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DADE CITY -- The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is responding to a reported shooting involving two victims whose conditions are unknown.
The incident took place late Friday near Porter Street and Hutchinson Street in the Tommy Town area of Dade City, according to spokesman Doug Tobin.
--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer
PALM HARBOR -- An employee of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office was killed in a motorcycle crash Friday afternoon.
Adam J. Herrick, a civilian criminal justice specialist who assisted the jail in security issues, was riding his motorcycle on U.S. 19 near Colonial Boulevard when an SUV moved into his path. He hit the back of the Jeep Liberty and was ejected, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.
Herrick, 25, had been with the sheriff's office since October 2005.
--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer
The National Transportation Safety Board released photographs today from the investigation into an airplane crash that took the lives of Bell Shoals Baptist Church pastor Forrest Pollock and his son, Preston, 13, in North Carolina on May 12.
The wreckage of the single-engine Piper plane was located at the 4,700-foot level of Cold Mountain, near Cruso, N.C., on a steep slope in heavily wooded terrain.
The aircraft departed from Rutherfordton, N.C., and was en route to Little Rock, Ark., when the accident occurred at about 5:34 a.m. No flight plan was filed for the flight.
Because the remote accident site is inaccessible to news media, the NTSB has released the photographs today.
[Images courtesy of The National Transportation Safety Board]
TAMPA -- A former aide to Hillsborough Commissioner Kevin White sued the county in state court Friday, saying she was fired for refusing his sexual advances.
Alyssa Ogden, who worked for White for seven months before she was fired in November 2007, has made similar claims to the St. Petersburg Times. She has also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is unresolved.
Ogden, 23, claims White repeatedly made sexual advances toward her, begging him to "give me a chance," and promising future career advancement if she did. Days after she was hired, she claims White asked her to accompany him on a trip to Atlanta, where, the suit claims, he attempted to sleep in her bed.
Her suit claims she was ultimately fired for refusing White's advances.
The lawsuit does not name White as a defendant, but is filed against Hillsborough County. Attempts to reach White, Ogden and her attorney was not successful Friday.
"We're reviewing the lawsuit and will prepare a defense," said Hillsborough County Attorney Renee Lee. "That's the extent of our comments at this point."
Bill Varian, Times Staff Writer
TAMPA -- Prosecutors will get dental impressions, measurements and photos from Edward Allen Covington after an autopsy showed that one of the children he is accused of killing had a bite mark on her arm.
The mutilated bodies of Lisa Freiberg and her two children were found in their Lutz mobile home Monday. Deputies found Covington, 35, in a closet and say he confessed Wednesday to the triple homicide, believed to have occurred on Mother's Day.
During the autopsy of 2-year-old victim Heather Savannah, a forensic pathologist identified a bite mark on the child's arm, court records show. The bite mark appears to have been inflicted "very close" in time to the child's fatal injuries. A forensic odontologist said it looks like an adult bite mark.
Prosecutors sought permission Friday to get dental impressions from Covington to determine if the bite mark came from him. Hillsborough Circuit Judge Walter Heinrich granted the motion. He said members from the Public Defender's Office, which is representing Covington, must be present when the samples are taken.
Covington, a former corrections officer, remains in jail without bail.
-- Colleen Jenkins, Times staff writer
No deal and no guilty plea, says a 75-year-old Clearwater woman briefly jailed in January after a confrontation with a police officer at a McDonald's drive-through.
Jean Merola (left) has turned down the state's offer to plead guilty and pay an $88 fine on a charge of violating a city ordinance alleging that she obstructed a right of way.
Instead, she is scheduled to go to trial on July 10.
"I just want my day in court," Merola said outside a Pinellas County courtroom today. To her, the principle at stake -- that she doesn't want to admit guilt when she believes she didn't do anything wrong -- is what's most important.
Continue reading "Trial set in McDonald's french fry arrest" »
SUN CITY CENTER -- St. Joseph's Hospital should be allowed to build a 90-bed satellite facility at Big Bend Road in Riverview, an administrative judge has ruled, thickening the plot in the ongoing drama and battle between hospitals to tap into the growing population in south Hillsborough County.
The order, released late Thursday, now puts the final decision in the hands of the Agency for Health Care Administration, which late last year ruled that competing HCA-owned South Bay Hospital should be allowed to relocate to Big Bend from its Sun City Center site.
The new ruling in favor of St. Joseph's stems from its appeal of AHCA's denial of its application in 2005. After that denial, South Bay and St. Joseph's both filed new applications to build a hospital at that coveted site.
Continue reading "St. Joseph's should build Riverview hospital, judge says" »
LUTZ -- The funeral for the victims of a triple homicide will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Gateway Christian Center Assembly of God, 14200 Central Avenue North, Tampa.
On Mother's Day, Edward Allen Covington choked, beat, stabbed and dismembered his girlfriend and her two children inside the woman's mobile home, Hillsborough sheriff's deputies say. He also killed the family dog, they say.
Keith and Barbara Freiberg discovered their daughter, Lisa, and their two grandchildren, Zachary and Savannah, the next morning. Lisa was 26 years old; Zachary, 7; and Savannah, 2.
To read Keith and Barbara Freiberg's hour-long interview with the St. Petersburg Times, click here.
Rodney Thrash, Times staff writer
TAMPA -- Willie Tarpley Jr., convicted of second-degree murder for slaying another man with a samurai sword, was sentenced this morning to 40 years in prison, followed by 10 years' probation.
Tarpley, who faced up to life in prison, killed Lee Alexander, his estranged wife's new boyfriend, last May.
He became enraged when he learned his wife began dating Alexander, a ranch hand and registered sex offender whom he didn't want around his daughters. Tarpley and his wife also were registered sex offenders.
Colleen Jenkins, Times staff writer
[Florida Department Law Enforcement]
TAMPA -- Three Tampa women were arrested Thursday and charged with embezzling more than $6,800 from their employer, police say.
According to a report, Melania Wright, Kimberly Reid and Julia Soto worked at Pearl Crafts, 3916 W Hillsborough Ave. They wouldn't give customers receipts. Then they would void the transactions, remove the cash and pocket the money, the report says.
Wright allegedly stole $3,260; Soto, $1,900; and Reid, $1,656.
Of the three women, Soto was the only one to deny the accusations. In Wright's confession to police, she implicated Soto and Reid in the scheme.
Rodney Thrash, Times staff writer
No deal and no guilty plea, says a 75-year-old Clearwater woman briefly jailed in January after a confrontation with a police officer at a McDonald's drive-through.
Jean Merola has turned down the state's offer to plead guilty and pay an $88 fine on a charge of violating a city ordinance alleging that she obstructed a right-of-way.
Instead, she is scheduled to go to trial on July 10.
"I just want my day in court," Merola said outside a Pinellas County courtroom today. To her, the principle at stake -- that she doesn't want to admit guilt when she believes she didn't do anything wrong -- is what's most important.
Continue reading "Trial set in McDonald's french-fry arrest" »
TAMPA -- A woman on the lam for 22 years was arrested Thursday night thanks to a Tampa police officer's investigative work, authorities say.
An investigation of an April armed robbery of an Advance America led Officers Brett Owen and William Logan to the woman, identified in a police report as 55-year-old Bethney Jean Bolds (left).
On his own time, Owen contacted the Florida Department of Corrections, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and requested Bolds' fingerprints. Reports from the agency revealed that the woman also was wanted in connection with warrants from 1986, when Bolds failed to appear in court on two counts of resisting arrest with violence on Tampa police officers.
-- Rodney Thrash, Times staff writer
[Hillsborough Country Sheriff's Office]
CLEARWATER -- A head-on collision seriously injured at least one person tonight.
Two people were injured, and one was flown to Bayfront Medical Center, according to Clearwater Police.
The crash happened just after 9 p.m. Police shut down east and westbound lanes of Belleair Road for about an hour.
--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer
[St. Petersburg Police Department]
ST. PETERSBURG -- Police have arrested two men suspected in bank robberies this month.
Police say Stephen A. Burrell, 27, pictured far left, walked into three banks wearing sunglasses and a towel around his neck, implied a weapon and demanded cash. He has been charged with robberies at the SunTrust Bank at 4142 6th Street South on May 5 and the BB&T Bank at 100 34th St. N. on Tuesday.
Police say Opie Raheem Warren, 28, of Tampa, drove the get-away vehicle in the most recent case. He and Burrell, of 501 41st Ave. S in St. Petersburg, are suspects in a robbery at the Wachovia Bank at 125 5th St. S on May 8.
Police spokesman Bill Proffitt said Burrell walked into a SunTrust Bank at 3100 Central Ave. on Monday but did not rob the bank. He was caught on surveillance video, pictured above.
Police identified them after receiving a tip. They were booked in the Pinellas County Jail.
--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer
TAMPA -- A request by Joe Redner to sell alcohol at a brewery failed to get approval today at the Tampa City Council, but Redner will try again June 5 when more council members are present. Redner is best known as the owner of the Mons Venus strip club.
Redner wants to open Cigar City Brewing at his business headquarters on Spruce Street just west of Dale Mabry Highway. The microbrewery would be run by his son. Redner's plans call for five-course dinners with beer tastings on Friday nights and a gift shop that would sell beer.
Neighborhood groups objected to Redner's proposal, saying they were concerned about increased traffic, among other things. Council members John Dingfelder, Mary Mulhern and Joe Caetano voted in favor of Redner's request, and Gwen Miller and Tom Scott voted no. Charlie Miranda and Linda Saul-Sena were absent.
--Times staff writer
ST. PETERSBURG -- Speaking publicly for the first time since last week's fatal shooting at the County Courthouse here, two Pinellas sheriff's deputies described in frightening detail a point-blank gunfight and said their actions probably saved a number of lives.
About 1 p.m. May 7, Glen Lee Powell entered the courthouse at 545 First Ave. N in St. Petersburg.
Deputy B.J. Lyons said his suspicions were aroused by Powell's body language. "There was a look that was kind of undescribable," Lyons said.
Deputy Marvin Glover said he was suspicious when Powell refused to take off his book bag.
Lyons said he and the gunman were "6 to 8 feet apart. At arm's length with the guns, that brought us a lot closer."
Powell fired twice, and the deputies fired a combined 11 times, hitting Powell six times.
"I knew from the impact that I had been shot," Lyons said, but he didn't know it hit his shoulder microphone. Lyons said he also knew that Powell "was still standing there."
Glover said he kept shooting "until I saw him on the floor."
"We were the first line of defense," Glover said. "If he had gotten past us,there's no telling how many lives he could've taken."
Earlier Thursday, Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe cleared the two sheriff's deputies in the fatal shooting.
In a letter released this afternoon, McCabe's office concludes that deputies Lyons and Glover were justified in shooting 30-year-old Powell of Brandon.
Check tampabay.com for further developments.
-- Times Staff Writer
Photo of video showing Pinellas Sheriff deputies Marvin Glover and B. J. Lyons shooting and killing a gunman trying to enter the Pinellas county courthouse in St. Petersburg May 7th, 2008. [Pinellas County Sheriff's Office]
[Melissa Lyttle | Times]
Traffic on I-275 was clogged up for several hours Thursday afternoon as Pasco Sheriff’s Deputies searched for three men who bailed out of a stolen Nissan Maxima after they flipped it just south of the Pasco County line.
Deputies attempted to pull over the Nissan on I-75 near State Road 56 around noon. The southbound car had a stolen tag, they said, and matched the description of one seen at several residential burglaries in Pasco and possibly surrounding counties.
The Nissan took off and led deputies on a three-minute chase southbound on I-75. Deputies followed it when it merged onto I-275. The pursuit ended when the Nissan hit a guardrail near mile marker 58 and landed on its roof in the northbound lanes of I-275.
Three men scrambled from the car into the woods to the east and west of the interstate. Deputies said at least one was hobbling. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission helped Pasco deputies search the marshy woods surrounding the interstate. Officials from the Florida Highway Patrol, the Hernando and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Offices and the Tampa Police Department were also involved in the search.
Tampa officers caught up with two of the suspects, Quinton Washington, 22 and Nathaniel Jones, 20 when they emerged from the woods near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, east of the accident site.
There was no report if they had any injuries.
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office urged drivers not to pick up any hitch-hikers near the I-275 and I-75 junction. They consider the third suspect, still on the loose as of Thursday, as armed and dangerous. Deputies said he is a black man wearing black shorts and a white T-shirt.
Deputies said they found several stolen items, including a safe, inside the car, which was stolen out of Manatee County. They could not confirm if the jewelry that littered the ground near the site of the crash was among the stolen goods.
Traffic was slowed for about five hours as officials investigated the scene.
Both Washington and Jones have been arrested in the past for burglary and vehicle theft, among other charges. They are at the Orient Road Jail facing grand theft auto charges. Bail information was not available Thursday evening. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
-- Helen Anne Travis, Times Staff Writer
Autopsies were completed Wednesday in North Carolina on the bodies of Bell Shoals Baptist Church Pastor Forrest Pollock and his son, Preston.
Donald Jason, forensic pathologist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said both father and son died of multiple injuries sustained in the crash.
Dental records were needed to identify Forrest Pollock.
The bodies are now on en route to Florida, where funeral services will be held Saturday at the church.
Continue reading "Autopsy complete on Bell Shoals pastor, son" »
ST. PETERSBURG -- A man suspected of robbing churches, restaurants and food outlets was charged with 12 commercial burglaries Wednesday after a police detective found the suspect -- in jail.
Detective Doug Gaddis noticed the burglaries had stopped, and figured that the suspect must have been arrested. While reviewing photographs of recently arrested inmates, he came across a photograph of Thomas Brown, 30. Brown had a distinctive "tribal man" tattoo on the back of his head that matched a description of the burglary suspect.
- Abhi Raghunathan, Times staff writer
{Pinellas County Sheriff's Office}
TAMPA -- A homeless man trying to cross Hillsborough Avenue was seriously injured when he was struck by a car early this morning, police said.
Bennie Clay Henley, 47, had just left the nearby Whattaburger fast food restaurant around 2:45 a.m. and was walking south across Hillsborough Avenue near Lois Street when he reached a concrete median "and for no apparent reason" turned around and moved back into the path of a westbound Chevrolet, according to a police incident report.
Henley was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where police and hospital officials say he remains in critical condition.
A police spokeswoman said the driver of the 2003 Chevrolet, Linda Caldwell, will not be charged.
-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer
The driver of a red KIA Spectra, above, was flown to Tampa General Hospital after his car crossed the centerline of Harney Road just north of Terrace River Drive and crashed head on into a southbound school bus. [Ken Helle | Times]
TAMPA -- Hillsborough Sheriff's officials are on scene of a head-on collision between a car and a school bus at Harney Road and Sligh Avenue.
Officials said no students were aboard the bus and no injuries were reported to the bus driver, Bridgette Stewart, 35, of Seffner.
Denny Hernandez, the driver of the red Kia Spectra, was pinned inside after crossing the center line of Harney Road and smashing into the front of the southbound bus, authorities said.
Emergency officials were called to cut him free. Hernandez, 29, of Tampa, was flown to Tampa General Hospital with life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
Authorities say the intersection and surrounding area may be closed for a short time as rescue efforts continue.
Check our traffic section for updates on conditions in the area.
-- Casey Cora, Ken Helle and Rodney Thrash Times staff writers
ST. PETERSBURG -- Smell smoke? Forecasters say it won't last long.
In a process known as inversion, invisible particulates from the state's wildfires lingering in the low-lying, cool morning air will disperse as the day warms up, said Bay News 9 meteorologist Josh Linker.
An EPA Web site shows today's air quality forecast for Tampa Bay as "moderate," which means "unusually sensitive people should consider reducing prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors."
Still, "the best thing that someone can do is your limit your exposure to smoke," said Jeannine Mallory, spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Health Department. "We can hope that the smoke will go away, but...if you have a preexisting condition, then know your limitations."
Ryan Sharp, meteorologist with National Weather Service in Ruskin, said the combination of southern winds pushing north and the sea breeze pushing east will likely keep visible plumes smoke from wildfires away from Tampa Bay.
Please Watch This Just In for updates.
-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer
TAMPA -- Authorities are still searching for a driver who ran away after a police chase stemming from a carjacking in the parking lot of an adult video store, police said.
Police said two men approached Lana Liotti, 18 and a female employee of the XTC Adult Supercenter, 4829 N Lois Ave. while she walked with Darryl Brown, 18, toward her car in the store's parking lot around midnight.
One of the approaching men pointed a handgun. There was a struggle and Brown was struck several times with the handgun, Tampa Police Lt. Rocky Ratliff said. The men took Brown's wallet and cash, then stole the Liotti's 1999 Volkswagen Beetle.
An officer spotted the Volkswagen heading west on Hillsborough Avenue near Hoover Boulevard a short time later, police said. When the officer approached, it sped away until it reached Bray Road and West Chelsea Street. Ratliff said the officer forced the car off the road with a maneuver that sent the Volkswagen into two wooden poles.
After the collision, the unidentified driver ran away.
The passenger in the Volkswagen, Desmond Turner, 26, was caught trying to exit the passenger side. Turner dropped a loaded gun onto the hood of the police cruiser before being taken into custody, police said.
Casey Cora, Times staff writer
TAMPA -- What began as a simple hello between a passerby and a woman sent a man into a violent rage that ended with a woman beaten, a hostage negotiation and the evacuation of several homes in a police standoff, police said.
It all started about 8:50 p.m. Wednesday when Armario Gilbert, 33, left, was standing outside his ex-girlfriend Patricia Diaz's home at 3417 Republica de Cuba, Tampa police spokesman Lt. Bill Ferguson said in a written statement.
Diaz waved to a man on the sidewalk, a gesture that triggered a violent outburst from Gilbert, police said. He dragged Diaz, 38, back into the home and brutally beat her, breaking bones in her face and sending her to Tampa General Hospital. Gilbert broke his hand punching her in the face, Ferguson said.
Gilbert ran away. Police dogs found him hiding in a pickup truck in his father's driveway, 1507 E 28th Ave., just before 12:40 a.m. He told officers he was armed with a .357 Magnum and wanted to kill himself. At one point, he reached into his waistband in an apparent attempt to provoke police into shooting him, Ferguson said.
Authorities evacuated several surrounding homes on E 28th Avenue as a hostage negotiator cooled Gilbert. The negotiations lasted about 45 minutes before he surrendered.
No weapon was found.
Police said Gilbert, a sex offender already on probation for felony cocaine charges, is charged with false imprisonment, felony battery, burglary, resisting arrest without violence and violation of probation.
Casey Cora, Times staff writer
 Traffic, weather and other breaking news reported and compiled by the staff of the St. Petersburg Times and tampabay.com. Check back often for the latest news from around the Tampa Bay area.
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