A smoldering electrical fire under the hood of a 1995 Buick Century erupted while being hauled on a tow truck heading through Macclenny the morning of February 6.

The driver was heading north on S. 5th St. near Minnesota Avenue when black smoke began bellowing from the vehicle’s engine.

Another truck driver Derek Tippins was trailing the first and used a fire extinguisher to quell the flames enough for the tow truck driver to unhook the burning vehicle and remove it from the truck.

Nobody was injured in the fire but the Buick was completely destroyed.

Seven firefighters from the City of Macclenny used 650 gallons of water to fully extinguish the blaze, which had engulfed the front of the vehicle.

Defendent Marshall Mann (center) with his attorneys during his October trial.

The nearly three-year-old criminal case against a City of Macclenny computer technician for predatory sexual activities with minor females came to a close on February 6 when he pleaded no contest to a charge of simple battery on one of them back in March, 2002.

Marshall Mann, 48, was acquitted in a jury trial last October of felony sexual battery and lewd acts on another young victim. The state attorney’s office last month downgraded the sole remaining pending count against him to battery, and transferred the case to county court.

County Judge Joey Williams refused a defense request to withhold adjudication of guilt during last week’s hearing, ignoring Mr. Mann’s denial that he touched the victim in a sexual manner.

The judge termed the defendant’s actions “intentional and sinister.”

“You’re in a pickle,” asserted the judge. “You’ve told the court and community ‘I’m not denying what I’m accused of.’ That’s a big thing. What you’re accused of is a heinous misdemeanor.”