News Update for 8/29/24
A former Sebring High School Cross County Coach is behind bars. Jayson Allan Bass of Sebring was arrested Friday, August 23rd by deputies of the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office. He is charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, molesting a child under 12, and obstructing justice, tampering in felony life capitol proceeding. The arrest stems from multiple alleged sexual abuse complaints dating back to 2017, the last of which came in on August 6th, 2024. According to an HCSO social media post, they are seeking any other victims. Anyone with information can call the Special Victims Unit at 863-402-7357 or email detectives@highlandssheriff.org.
A teenager is accused of shooting at police officers in Polk County. Lakeland Police announced yesterday two officers were shot on Tuesday on Atlantic Road. The unmarked car the officers were in was hit by five bullets, but the officers were not hurt. Eighteen-year-old Arthur Jared Williams and 22-year-old Abdul Malik Littles were arrested yesterday morning in Tampa. LPD Chief Sam Taylor identified Williams as the shooter. He’s charged with attempted second-degree murder of a law enforcement officer. Littles was wanted on an unrelated drug charge in Hillsborough County.
A local cyber security expert expects some big changes following a massive breach. About three billion records may have been compromised when a company called National Public Data was hacked four months ago. News of the breach surfaced this month when a class-action lawsuit was filed against the company. Jon Taylor is an executive at Orlando’s Fortress Information Security, and he says this could change what methods of identification are used for things like opening a bank account. Taylor says we’re going to have to move away very quickly from using Social Security numbers as an ID piece. In the meantime, he tells Channel 9 you might want to look into an identity-theft protection service, and be creative about how you answer your security questions.
Daytona International Speedway saw some familiar faces this year at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 annual Nascar Cup Series stock car race. Sebring High School’s Spirit of Sebring Marching Band performed for a second time last Saturday. SHS also played at last year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 after members of NASCAR saw the SHS Drumline perform at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. SHS was joined by two other high schools on Saturday that Daytona officials selected to perform for the event.