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A personal injury lawyer accused of stealing more than $840,000 from clients was arrested Monday by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced in a news conference.

Christopher Michael Reynolds, 44, of Pinellas Park, opened his private practice in Seminole in 2015 and primarily represented clients injured in vehicle crashes. According to Gualtieri, at least 16 clients had their cases settled, then had their money stolen by Reynolds.

According to information provided by the sheriff’s office, the first known instance of Reynolds stealing money from clients was in December 2018.

When clients first retained Reynolds as their lawyer, he consistently responded to any questions or concerns they had, Gualtieri said. But over time, Reynolds’ responses to clients became infrequent and eventually stopped entirely. Some clients would then call their insurance companies due to rising medical bills. Their insurance companies would tell them their cases had been settled.

The sheriff’s office first learned of the allegations last October, when one of Reynolds’ clients reported that her insurance company told her that her lawsuit had been settled months earlier for $100,000, Gualtieri said. But the woman said she hadn’t received the money.

Investigators learned that Reynolds had forged the woman’s name on legal documents and collected the settlement money, according to the sheriff’s office, but he didn’t use it to pay her medical bills.

Gualtieri said a lien was filed against another one of Reynolds’ clients when they couldn’t pay their medical bills. The best way for the clients to get their money back, he said, would be for Reynolds to be ordered to pay retribution at the end of his court case. But the sheriff said it could take years for that to happen.

“He had a pretty decent thing going,” Gualtieri said of the thefts.

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Reynolds pocketed as much as $148,750 from one client in March 2019, according to information provided by the sheriff’s office. He took at least $100,000 each from multiple clients. Gualtieri said the clients must have had serious injuries in order to get six-figure settlements.

It’s believed Reynolds used some of the money he stole to buy drugs, Gualtieri said. He also said Reynolds spent more than $30,000 on the adult content subscription website OnlyFans, almost $400,000 on the digital payment platform PayPal and more than $24,000 on the ride-sharing app Uber.

Gualtieri said the sheriff’s office believes there likely are more clients whose money was stolen by Reynolds. He said Reynolds often had meetings with his clients, who ranged in age from younger to older individuals, at bars.

Reynolds was suspended by the Florida Supreme Court in December 2022 as a result of the allegations, court records show. A summary of the suspension order posted on the Florida Bar’s website states Reynolds “abandoned his law practice without notice.”

Gualtieri said the Florida Bar already had begun investigating claims made against Reynolds before the sheriff’s office received its first complaint in October 2022.

That same month, Reynolds posted a picture taken in Asheville, North Carolina, on his business Facebook page. Many of the comments on the post were written by users claiming that Reynolds stole money from them.

Reynolds was booked into Pinellas County Jail Monday morning. Jail records show Reynolds faces 13 counts of grand theft, including one count of grand theft from a person 65 years of age or older. He also faces two counts of money laundering.

He remained in jail Monday evening in lieu of $395,000 bail, according to jail records.

Asked if Reynolds was cooperating with deputies, Gualtieri said Reynolds “lawyered up” upon his arrest.

Walmart will close its Walmart Neighborhood Market in Pinellas Park, the company announced Wednesday.

The Arkansas-based retailer said the store “did not meet our financial expectations” after a review. The store on 6900 U.S. Highway 19 N in Pinellas Park is set to close March 10.

Walmart has more than 5,000 stores nationwide and 380 stores, including Sam’s Club locations, in Florida. There are seven Walmart Supercenters and five Neighborhood Market stores in Pinellas Park. The U.S. 19 Neighborhood Market has 71 employees - officials said they’re eligible for transferring to another store.

Retailers across the nation have been bracing for a recession. Walmart said it in its 2022 annual report that economic pressures from COVID-19 and inflation could affect consumer spending in the next year. Walmart CEO Doug McMillion said in a CNBC interview in December that there could be more store closures nationwide due to a rise in retail theft, though Walmart did not cite that as a reason for the Pinellas Park closure.

There are no other closures Walmart planned in the Tampa Bay area, said Walmart communications director Brian Little in an email.

“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our 6900 U.S. Highway 19 N, Pinellas Park location. We look forward to serving them at our other stores in the surrounding communities and on walmart.com,” he said.

NEW YORK — The Super Bowl is advertising’s biggest, glitziest stage.

Big-name advertisers from Netflix to Google are paying as much as $7 million for a 30-second spot during the big game Sunday in order to capture the attention of the roughly 100 million viewers who tune in each year.

In order to get as much of a return on investment for those millions, most advertisers release their ads in the days ahead of the big game to get the most publicity for their spots. In the ads released so far, actor Miles Teller dances to customer-service hold music for Bud Light, Will Ferrell crashes popular Netflix shows like “Bridgerton” in a joint ad for GM and Netflix; and Alicia Silverstone reprises her “Clueless” character for online shopping site Rakuten.

BOOKING.COM

Actress Melissa McCarthy stars in a musical number for the travel site about her desire to go on a trip “somewhere, anywhere.”

BUD LIGHT

Actor Miles Teller (“Top Gun: Maverick”) and his wife, Keleigh Sperry Teller, dance to customer-service hold music while drinking a Bud Light.

BUDWEISER

In a regional ad, a diverse group of people share a six-pack of Budweiser — a voiceover by Kevin Bacon showcases the “six degrees of Bud.” Although he’s not shown, the ad is a nod to the “Six degrees of Kevin Bacon” meme — the idea that anyone in the entertainment business can be linked to Kevin Bacon in six connections.

BUSCH LIGHT

A mountain man talks about surviving the outdoors in an ad that stars singer Sarah McLachlan spoofing her well-known and oft-mocked animal advocacy ad that uses her song “Angel.”

DEXCOM

Singer Nick Jonas returns for the second year in an ad that highlight’s Dexcom’s glucose monitoring system.

DOWNY UNSTOPABLES

Super Bowl regular Procter & Gamble promotes its Downy Unstopables brand in an ad showing actor Danny McBride — who wants to go by “Downy McBride.”

DRAFTKINGS

The online betting site shows stars including skateboard mogul Tony Hawk and singer Ludacris discussing DraftKings free bet offer at a party at actor Kevin Hart’s house.

GENERAL MOTORS AND NETFLIX

Actor and comedian Will Ferrell drives different GM electric vehicles through different Netflix shows, including “Bridgerton” and “Stranger Things,” to announce that Netflix will feature electric vehicles in its original shows.

GOOGLE

Google promotes its Pixel photo editing tools “Magic Eraser” and “Photo Unblur” with a 90 second spot featuring Amy Schumer, Doja Cat and NBA star Giannis Antetekoumpo.

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HELLMANN’S

The mayo brand shows actors Jon Hamm and Brie Larson in a fridge with a jar of Hellmann’s mayo — to drive home the point that Hellmann’s would go well with a “ham and brie” sandwich.

MICHELOB ULTRA

Michelob Ultra’s two ads are set at Bushwood Country Club, the fictional country club in “Caddyshack,” and star a bevy of stars and athletes: tennis great Serena Williams, actor Brian Cox, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, soccer player Alex Morgan and boxer Canelo Alvarez.

PEPSI ZERO SUGAR

Pepsi is running two ads starring Ben Stiller and Steve Martin that ask “Great acting or great taste?” and ask viewers to taste Pepsi Zero Sugar for themselves.

PLANTERS

Jeff Ross, Natasha Leggero and other comedians hold a “roast” for the Planters spokescharacter Mr. Peanut.

POPCORNERS

The Frito-Lay brand re-creates “Breaking Bad” with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul — but this time the duo are cooking up the PopCorners snack in their RV instead of anything illicit.

PRINGLES

Anyone can get their hand stuck in a Pringles can, according to Pringles’ latest Super Bowl ad effort, including singer Meghan Trainor.

RAKUTEN

The online shopping site tapped “Clueless” stars Alicia Silverstone and Elisa Donovan to re-create a scene from the 1995 hit and convey that Rakuten gives shoppers cash back on purchases. Designer Christian Siriano also appears as a student.

UBER ONE

Uber’s ad for its membership program Uber One shows hip-hop mogul P. Diddy working to create a hit song for Uber One. The ad features singers of famous hits, including Montell Jordan (“This is How We Do It”), Kelis (“Milkshake”), Donna Lewis (“I Love You Always Forever”), Haddaway (“What is Love”) and Ylvis (“What Does the Fox Say”).

WORKDAY

In the first Super Bowl ad from the enterprise software company, rock stars Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, Joan Jett and others complain that office workers shouldn’t call each other “rock stars.”

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer

(NEXSTAR) – Walmart has confirmed it is shutting down seven stores over profitability concerns after a “thorough review process.”

Walmart confirmed the closure of five locations across three states to Nexstar last week. Among those was a store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that was described as “underperforming” in a statement to Nexstar’s KRQE.

Other impacted locations included a store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and three in the Chicago area. Nexstar’s WGN reports two of the stores in Chicago did not meet financial expectations.

Walmart confirmed to Nexstar on Thursday that a Neighborhood Market store in Pinellas Park, Florida, is set to close on Friday, March 10.

Among the Chicago locations impacted was a pick-up only location in Lincolnwood, which is set to close on Friday, February 17. The spokesperson confirmed Thursday that another pick-up only location, this time in Walmart’s headquarters city of Bentonville, Arkansas, will also close on Friday.

Walmart began testing these pick-up and delivery locations in 2014, according to Business Insider. The company started with a location in Bentonville before expanding to Metairie, Louisiana, in 2017, and Lincolnwood in 2019. The retail giant appears to be abandoning the model with the closure of the Bentonville and Lincolnwood locations, and last year’s closure of the Metairie location.

According to a company spokesperson, Walmart plans to take what it learned at these pick-up locations and apply it to pick-up and delivery operations at surrounding stores.

Here’s the full list of Walmart closures confirmed this year:

Employees at these stores can transfer to other Walmart locations, according to the company.

“This decision was not made lightly and was reached only after a thorough review process,” a Walmart spokesperson told Nexstar. “We have nearly 5,000 stores across the U.S. and unfortunately some do not meet our financial expectations. While our underlying business is strong, these specific stores haven’t performed as well as we hoped.”

In December, CEO Doug McMillon warned Walmart could close stores and raise prices due to historically high rates of theft at stores.

A spokesperson clarified that the decision to close these stores “was based on a range of issues concerning financial performance.”

Walmart didn’t respond to Nexstar’s questions regarding whether additional stores were under review or if more closures could be announced.

FWC released its latest report showing medium to low levels of red tide along parts of Tampa Bay's coastal region.

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Spring break is days away for many people, and some Tampa Bay area beaches are dealing with red tide.

Medium to low levels was detected by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in different spots along coastal beaches. Offshore in the gulf and along southwest Florida beaches had reported high concentrations of red tide detected.

Credit: FWC

Among the impacted beaches are Madeira Beach, Treasure Island and Johns Pass Park.

People out at Johns Pass on Wednesday afternoon said they were coughing due to the effects of red tide.

Hubbard's Marina and other local businesses are preparing for spring breakers to pack the beaches this month.

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"In general, we see a lot of different people, families and younger people," Captain Jason Porton explained.

Porton takes people out on dolphin and fishing tours. He said recently he can tell red tide is present.

"Being out on the water, I can tell you it’s a daily fluctuation," Porton said.

Experts explained red tide blooms like what we're seeing normally does not happen this time of the year, calling it unusual.

According to the FWC's latest report, 12 bloom concentrations were present in Pinellas County, one offshore in Hillsborough County, three in and offshore in Manatee County and 22 in and offshore in Sarasota County.

Red tide was also reported at very low to medium concentrations in Pinellas County, background to high concentrations in and offshore in Hillsborough County, very low to medium concentrations in and offshore in Manatee County and background to high concentrations in and offshore in Sarasota County.

"What we’re seeing in the past few weeks since the hurricane is a major flare-up. The worst we’ve seen since the hurricane," a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University's Water School, James Douglass, said.

Douglass explained contributing factors are the conditions out in the Gulf. It's recommended when red tide is present, that you avoid beaches impacted.

"During red tide, there is a lot of dead fish, it’s easy to step on a fish spine and hurt your foot and there are a lot more bacteria in the water," Douglass said.

The FWC reports that fish kills related to red tide were found in Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Officials also say that respiratory irritation for people related to red tide was reported in Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties.

"Red tide toxin can irritate your lungs and cause short-term effects and maybe even long term that we’re not aware about," Douglass said.

Porton said if you have a water excursion booked during spring break, bring something to cover your face.

Another factor that fuels red tide is human pollution. Experts and local businesses are asking you to be mindful of that.

"Keep this place clean, keep this place beautiful," Porton said.

Scientists at USF's College of Marine Science studying red tide forecasting said it's hard to predict exactly when and where red tide will be.

With the current red tide bloom, USF scientists believe it is likely going to hang around the Tampa Bay area with the potential for it to worsen in the next three to four days.

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — There's never a dull moment between Bob Welsh and his daughter Victoria.

On Sunday, Victoria moved her father down from Baltimore to Pinellas Park.

"I am very, very pleased to be with my girl. I've wanted to do this for a long time. I really, truly never thought it was going to happen; too many twists and turns in the route. And many obstacles," Bob said.

Bob's doctor advised against the move.

"They said we wouldn't do it. They said they said it would be impossible to get him here without a medical transport," Victoria added.

But an 18-hour RV trip later, Bob and Victoria made it home safe.

"I love it. I feel so relieved," he added.

Bob is in hospice care, staying with his retired nurse daughter.

The military man is used to a clean-shaven face. But after a month of moving between the hospital and rehab facility, shaving was put on the back burner.

After settling in, Victoria and Bob sat down to discuss his bucket list—number one on the list; an easy choice.

"I have never had a barber shop shave. That's what I'm waiting for," Bob said.

Not just any shave; an old-fashioned shave.

"They look to me like they're a very good thing. I know that a barbershop will shave you good. These pitiful razors that they put out nowadays. Most of them are jokes," he added.

But Bob uses an oxygen machine and has limited liability. Additionally, that type of care isn't easy to come by. So Victoria decided to use Facebook to figure out how to make her dad's dream come true.

"The outpour of love and compassion. I didn't get a response for the actual shave until today, right before you came. But so many people messaged me and said, what else can we do for him? I am not a barber. But what else can I do for him?" Vicki said.

Among the hundreds of comments, one suggested Doug Chancey with Buccaneer Barber. He immediately jumped at the chance to help.

"I'm older. So I've lost some people. And I understand that, you know, this is what you want to do in life. You want to help take care of people. I mean, that's why I'm a barber. I take care of people," he said.

Doug loaded his supplies up and made the journey to Victoria and Bob's home Thursday. Ready to share his passion for barbering, especially with a straight razor, with the Welsh's.

"It's the experience. It's something every man can do for himself there. And if you don't change it from just that normal daily shave, because it's the grind, most guys hate to shave. So if it's really enjoyable to get a shave, then it kind of changes the tone of the whole thing. It kind of makes you enjoy it a little bit more," he said.

Free of charge, Chancey trimmed Bob's hair, shaved his beard, gave him the hot towel treatment he pined for, and even a face and shoulder massage.

It's compassion Bob never imagined.

"It means an awful lot to anyone, especially me at my stage of life. Because I know, and I'm not being crazy, I don't think, but I know when you reach a certain age, you got to accept the fact there isn't a lot more steps left," he said.

The whole process rendered a typically chatty and gregarious Bob speechless.

"Man, he did an excellent job. The hot towels was great. The shave was excellent. And the finish was even better. And I can't thank the man enough. He is a master of his trade," Bob said.

Meantime, others try to figure out how they can contribute to Bob's bucket list. One Facebook user tipped Chancey for shaving Bob. Another found a way to check another adventure off of Bo's list.

"Someone else is fulfilling his wish to cruise along the coast. They have a convertible Chevy car. They're taking him for a ride along the coast," she said.

It's that Florida compassion that warms Bob's heart.

"I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I'm not going to be sitting here worried about it because I'm going to try to make the best of today," he added.

But a shave is only the tip of Welsh's list. In the Facebook post, Victoria shared other desires her father expressed.

While some of the goals aren't attainable, Victoria looks forward to crossing as many off her father's list as she can.

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