Three-year-old boy is stabbed to death; mother a suspect

NEW PORT RICHEY — A 3-year-old boy was stabbed to death Thursday, and investigators think his mother may be responsible.

Authorities went to the home at 5411 Maple St. about 5:30 p.m. after a relative discovered the boy in a pool of blood and his mother conscious but bleeding from her arms, said New Port Richey police Lt. Jeffrey Harrington.

The boy, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at the scene. His mother was taken to Community Hospital New Port Richey, just blocks from the home.

Her exact condition was not known, but Harrington said her injuries were not considered life threatening.

Harrington said the woman was the only suspect, but he would not say whether investigators believed she was attempting suicide.

Police had not determined whether the same weapon was used in both stabbings.

He did not know whether police had been to the home before Thursday. No one else lived in the residence.
Detectives spoke briefly with the woman, but she had not provided many details late Thursday. Also, police had not located the boy’s father, who does not live at the Maple Street home, by late Thursday.

Jacob H. Fries, Times staff writer

Chemical spill clogs I-75 in Pasco

The northbound lanes of I-75 near the State Road 52 exit will likely be shut into the night after a chemical spill Thursday afternoon.
The problems started at around 4:20 p.m., when sodium nitrate from two tractor trailers flowed onto northbound lanes at mile marker 289, according to Florida Highway Patrol. It's not certain how the chemical was released, but two people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Pasco fire officials said.

Both northbound lanes of I-75 were immediately closed and traffic was backed up at one point to SR 54. Clean up crews were arriving at the site at about 7:30 p.m. and it was unknown how long the northbound side of the highway would remain closed, although officials estimated the cleanup could take several hours.

Most northbound traffic was directed onto SR 52 and that diversion caused severe traffic problems for travelers on that road as well. The westbound lane of 52 is closed between Curley Street and the I-75 junction.

At the height of the jam, Florida Highway Patrol troopers and Pasco sheriff's deputies were directing drivers on northbound I-75 off at the SR 52 exit. But what about those drivers already north of the exit and cutoff from the next, stuck in miles of standstill traffic?

They blazed their own trail out of the chaos -- making u-turns in the middle of the interstate and driving south on northbound I-75.
It was every driver for themselves -- cars, SUVs, semis, even tour buses -- as they turned themselves around and headed back south on the inside median or outside shoulder.

Get live traffic reports on this stretch of Interstate 75 here.

Upgraded charges in shaken baby case

TAMPA -- A grand jury has indicted a Tampa man on first-degree murder charges, accusing him of fatally shaking a 16-month-old child.

Aurelio Gonzalez, 28, faces charges of murder and aggravated child abuse. Authorities say he shook Mia Angelina Alvarez, causing her brain to swell, and her lungs to fail. The child died after being removed from life support.

Gonzalez was arrested May 29 on charges of aggravated child abuse, but a grand jury decided Wednesday to increase the charges to murder, said a spokeswoman for the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office.

At the time of the incident, Gonzalez worked as a teacher's aide at Liberty Middle School in Tampa. He  had been babysitting for the infant's mother at the time of of the injury.

Tampa's Hard Rock casino to become largest

The Seminole Hard Casino & Hotel in Tampa will open the first part of a $120-million expansion in August that will  make the casino the largest in Florida, officials said Thursday. The expansion will create a 140,000-square-foot casino floor with 3,208 gaming machines, about 50 percent larger than the existing casino.The initial phase also will include a high-end steak house, the Council Oak Steaks & Seafood Restaurant. A second floor of the casino will open in October with a VIP lounge and 400-seat buffet-style restaurant. The last phase of construction is a seven-level parking garage for 1,250 cars, with the first four floors opening in December. The project doesn't include expansion of the 250-room hotel. The casino will hire about 300 new workers and plans to hold a job fair at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa July 11 and 12.

- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Two arrested in convenience store robbery

Pinellas County detectives arrested two suspects Wednesday afternoon on charges of armed robbery.

The robbery occurred on May 18 at the Little Food Mart convenience store, located at 3085 54th Avenue N in St. Petersburg. Police say Taquana Cooper, 21, came into the store first with a handgun, ordering a customer to the floor and demanding cash and lottery tickets from the clerk.

Then, police say, Kendall Wheelings, also 21, entered and held another bystander at gunpoint.
It’s unclear how much money and tickets were stolen.

-- By Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer

Truck overturns on I-275 in St. Pete

A truck hauling sand overturned near the 54th Avenue North exit of I-275 southbound, spilling diesel fuel over the roadway and shutting down traffic for more than an hour.

Capt. Tim Friedman, of Lealman Fire Rescue, said the truck’s brakes failed, causing it to slam into the back of a tractor-trailer carrying bleach, though none of that spilled.

Trucks of that size usually carry 50 to 60 gallons of fuel, and Friedman estimated most of it ended up on the road.

It would have been worse without the guardrail, which Friedman said kept the truck from veering into the northbound lane.

The driver was taken to Bayfront Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the other truck wasn’t hurt.

Pinellas County and the City of St. Petersburg are working to clean up the mess by soaking up the diesel with sand and carrying it out for disposal.

Friedman estimated it will take until about 4 p.m. for traffic to resume as normal. For now, the 54th Avenue entrance going southbound is closed. The northbound lane is open again, though traffic is moving slowly.

Photo by James Borchuck | Times

9 arrests in drug trafficking operation

BROOKSVILLE —  An investigation into the man who killed Polk County Deputy Matt Williams in September led to the arrest of a suspected major Hernando County drug trafficker and numerous associates, including two county employees who reportedly disclosed confidential information to drug dealers, a multi-agency task force announced Thursday.

The nine-month investigation by local and state law enforcement agencies ended this week with the arrest of Bobby Walter, 29, and eight others involved in a sophisticated drug trafficking operation in Brooksville. Four other suspected drug dealers are still at large.

The two Hernando County employees arrested worked in the Clerk of Circuit Court office handling private and public court documents, officials said. File clerk Kijafa A. Brown is accused of proving the confidential identity of an undercover narcotics investigator and other law enforcement operations information to Walter’s step-sister, Lynette Mobley, who passed the intelligence to Walter.

Authorities began investigating Walter after cell phone records linked him to Angilo Freeland, who shot and killed Williams and his police dog Sept. 28 after a traffic stop in Lakeland.

The Hernando County arrests are the first to come from the investigation into Freeland’s widespread drug net but other investigations are ongoing throughout the state, authorities said.

--John Frank, Times staff writer

Pedestrian struck by truck

Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies are on the scene of a wreck in Wimauma where a truck hit a pedestrian around 11 a.m. A tractor-trailer hit a man on Railroad Street at State Road 674 as the truck was pulling away from a local grocery store, witnesses said.

No details are available about the driver of the truck, but the outside of the truck said Associated Grocers of Florida.

Witnesses said the victim is known around town for collecting cans in the road, but they did not know what he was doing when the truck hit him.

A deputy said the man was transported to a hospital in critical condition.

-- By Saundra Amrhein, Times Staff Writer

Dade City Mexican store owner sentenced

DADE CITY -- A judge on Thursday morning sentenced Jose Frias, a 20-year illegal resident and owner of two local businesses, for two counts of unlicensed business practice, wrapping up a case that originated this spring with allegations of racketeering, money laundering and hints of illegal drug activity.

Frias will serve 10 years probation. He also forfeited $525,000 -- money seized during a raid in March -- to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office in a separate civil settlement.

The plea hearing had been postponed from last week so defense attorney Mark Rankin could get Frias' immigration status resolved. Rankin said Thursday that a federal immigration hold has been lifted and Frias' visa application is pending.

Citizenship, Rankin said, is Frias' ultimate goal.

Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa weighed in on that issue as he sentenced Frias, a married, 41-year-old father of three who owns a Mexican grocery store and nightclub in Dade City.

The judge wondered why Frias is still in the United States.

"This entire case is baffling to me," Siracusa said. "I don't understand how you're still here, quite honestly. I don't know why you haven't been deported."

"Are you even paying income taxes?"

Frias owns Del Carmen grocery store in downtown Dade City, where many in the local migrant community shop, eat, send money to Mexico and cash checks. He also runs La Onda, a dance club in Tommytown.

Pasco sheriff's officials, along with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, investigated Frias for more than two years, culminating with the raid in March. They said they found hundreds of thousands in cash. They alleged connections to the illegal drug trade and said Frias overcharged migrant workers to cash their checks.

He was arrested on a charge of racketeering. But once the case was in the hands of the State Attorney's Office, the charges were reduced to running a business without a proper state license. Prosecutors said those were the charges they believed they could prove.

After the hearing, with many of Frias' friends and family gathered in the lobby of the Pasco County Courthouse, Rankin defended his client.

"While Mr. Frias may have been here illegally, he's a good person," Rankin said. "He's the kind of person we want in this country."

--Molly Moorhead, Times staff writer

Tampa tops in construction cost hikes: report

Tampa recorded the largest percentage increase in construction costs between April 2006 and April 2007, +10.6 percent, among 51 of the largest urban areas in the United States, according to the latest quarterly cost index report from RSMeans. Four of the top five metro areas in annual percentage cost increases are in Florida.

Those five rankings: Tampa, up 10.6; Orlando, up 9.6; Jacksonville, up 9.1; Wilmington, up 9.1; and Miami, up 8.3. Click here for the complete rankings.