and West 12th Street, Jacksonville police said.

It was not clear if the westbound van driver ignored the 12th Street stop sign at Lane, but he pulled into the path of a northbound truck carrying a construction debris container about 1 p.m., police said.

The front of the truck struck the van, sending the truck into a deep ditch. The van driver, who was ejected, was taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital where he died, traffic homicide Sgt. Don Washington said. The truck driver was taken to another hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Washington said investigators at the scene had not determined if the drivers were wearing seat belts. The men were alone in the vehicles, he said.

Dana Treen

Gun falls to the floor as student is checked

A 17-year-old Terry Parker High School student was charged Thursday with bringing a gun to the Jacksonville school.

A police report said the school resource officer was tipped that the teen was trying to sell a gun on campus. The officer removed the student from his second-period classroom and saw a gun slip from his pants leg onto the floor.

The teen, whom the Times-Union is not naming as juvenile of a non-violent crime, told the officer he found the gun near his home and brought it to school for no reason, the report said.

Jim Schoettler

Co-workers find body of Northside man

Jacksonville police are investigating the death of a Northside man found by co-workers when he did not show up for work.

Foul play is suspected in the death of the man. Homicide Sgt. T.K. Waters said there had been a disturbance and an unusual amount of traffic in the 2200 block of Longreene Road Wednesday night and early Thursday.

The man was found when rescue workers were called to the mobile home shortly before 9 a.m.

Dana Treen

FLAGLER

Authorities: Child rescued from dad

A Flagler County man was arrested Thursday after being accused of threatening to toss his 2-year-old son into a pool and using him as shield when deputies arrived.

David Romero, 35, of 40 Laramie Drive is charged with child abuse, resisting arrest and disorderly intoxication.

A Sheriff's Office report said the boy's mother, Yeney Castaneda, told deputies she and Romero argued Thursday morning and she went to a neighbor's home. She said Romero showed up holding the child and threatening to throw him in a pool if she didn't speak with him.

Deputies were called and said they arrived at Romero's home to find him heavily intoxicated. He was holding the child with his arms around the his neck and refused to put the boy down despite being ordered to do so, the report said. Romero turned to run inside the screen porch and began swinging the child as if trying to toss him into the pool according to the Sheriff's Office. Deputies forced Romero to the ground and rescued the boy.

Jim Schoettler

PUTNAM

House fire takes life of woman, injures 1

A woman is dead and a man has been taken to a Gainesville burn unit following a house fire early Thursday morning in Palatka.

The victims, who are 18 to 20 years old, were in the wood-frame house in the 200 block of Highlawn Avenue when the fire was reported by a worker at a nearby Huddle House restaurant, said detective Andy Redding of the state Fire Marshal's Office.

When firefighters arrived, the house was engulfed in flames.

Redding said the fire is suspicious, but no cause had been determined.

The victims' identities have not been released by officials.

Dana Treen