Men accused of stealing metal from cemetery

ST. PETERSBURG -- Sheriff’s deputies have arrested two men who are accused of stealing 1,500 pounds of titanium surgical hardware from vaults at Memorial Park Cemetary.

The surgical hardware metals were remnants received by the cemetery from funeral homes after cremations. These remnants were subsequently deposited into secured cement vaults interred on unmarked cemetery grounds and are held in "perpetual care" as deemed by state law.

According to detectives, 19-year-old Jack McWilliams (left), who is a former employee of the cemetery, and 42-year-old Vincent Paul Marlyne drove a truck onto an unmarked area of the cemetery grounds. Once there the men used two-by-fours to pry open and remove two cement vault tops and then took the metal contents, the Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies say on or about Jan. 28, Marlyne took the metals, approximately 1,500-pounds worth, to Tampa and sold it for scrap for about $1,500. The men split the money, the Sheriff's Office said.

McWilliams and Marlyne face charges of injuring a tomb or monument by disturbing its contents.

- Abhi Raghunathan, Times staff writer

Man exposes himself to girl, police say

ST. PETERSBURG -- A man grabbed and exposed himself to a 9-year-old girl in St. Petersburg this afternoon, according to a relative who called police.

Police began investigating after a woman called in about 4 p.m. to report the incident, after which the girl ran home.

Police say the suspect is a black man in his 20s with a light complexion. He was wearing a blue shirt and may be intoxicated. He was last seen walking away from the scene, in the 500 block of 15th Avenue S.

- Stephanie Garry, Times staff writer

Blackout traced to one field engineer

Human error caused Tuesday's massive blackout across Florida, Armando Olivera, president of Florida Power & Light, said today.

At 1:08 p.m. Tuesday, a single field engineer working at the Flagami substation in western Miami-Dade County disabled a pair of safeguards that would have confined the outage to a few thousand customers, if any.

Instead, 584,000 FPL customers lost power, as did more than 200,000 customers in the Tampa Bay area.
The employee has been suspended with pay pending the outcome a thorough investigation, Olivera said.

The problem caused several power plants to shut down, including FPL's two nuclear reactors at Turkey Point, 25 miles south of Miami.

FPL also lost a large natural gas power plant at Turkey Point, and two other small power plants at other locations.

Tampa Electric lost power from two small natural gas plants. In all, 3,400-megawatts of generation was lost within several minutes.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Possible gas leak affects Land O'Lakes traffic

Pasco deputies have been rerouting traffic at State Road 54 and Pleasant Point Boulevard in east Land O'Lakes because of a strong natural gas odor in the area.

As of 4 p.m., deputies report the scene appears safe and the road was being reopened, although traffic in the area is expected to be tied up for some time.

- Helen Anne Travis, Times staff writer

Reports: Pasco man admits breaking into 70 homes

LAND O'LAKES -- Christopher McCormick, 40, of New Port Richey was arrested Thursday and charged with multiple counts of burglary and grand theft, among other charges.

Pasco deputies said he broke into at least five homes in Land O’Lakes and stole more than $10,000 worth of jewelry, tools and video equipment.

McCormick admitted breaking into as many as 70 homes in the area, according to the arrest reports. He told deputies he traded the stolen goods to fuel his drug addiction.

McCormick is in the Land O’Lakes jail in lieu of $155,000 bail.

- Helen Anne Travis, Times staff writer

Man arrested in sexual assault, kidnapping case

PORT RICHEY -- A 30-year-old Port Richey man is facing sexual battery and kidnapping charges stemming from an incident Wednesday involving a 17-year-old girl. Here is what a Pasco Sheriff’s Office report said: A witness said about 2 a.m., a female suspect tried to stab the 17-year-old as she sat in the passenger seat of a car with the window rolled down. The suspect’s boyfriend pulled her away from the car and told the 17-year-old that she could avoid being stabbed if she gave them her laptop. So the girl handed the computer to the suspect and her boyfriend.

Then, two of the suspect’s male friends drove the girl to an unknown location on U.S. 19, flashed a gun and said they would shoot her if she didn’t have sex with them. After the girl was sexually assaulted, she was driven to Main Street and U.S. 19 in New Port Richey and let out of the car. (The Times does not identify victims of sexual assaults.)

The men fled, but using a photo lineup, the girl identified Jose Manual Marcano as one of the men who kidnapped and sexually assaulted her. Marcano, of 11105 Pine Tree Lane, is being held in lieu of $300,000 bail in the Land O’Lakes jail.

Police are looking for the second man who sexually assaulted the girl and the female suspect who took her laptop. 

Putting their Braille skills to the test

Eric Miller of Lithia gives his son Jon, 8, a kiss on the cheek after typing out how much he loved him and how proud he was that he has learned Braille, as well as wishing him good luck today. [MELISSA LYTTLE | Times]

TAMPA -- Twenty blind and visually impaired students from Hillsborough, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties met today at the West Central Florida Regional Braille Challenge to test their Braille skills.
The challenge, sponsored by Braille Institute of America, is designed to encourage blind children of all ages to fine-tune their Braille skills. It is being held at the Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind.

It's part of a national academic competition for blind students.

Participants will compete in five categories requiring them to transcribe, type and read Braille. Students' Braille skills are evaluated in several areas --  reading comprehension, Braille spelling, tactile chart and graph reading, proofreading, and Braille speed and accuracy.

- Melissa Lyttle, Times staff writer


Matthew Dowell, 14, of Apopka goes over his work in the Proofreading competition during one of five tests in the Braille Challenge. [MELISSA LYTTLE | Times]

Man charged in sexual battery, kidnapping

PORT RICHEY -- A 30-year-old Port Richey man is facing sexual battery and kidnapping charges stemming from an incident Wednesday involving a 17-year-old girl.

Here is what a Pasco sheriff’s office report said: A witness said around 2 a.m., a female suspect tried to stab the 17-year-old as she sat in the passenger seat of a car with the window rolled down.

The suspect’s boyfriend pulled her away from the car and told the 17-year-old that she could avoid being stabbed if she gave them her laptop. So the girl handed the computer to the suspect and her boyfriend.

Then, two of the suspect’s male friends drove the girl to an unknown location on U.S. 19, flashed a gun and said they would shoot her if she didn’t have sex with them.

After the girl was sexually assaulted, she was driven to Main Street and U.S. 19 in New Port Richey and let out of the car. (The Times does not identify victims of sexual assaults).

The men fled, but using a photo line-up, the girl identified Jose Manual Marcano as one of the men who kidnapped and sexually assaulted her. Marcano, of 11105 Pine Tree Lane, is being held in lieu of $300,000 bail at the Land O’Lakes jail.

Police are looking for the second man who sexually assulted the girl and the female suspect who took her laptop.

--Times staff writer

Neo-Nazi calls killer 'friend' and 'mentor'

UPDATE

DADE CITY -- If you judge a man by the company he keeps, well then, what if he's in jail?

Lawrence Joey Smith has been incarcerated for nine years now, since his 1999 arrest and subsequent conviction for first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Now facing the death penalty for the execution-style shootings of two teens that left one dead in 1999, he is acting as his own lawyer, using what he learned reading law books behind bars.

He found a character witness there, too.

Which explains the appearance of the tattooed young man with the pointed beard, red jail coveralls and handcuffs who appeared on the courtroom video screen today.

His name is John Allen Ditullio Jr., the neo-Nazi charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the infamous 2006 Teak Street stabbing attack in New Port Richey.

"Mr. Ditullio," Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper said, "would you raise your right hand to receive the oath?"

The defense called Ditullio to testify that Smith has been a positive influence on him during his two years in jail. The two were once "neighbors" in confinement cells in the Land O'Lakes Detention Center, where the jail's most dangerous inmates are held.

Ditullio called Smith a "friend" and a "mentor."

"What kind of effect has he had on your life?" asked Keith Hammond, Smith's standby counsel.

"Mr. Smith has made me re-evaluate my life and reconstruct my life in a positive way," Ditullio said. "I've made some mistakes, but I'm definitely not the same person I once was."

Ditullio said that Smith is a model prisoner who counsels him on his "disciplinary problems" inside the jail. If Smith were to be sentenced to life in prison, Ditullio said, Smith could continue to be a positive influence on his life.

Then it was the state's turn.

Ditullio, it turns out, has not been a model prisoner.

"In fact you've been written up several times for disciplinary reports?" asked Assistant State Attorney Manny Garcia. "In actuality you've been written up 28 times."

"I've also been here two years," Ditullio said.

Then Garcia asked Ditullio why he was wearing a red jumpsuit. In Pasco County, most prisoners wear orange and white striped jumpsuits.

"That's because I'm a red-dot," Ditullio said. Before he could explain, Hammond objected. The judge allowed him to explain what "red-dot" means in the jail.

"The significance is that you're a high-risk inmate," Garcia asked, "is that correct?"

"Yes," Ditullio said.

"You indicated that Mr. Smith is a positive influence in your life?" Garcia asked.

Ditullio said yes. But then Garcia asked him about his three arrests inside the jail since he was indicted for the 2006 stabbings.

Ditullio has also been accused of an elaborate escape attempt, of keeping contraband in his cell, and most recently this month of breaking the sprinkler head in his cell, flooding his cell.

"Did Mr. Smith ... try to counsel you about these things?" Garcia asked.

"Mr. Smith wasn't in the pod with me, but I received a letter from him," Ditullio said. "He counseled me. He was upset that I would do something so foolish like that."

And that was it.

The jurors never heard about Ditullio's murder charges. Nor did they heard about the charges of aggravated assault, domestic battery and tampering with a witness filed against him in the brutal beating of his ex-girlfriend before the 2006 stabbings.

Nor did they learn why he wasn't brought to court: he was considered a security risk.

"Mr. Ditullio I'm not going to tell you what I tell the other witnesses," the judge said, "that you're free to go."

Ditullio smiled.

"Thank you," he said.

- Jamal Thalji, Times staff writer

ABOVE: Neo-Nazi John Allen Ditullio Jr. testifies through closed-circuit TV today that Smith has been a good influence on him since they met in jail. [Mike Pease | Times]

Woman who died in fire identified

ST. PETERSBURG -- Authorities have identified the woman who died in a house fire on Feb. 23 as Patricia McMin, a 58-year-old woman with a history of mental illness.

Authorities have said it appeared McMin's death in her home at 1137 55th Ave. N was a suicide. They found gas cans and petroleum inside the home, and said the doors were padlocked from the inside.

- Abhi Raghunathan, Times staff writer

Police searching for gas station burglars in St. Petersburg

• Watch surveillance video from the heists

ST. PETERSBURG -- Police are searching for three men who they say broke into the Exxon service station at 3355 Ninth Ave. N two nights in a row.

In the first robbery on Feb. 25, the men pried open the front door and took the cash drawer and some cigarettes, police said. Surveillance video shows a white U-haul truck pulling up to the front of the business.

In the second robbery, on Feb. 26, the men took a receipt printer and a lottery machine printer, police said.

Detailed descriptions of the men were not available. Anyone with information can call (727) 893-7254.

- Abhi Raghunathan, Times staff writer

Downed telephone line closes U.S. 19 in Tarpon Springs

TARPON SPRINGS -- Police are rerouting traffic around a downed telephone line lying partially across U.S. 19 at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

A large vehicle pulled down the wire, but no one was hurt, according to Tarpon Springs Fire Rescue Division Chief Don Sayre.

A crew from Verizon is working on the line now, and the highway is expected to be open soon, police said.

- Times staff writer

Pinellas officials arrest three in fitness center burglaries

Pinellas County sheriff's deputies and Clearwater police have arrested three South Florida men in connection with a string of burglaries to cars and trucks parked outside local fitness centers.

Arrested were Brandon T. Davis, 22, of Fort Lauderdale, Terrance T. Campbell, 25, of Lauderhill, and Nathan Robinson, 32, of Lauderdale Lakes.

The three men were arrested after a noon traffic stop Thursday near Main Street and Lake Haven in Dunedin, officials said.

Acting on information from Clearwater police, sheriff's Deputy Roy Swiech saw a black Cadillac Escalade that matched a description of the vehicle suspected of being involved in the fitness center thefts. Swiech called for backup and stopped the Cadillac. Inside, authorities said they found burglary tools such as modified screwdrivers and ice picks, as well as dozens of credit cards and other forms of identification from victims in Pinellas and other parts of the state.

Deputies also found checkbooks, iPods, a laptop and cell phones. Sheriff's officials said they also found evidence that the men were trying to practice the signatures found on some of the stolen credit cards and ID's. As a result, sheriff's officials said Davis, Campbell and Robinson may be linked to an identity theft ring.

All three are being held at the Pinellas County Jail today. Davis is charged with possession of burglary tools. Campbell and Robinson each face charges of vehicle burglary, possession of burglary tools and grant theft. Authorities say more charges are likely.

- Times staff writer

Sixth and seventh inmates claim jail abuse

Paul King, left, and Trevena discuss King's experience in the Hillsborough County Jail. | Video [Lara Cerri | Times]

TAMPA -- A former special-education teacher says Hillsborough jail deputies violently threw him to the floor of a cell, put a hood over his head while he was in a restraint chair, and intentionally obstructed the view of a surveillance camera before beating him.

And the attorney representing him also brought forth another new client at a news conference this afternoon, a man who uses a wheelchair who says Hillsborough deputies forced him to ride on the floor of a van for more than three hours, aggravating his spinal injuries. They are the sixth and seventh claims of abuse by Hillsborough jail deputies to publicly surface this month.

Records show Paul King, 40, was arrested five times in Hillsborough County between May and July of 2007. The charges ranged from DUI to reckless driving to domestic assault. On July 7, he was booked on charges of disorderly intoxication and battery on a facility employee by expelling fluids. His attorney, John Trevena, says he has video showing the deputies mistreating King that day.

A Sheriff's Office spokesman could not be reached for comment on the latest allegations.

Video shows a deputy hurling King to the floor. It shows him seated in a restraint chair with a hood over his head. It also shows a deputy relocating paper from the glass cell wall in a way that blocked the camera's view of King's head.

"The one element of it that's going to be completely indefensible is when he's taken from the glass and thrown forcibly," said Trevena, adding that King was not resisting at that time.

At the news conference, King said deputies at the jail "made me say vile things about myself just to humiliate myself, and the other deputies laughed."

State arrest records show King’s life taking a sudden turn last May. His first arrest came May 27, when he was cited with reckless driving and DUI. Two days later, he was arrested on a charge of burglary of an occupied building.

July 4, he was arrested on suspicion of driving with a canceled, suspended or revoked license and DUI. He was released on bail or his own recognizance.

Three days later it was battery on a facility employee and disorderly intoxication for which he received three years of probation. King alleges the abuse took place after this arrest.

Eight days later on July 15, Temple Terrace police arrested him on charges of suspicion of battery of someone over the age of 65, battery on a facility employee, disorderly intoxication, DUI, reckless driving and trespassing.

In December, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrested him on suspicion of battery assault. He was not prosecuted.

Even though Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee has already asked a citizen panel to look into his agency's detention practices, Trevena called that "window dressing" and urged appointment of a special prosecutor to look at the abuse claims. "The floodgates, so to speak, have opened," Trevena said.

At the news conference, Trevena's associate introduced client Nick Joseph Molfetto, who had to be transported from the Lake Butler Correctional Institution to the Orient Road Jail for a court date and says Hillsborough deputies forced him to ride on the floor of a van despite his telling them he needed a special van for the disabled because of a spinal surgery.

Molfetto has been arrested about 21 times in Florida, state records show, on charges ranging from larceny, battery, burglary, weapon possession, cocaine possession, dealing in stolen property, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and fleeing and eluding.

Jail officials made headlines repeatedly in recent weeks when former inmates came forward with abuse claims.

The most famous case involved Brian Sterner, the quadriplegic whose ejection from his wheelchair at the hands of Deputy Charlette Marshall-Jones was seen on video around the world. The incident led to Marshall-Jones' arrest on a felony abuse charge.

Another inmate said a deputy had broken her arm. And two more inmates claimed to have been beaten or abused, one saying she suffered brain damage. Then, on Thursday, the Sheriff's Office released footage in the case of Benjamin Rayburn; the combative paraplegic was left on the floor of a holding cell for 62 minutes after deputies took away his wheelchair.

"I'm beginning to think now that this may be a class action," Trevena said.

- Thomas Lake, Times staff writer

Candidate may bow out of District 55 House race

State House candidate Steven Lapinski, a newcomer in the race to replace Rep. Frank Peterman, might be out before the campaign even begins.

Lapinski, a University of South Florida student, said he is not sure he would be able to meet today’s deadline to get on the March 25 ballot. He needs to submit 735 signatures or pay $1,915.92.

Lapinski said he thought he had more than enough signatures, but some were disqualified.

Three other Democrats are running: educator Charles McKenzie, St. Petersburg City Council Member Earnest Williams and lawyer Darryl Rouson. A Republican has not entered the race.

The special election comes on the heels of Peterman's appointment as secretary of the state Department of Juvenile Justice.

- Cristina Silva, Times staff writer

Desal plant violates dumping permit 3 times

Over the past four months, Tampa Bay Water's desalination plant has been hit with three notices of violations of its wastewater dumping permit by Hillsborough County officials. The most recent notice went out this week.

The $158-million plant in Apollo Beach uses membranes to filter the salt out of seawater taken from Tampa Bay and turn it into drinking water. The problem is, the membranes have to be cleaned periodically. Then the used cleaning solution, full of chloride, sodium and sulfate, is dumped into the sewer line.

To make sure the sewer plant doesn't get overwhelmed, Hillsborough County put a limit on how much of that stuff can be flushed into its sewer line, and how fast. But in August, November and January, the plant flushed waste down the line that exceeded those limits, county officials say.

Although the county has warned Tampa Bay Water that repeated violations could lead to fines, so far it has not taken that step. Tampa Bay Water operations and facilities manager Chuck Carden said today that the plant's operator, American Water Pridesa, is working to fix the problem before it happens a fourth time. He blamed operator error and a manual flushing system.

- Craig Pittman, Times staff writer

AT&T/Cingular customers to get refunds for unauthorized charges

You may be eligible for a refund if your AT&T/Cingular cell phone was billed for ring tones, horoscopes or other third-party services you thought were free. Florida Attorney Gen. Bill McCollum announced a settlement this morning that includes refunds for customers, a $2.5-million payment to his office and an additional $500,000 to pay for consumer education on safe Internet use. Read more details on the Money Talk blog.

Bayfront diverting trauma patients again

ST. PETERSBURG -- Bayfront Medical Center has started diverting trauma patients to Tampa again this morning because it has no neurosurgeons available for emergencies, state regulators said Friday. The situation is expected to last through the weekend.

This is the second time this week that Pinellas County's only Level II trauma center has had to stop taking trauma patients.

The announcement was made by state regulators, not Bayfront, which issued a news release Thursday morning when it restored trauma service.

Two of the hospital's four neurosurgeons recently stopped working emergency calls. Neurosurgeons are among 10 specialists the hospital must have on call to be considered a trauma center.

Bayfront won't have neurosurgeons on emergency duty again until Monday at 7 a.m., said Susan Smith, spokeswoman for the state Health Department.

The hospital had stopped taking emergency patients from Tuesday through Thursday morning. It also did so twice earlier this month.

When Bayfront isn't available, trauma patients are taken to Tampa General Hospital, a Level I trauma center, or St. Joseph's Hospital, a Level II trauma center.

Those hospitals are close enough that patients should not be harmed by being diverted, said Kanika Tomalin, Bayfront spokeswoman.

"We're very fortunate in the Tampa Bay area to have three trauma centers in very close proximity," Tomalin said. "The three are within a 10-minute flight of each other."

During the breaks in trauma service, Bayfront has remained open for routine emergencies. While EMS workers are taking trauma patients elsewhere, Bayfront still could treat any patients with traumatic injuries that came to the emergency room via private transportation, Tomalin said.

The hospital treats about 2,600 trauma patients and 45,000 emergency patients each year.

- Lisa Greene, Times staff writer

Tampa girl, 6, honored for life-saving 911 call

Hillsborough County sheriff's Deputy Jerry Carey holds the door open for Siara Ford, 6, a first-grader at Mendenhall Elementary as she arrives for school Friday morning. [Carrie Pratt, Times]

TAMPA -- Siara Ford arrived at school to a hero's welcome this morning before standing before a rowdy grade-school auditorium and accepting a teddy bear wearing a cowboy hat and shiny badge.

"It's not every day we get top be in the presence of a real hero," Hillsborough County Sheriff's Capt. Robert Bullara told the crowd at Mendenhall Elementary School.

Ford, 6, called 911 after her grandmother Carol Barlow didn't wake up from an early afternoon nap Saturday.

"My nana's on the bed, and she won't answer me," Siara tells dispatcher Tesha Larese. "She just told me she was going to eat, she was going to go to sleep and then wake her up at 11:30. Then I did, I tried to show her my power thing and she all did was just sit, sit there and sleep."

Larese: "Uh-huh, well that's good. Maybe she's just not feeling well."

Earlier that day, the two were supposed to bake a pan of sugar cookies. But Crawford, 49, fell into a
diabetic coma and couldn't be woken up. Siara saw her grandmother drooling and "making funny faces" that made the first-grader cry.

"And when I ask her a question, she just doesn't say anything."

Larese: "Yeah, maybe she's just not feeling well. You did good calling."

Over the next 25 minutes, Larese, an 11-year veteran of the sheriff's communications center, guides Siara with a series of questions about the apartment complex that eventually leads emergency workers and paramedics to her grandmother's place.

Ford had questions, too: Are they going to give her shots at the hospital? How do doctors at the hospital make the people that are sick wake up?

Paramedics would later tell Barlow she could have died without her granddaughter's help.

"I don't remember what happened," Barlow said today. "She just did what she had to do."

This morning, with about 80 of her classmates lined up single file on a stretch of pavement, Siara arrived in a special Sheriff's Office Volkswagen Beetle behind a shiny, loudly-whooping Sheriff's Office motorcycle.

Classmates offered hugs, teachers offered praise and her parents beamed with pride.

Her grandmother planned a party, complete with sugar cookies.

- Casey Cora, Times staff writer

Tesha Larese, a senior dispatcher with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, hugs Siara Ford after a presentation for Siara. [Carrie Pratt, Times]

Tip, video lead to arrest, burglary charges

Authorities said Donald Brown, at left in booking photo, was caught in the act by surveillance video in one of 10 burglaries. [Images courtesy Pinellas County Sheriff's Office]

• Watch the surveillance video

LARGO -- Hidden surveillance footage of a residential burglary carried on news Web sites and local TV led to the arrest of a Largo man Thursday.

Donald A. Brown, 747 Valencia Drive S, ran from police when authorities arrived at his home Thursday afternoon. He was caught within an hour four blocks away, officials said.

Brown, 35, has been charged with three counts of residential burglary after authorities said a citizen tipped them to Brown's whereabouts one day after the footage allegedly showing Brown in the act was released.

Authorities said Brown participated in as many as 10 residential burglaries in the Largo and Seminole areas. More charges are expected.

Investigators are trying to return stolen items such as jewelry and electronics to their rightful owners.

- Casey Cora, Times staff writer

Alcohol blamed in accident that injured deputy

Clearwater firefighters examine a Pinellas County sheriff's cruiser where it came to rest after colliding with a taxicab Wednesday evening in the northbound lanes of U.S. 19 at Winding Creek Boulevard. [Douglas R. Clifford | Times]

Investigators said they believe a cab driver had been drinking before crashing into a Pinellas County sheriff's sergeant north of Clearwater late Wednesday.

The accident sent the deputy and the cabbie to Tampa hospitals.

Sgt. John Pikramenos, 53, was northbound on U.S. 19 near Winding Creek Boulevard about 10:30 p.m. when he was struck by taxi driver Lloyd Melvin Younglove, who was turning east from U.S. 19.

The Sheriff's Office said Younglove, 58, "turned in front of" the sergeant's unmarked cruiser. Authorities said the crash remains under investigation.

Pikramenos, a 29-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, was airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital. Younglove was taken to Tampa General Hospital by ambulance.

Authorities do not believe their injuries are life-threatening. Neither vehicle was carrying passengers.

The wreck shut down U.S. 19 in both directions for about an hour.

-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer

Pinellas County sheriff's deputies gather near the taxicab involved in the collision. [Douglas R. Clifford | Times]

Coast Guard airlifts man from cruise ship

An 80-year-old-man was airlifted from a cruise ship after apparently suffering a heart attack, Coast Guard officials said.

A Coast Guard helicopter arrived about 5:30 p.m., lowered a rescuer to the ship and hoisted Caesar Reyes to the chopper. The 915-foot ship, called the Grandeur of the Seas, is based in Tampa, but it's unknown where Reyes is from.

He was taken to Tampa General Hospital.

Stephanie Garry, Times staff writer

Evidence from search in explosives case should stay, judge recommends

TAMPA -- A federal magistrate today said a defense request to toss out evidence seized from Ahmed Mohamed and Youssef Megahed during an Aug. 4 traffic stop in South Carolina should be denied.

"The officer had probable cause to stop the defendants for speeding, the brief questioning of the defendants was not unreasonable in scope nor duration, and the driver consented to the search," U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Pizzo said in a written recommendation to U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday, the trial judge who has the authority to make the final decision.

During a two-day hearing that began Feb. 19, Pizzo heard testimony from Berkeley County, S.C., sheriff's Cpl. James Lamar Blakely, who said he stopped Mohamed, 26, and Megahed, 21, for traveling 60 mph in a 45 mph zone along Highway 176 in Goose Creek, S.C.

Defense attorneys said Blakely's stop was illegal, that he improperly detained the men and that Mohamed, who was driving, never gave his consent to search the vehicle.

James W. Smith III, one of Megahed's public defenders, disputed claims in court that the men, then students at the University of South Florida, were speeding. Smith said they were traveling 55 mph when Blakely first noticed their car and said the deputy stopped them because they had "tan" skin.

Blakely did not have a radar detector in his cruiser to clock how fast the car was going. He said he used a pacing method, traveling behind Mohamed and Megahed as they drove faster, to determine their speed.

Lyann Goudie, an attorney representing Mohamed, said Mohamed never gave his consent for Blakely to search the car during the traffic stop.

At one point during a conversation outside the vehicle, Blakely asked Mohamed whether he had anything in the car the deputy should be concerned about.

Mohamed told him he had fireworks, fuses and small homemade rockets.

"You don't have a problem if I look then right?" Blakely asked.

"If you must," Mohamed responded.

Goudie said in court that Mohamed's response did not indicate consent to search, merely his acknowledgment to an authority figure.

Pizzo writes in his recommendation that Mohamed answered "no," that he did not have a problem with Blakely searching the car. Blakely testified that Mohamed said "go ahead" when asked a second time.

Pizzo said that it's hard to hear that part of the conversation, which was recorded by a microphone Blakely wore and recorded by a camera mounted beneath the rearview mirror of his patrol car.

"And while Mohamed's answer to the request for clarification cannot be heard, my review of the recording shows Mohamed nodding "no" to Blakely's clarification request (meaning -- "no I do not have a problem")," Pizzo writes. "Whether Mohamed nodded no or stated no (as Blakely testified), the clear import of Mohamed's actions were that he did not object to Blakely's search request. Accordingly, based on my review of the recording, I credit Blakely's interpretation of Mohamed's statements and actions."

Upon searching the car, Blakely found what experts described as low-grade explosives in the trunk. Both Mohamed and Megahed were indicted on Aug. 29 for illegally transporting explosive materials. Mohamed faces an additional charge of demonstrating how to turn a remote control child's toy into a detonator.

They were scheduled to go to trial on Monday. But on Wednesday, Merryday postponed the trial until April 28.

-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

Clam Bayou cleanup effort garners tourism award

Zuelsdorf stands amid debris in the Clam Bayou Nature Preserve. [Scott Keeler | Times]

An area waterway isn't the only thing a local environmentalist is cleaning up.

He just raked in a national award.

Kurt Zuelsdorf of Kayak Nature Adventures recently earned Coastal Living Magazine's  2008 Tourism Award for his clean up efforts/eco-tours of Clam Bayou Nature Park.

An estimated 32,000 pounds of trash have been removed from the preserve since Kurt Zuelsdorf started his cleanup program in summer 2006, offering volunteers a free kayak rental in return for collecting a bag of garbage.

The 2008 Eco-Tour exchange program kicks off Saturday (March 1).

See Coastal Living Article Award here; http://www.coastalliving.com/coastal/living/environment/article/0,14587,1706660,00.html

-- Sandra J. Gadsden, Times staff writer

Former basketball coach, Don Williams, dead at 84

Don Williams, the basketball coach who founded USF's program and led Hillsborough High to its last state championship, died peacefully this morning at a nursing home in Zephyrhills, his wife Margie confirmed.

Williams, a quiet, faithful man who rarely argued with referees, led the 1959 Hillsborough High Terriers to win the state tournament in Gainesville. He coached from 1954 to 1962. He became USF's first basketball coach in 1969.

This month the Hillsborough County School Board voted to name the Hillsborough High gymnasium in his honor. It will be called the Don Williams Athletic Center.

Though a neurological problem hampered his ability to communicate and walk, he cried when he learned former players and students were petitioning for the name change, said Margie Williams, his wife of 62 years. When she told him it was approved, he smiled.

"He just started grinning really slowly, and it just broadened and broadened," said Williams, 84, of Zephyrhills. "It was real cute. I wish I had a movie camera going."

She considers his influence on the young people he taught and coached to be his greatest victory. She estimated about 30 former students have come to visit him at the nursing home.

A service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Trinity United Methodist Church, located at 33425 State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel.

- Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer

Photo from Times archives

Injured bald eagle found

[Jim Damaske | Times]

EAST LAKE -- An injured bald eagle was found under some trees in a vacant lot in the Grey Oaks neighborhood this afternoon.

Neighbors spotted the injured bird and notified local eagle watchers who contacted the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.

Avian Care Specialist Rick Gechter (above) examined the bird and found a puncture wound in one wing and noted injuries to the right side of the bird's face (below).

A pair of eagles have raised two or three eaglets each year in a pine tree in the Grey Oaks subdivision and eagle watchers are concerned it might be one of the nesting pair.

The former land owner, the late developer Roy E. Shaffer Jr., dubbed the pair "Roy and Royola."

The eagles raised two chicks late last year despite seven large homes that are under construction across the street.

Jim Damaske, Times staff writer

[Jim Damaske | Times]

Community meets to discuss sex offender facility

PALM RIVER -- A mobile home park for newly-released sex offenders opened quietly here a few months ago.

Now, residents are holding an "emergency meeting" tonight at 6:30 p.m. at  First Baptist Church, 5415 Palm River Road, to air concerns about the  park.

Eight sex offenders live there now, six of them carrying the label "sex predator" for muliple offenses or particularly severe crimes.

"Yes, these guys do have to live somewhere," said Judy Cornett of Pasco County, who runs a non-profit that educates neighborhoods about sex offenders and will be helping to run the meeting.

"My concern is, directly across the street from where these people are, are low income families. Sex offenders are sick for life and they don't need to be around children."

James Broderick, the business administrator of Florida Justice Transitions Inc, which oversees the park, said his company is providing a positive service.

The men live under supervision and are shuttled to counseling every week, he said. "These men will be better off in this environment and society will be better off too," he said.

-S.I. Rosenbaum, Times staff writer

Keystone developer withdraws one proposal, continues another

KEYSTONE -- A developer who wanted to amend the county's long-term growth plan and alter the rural face of this northwest Hillsborough community withdrew one proposal and continued another.

Just hours before county commissioners were to vote on the amendments, Northdale developer Stephen J. Dibbs withdrew a request to remove 305 acres from the jurisdiction of the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan, which governs growth and design. He also asked that the county not hear another of his requests until 2009. That second request would have changed the land use designation of a piece of land along Lutz-Lake Fern Road and the Suncoast Parkway from agricultural rural to suburban mixed use.

According to Planning Commission records, the current designation allows up to 30,000 square feet of commercial space. The change would have allowed Dibbs to more than triple that.

Last month, county planners recommended commissioners reject both proposals. Since then, Dibbs has initiated discussions with members of the Keystone Civic Association, and others who opposed his plan, said his lawyer, Vin Marchetti.

Marchetti said he hopes to refile the withdrawn request "by the summer, but it may be for less acreage than what we originally filed."

- Rodney Thrash, Times staff writer

Second ex-employee pleads guilty in housing scam

TAMPA -- A second former Tampa Housing Authority employee has pleaded guilty to stealing federal grant money, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced today.

Carlton Miles, 38, of Tampa, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

Miles worked as a Section 8 counselor for the Housing Authority from May 2003 to 2004, a period in which he recruited family and friends to serve as fake landlords so they could receive U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development money.

The Housing Authority receives thousands of dollars each year from HUD to subsidize housing for low-income families, the elderly and disabled individuals. Landlords who participate in the Housing Choice Voucher Program receive grant money in exchange for reducing rent for qualified tenants.

Miles and others conspired to place bogus landlord names into the Housing Authority's database to embezzle money.

Prosecutors said Miles recruited four men in the scheme: Jeffery Larkins, 41, Joenathan Haile, 39, Jonathan Denson, 34, and Brian Montgomery, 37. Those four already have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal government funds.

Miles and the four men stole more than $114,000, prosecutors said.

A December 2007 indictment named 11 people as part of the conspiracy. Miles is the seventh person and the second among three Housing Authority employees involved to plead guilty.

- Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

Lehane ties the knot at the St. Pete Yacht Club

Writer Dennis Lehane and New Port Richey optometrist Angela Bernardo are on a honeymoon in Hawaii. The couple were married at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club on Saturday, Feb. 23.

Lehane, who grew up in Dorchester, Mass., is an Eckerd College graduate whose novels include Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone. He also has written episodes for HBO's critically acclaimed show, The Wire. Bernardo graduated from the New England College of Optometry in Boston whose practice is Trinity Optical. She specializes in contact lenses and promotes literacy and vision assessment for children.

Friends say the couple met at a Super Bowl party in 2007. Their parents, Rita and Marty Bernardo and Ann and Michael Lehane, were in St. Petersburg for the ceremony, as was Angi’s 85-year-old grandfather John Caruso. Her aunt Connie Southerland, who flew in from Hawaii for the event, brought leis for all the women attending.

- Mary Jane Park, Times staff writer

Tampa Museum of Art gets $2.5-million gift

TAMPA -- The Tampa Museum of Art has announced a $2.5-million pledge, the largest individual gift in its 28-year history, from museum trustee Cornelia Corbett, former chairman of the museum board, her husband, Richard, and her maternal family foundation, the William Stamps Farish Fund.

The Corbetts will name two exhibition galleries in the new three-story, 66,000-square-foot museum to be built in Tampa's Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. The Corbett Gallery will hold changing exhibitions; the Farish Gallery will feature glass works of art. The new $33.5-million facility is expected to open in the fall of 2009.

- Amy Scherzer, Times staff writer

Man dies in fatal crash in Hillsborough

TAMPA -- A 54-year-old man was killed this morning in a traffic crash in north Tampa.

Hillsborough sheriff's deputies responded to a call and found Rudolph Bruney of E 121st Avenue lying in the road near 12313 N Taliaferro Ave. They said a 1986 Buick driven by Demario Berkhall, 27, of N 22nd Street in Tampa was heading west on 124th Avenue and stopped at a stop sign at 124th and Taliaferro. He then moved into the intersection and into the path of Bruney's Toyota. The Toyota flipped, ejecting Bruney, who was not wearing a seat belt, authorities said.

Bruney was pronounced dead at the scene. The investigation is continuing, authorities said.

- Times staff writer

Tot injured in swing set collapse goes home

Lexi's mom fastens her into a car seat for the ride home. [Martha Rial | Times]

ST. PETERSBURG -- Lexi Antorino,  the Palmetto 2-year-old who was injured in a swing set accident last December, was discharged early this afternoon from All Children's Hospital. She remains on a ventilator.

Lexi was rolled down the hallway on a wheelchair, her eyes closed. She was wrapped in a Princess Ariel blanket and wore Dora sneakers and a pink stocking hat.

Her mom, Sarah Antorino, walked next to her wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Lexi and the words "pray for my angel."

Lexi was critically injured Dec. 9 when a swing set collapsed on her, causing a pole to fall on her head while she was in a baby-harnessed swing seat.

The force of the blow broke a bone in her neck, cracked her skull and sent shards of bone into her brain.

- Melanie Ave, Times staff writer

Citizens protest Brown-Waite's remark

Teresa Lopez, 57, of Melbourne, was among about 75 people who gathered on the steps of the Hernando County Courthouse this afternoon to protest remarks by U.S. Rep. Ginny Grown-Waite. They want Brown-Waite to apologize for referring to residents of Puerto Rico and Guam as "foreign citizens.'' They are, in fact, citizens. Most of the protesters arrived on a single bus that started in Melbourne, stopped in Orlando and traveled across the state with 57 people aboard. Brown-Waite was not at the courthouse during the protest. [MAURICE RIVENBARK | Times]

Watch video

Fort DeSoto named No. 1 beach by TripAdvisor

Fort De Soto Park's North Beach has been named the top beach in the United States by TripAdvisor, the Web site that touts itself as the world's largest online travel community.

TripAdvisor called the beach "a portrait of tranquility, with a spectacular combination of soft, white sand, calm and clear water and a laid-back atmosphere.''

The survey of TripAdvisor members and staffers included three other Florida beaches in their Top Ten: St. Andrew's State Park in Panama City, South Beach in Miami and Pensacola Beach.

Fort De Soto also was honored in 2005 as the nation's #1 beach by Dr. Stephen Leatherman, a.k.a. Dr. Beach.

A Day in the Life of Fort DeSoto Beach

TampaBay.com Beach Guide: Beach news, events and restaurant reviews

- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Riverview man charged with January rape

RIVERVIEW -- Marcus Christian Pate, 20, of Riverview was arrested in connection with a January rape in Riverview.

He admitted entering a house off Highway 301 S through an unlocked window at about 10 p.m. on Jan. 11, Hillsborough sheriff's deputies said. Once inside, he sexually battered a 24-year-old woman, deputies said.

DNA evidence from the crime scene was used to match Pate to the rape, deputies reported. A warrant was issued Tuesday, and a Hillsborough detective traveled to Danville, Va., where Pate attends Averett University, the report states.

He was arrested by Danville police on Thursday. He was charged with sexual battery, false imprisonment and burglary with assault, the report states. He will be brought back to Hillsborough County.

Pate played football at Averett University. He is 6 feet 3 and weighs 195 pounds, according to the 2007 roster. He was a wide receiver. He attended Riverview High School.

- Jessica Vander Velde, Times staff writer

Bayfront resumes trauma status

ST. PETERSBURG -- Bayfront Medical Center has resumed its status as a Level II adult trauma center after a 48-hour voluntary suspension.

Bayfront temporarily diverted trauma victims to Tampa hospitals because of a shortage of neurosurgeons, which are required in trauma centers 24 hours a day. Bayfront resumed its trauma status at 7 a.m.

The diversion applied only to trauma patients transported in the local EMS system. Bayfront continued to treat other patients at its trauma center.

- Times staff writer

Victims were 'praying we weren't going to die'

UPDATE

DADE CITY -- Stephen Tuttle was 16 when he was left bleeding in the dark alongside State Road 54, shot in the back of the head.

He survived. Now 24, he went to court today to testify against the man who tried to kill him back in 1999: Lawrence Joey Smith.

Smith, the convicted triggerman who wounded Tuttle and executed 17-year-old Robert Crawford, is defending himself from the death penalty this week armed only with his jailhouse legal education.

To save his life, Smith is trying to persuade the jury that he didn’t pull the trigger -– that co-defendant Faunce Pearce, the accused ringleader, did it.

Tuttle testified that Pearce, angry the teens lost his drug money, ordered them in the backseat of his Trans Am and took them for a ride. Smith sat up front. They were surrounded by armed men.

"I was holding my best friend's hand,'' Tuttle testified, "praying we weren’t going to die.''

Then Pearce stopped the car.

"He told me … he told me to get out of the car,'' said Tuttle, his voice wavering.

"Did you feel that you had no choice?'' Assistant State Attorney Manny Garcia asked.

"I had no choice,'' Tuttle said.

"What happens upon you getting out of the car?'' Garcia asked.

Tuttle broke down on the stand. He covered his face with a tissue.

"He … he told me to get out of the car,'' Tuttle said, "and as I got out of the car, everything went … everything went blank. I don’t remember.''

Tuttle testified that he never saw who shot him from behind, but that Pearce never left the driver's seat. Other witnesses testified that it was Smith who shot both teens.

Keith Hammond, the attorney helping Smith’s defense, questioned the victim.

Jurors didn’t watch the victim –- they watched Smith’s reaction.

He had none. Smith sat stone-faced, a few feet from the one he tried to kill almost a decade ago, staring away from the witness stand.

Tuttle survived because the bullet ricocheted off his fingers before entering his head.

"I was putting on my hat and everything went dark,'' an emotional Tuttle testified. "I never heard a click. I never heard a bang. I never felt the bullet hitting my hand.''

He showed his wounded fingers and the bullet hole left in his head to the judge, jurors and lawyers.

Smith, though, never looked.

Nick Bollea wins a round, co-defendant gets probation

CLEARWATER -- Nick Bollea has won one round in a fight over the status of his driver's license, though his license remains suspended.

On Tuesday, a hearing officer with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles set aside an administrative suspension of Bollea's license. That suspension was based on a blood-alcohol test taken the night of Aug. 26, after Bollea's speeding Toyota Supra slammed into a tree, critically injuring his friend.

The test showed that Bollea, 17, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.05 percent or higher the night of the crash. Florida law allows for the suspension of licenses of drivers under 21 who have that blood-alcohol level.

In a one-page order, however, a state hearing officer "determined that there was not enough information to support the administrative suspension." The order did not elaborate on the decision.

Despite that order, Bollea's license remains suspended for two reasons, said Ann Nucatola, spokeswoman for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

First, she said, Bollea has an unpaid fine on an unrelated offense. Also, he is charged with an offense that, if he's convicted, could result in the revocation of his drivers license.

Bollea faces a charge of reckless driving with serious bodily injury in connection with the wreck. He has pleaded not guilty.

In another development, Daniel Jacobs, the second driver in events that led up to the wreck, pleaded no contest to reckless driving today and was sentenced to 90 days of probation. He was also fined $500 and told to do 25 hours of community service.

Jacobs, 22, was driving a silver Dodge Viper that witnesses say was racing a Bollea's yellow Supra before Bollea crashed into a tree on Court Street.

The crash critically injured John Graziano, 23.

Bollea is the son of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, who lives in Clearwater. The family was the subject of a VH1 reality show, Hogan Knows Best. Their celebrity status has brought national attention to Bollea's crash.

See previous coverage here.

- Tamara El-Khoury, Times staff writer

Gee names 11-person panel to probe jail abuse claims

TAMPA -- Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee has announced creation of a 11-person panel to be led by a former state law enforcement official to probe mounting allegations of inmate abuse at the jail.

"It is incumbent on me as sheriff, as well as the command staff of this agency, to deal with these issues in a way that is both immediate and objective," Gee said.

The Independent Review Commission will be headed by Dr. James Sewell, former assistant commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, former regional director of FDLE's Tampa Bay Regional Operations Center, and a respected author and instructor in law enforcement training and management issues.

"Recent reports about alleged abuse of inmates have cast a critical light on the Detention Department," the Sheriff's Office said in a prepared statement. "Sheriff Gee is keenly aware of the public reaction and questions about what occurred in the jail, and understands that public confidence in the county jail system is an essential element in protecting the citizens. Internal investigations into the allegations are currently under way; however Sheriff Gee believes an independent commission needs to further examine the inmate booking and incarceration procedures, and afford the public a legitimate, unbiased report on the jails."

The other members are Dr. Lorie Fridell, associate professor at the University of South Florida; Ned Hafner, director of corrections and jail services at the Florida Sheriffs Association and former director of corrections for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office; Al Higginbotham, Hillsborough County Commissioner, District 4; Brian Kensel, Special Agent (retired), FBI; The Rev. Beverly Lane, pastor of First Mount Carmel AME Church; Clarence McKee, CEO of McKee Communications; Linda McKinnon, CEO of Central Florida Behavioral Health Network; Dr. Delia Aguirre Palermo, professor at St. Petersburg College; Raymond Velboom, special agent (retired), Florida Department of Law Enforcement; and Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, former Army chief of staff.

The Sheriff's Office said Sewell had complete autonomy in assembling the panel. Its meetings will be public.

The commission is expected to produce an initial report in 60 days and a final report with recommendations in 180 days.

Meanwhile, Brian Sterner, the quadriplegic former inmate who was dumped from his wheelchair by a deputy as surveillance cameras rolled, began talking to investigators from the Florida Attorney General's Office about 10 a.m. as part of a state probe into practices at the Sheriff's Office, according to his attorney, John Trevena.

Another abuse claim surfaced Wednesday, when attorneys for a paraplegic named Benjamin Rayburn said he was dumped from his wheelchair and left to flail on a holding cell floor for an hour or more.

The Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that deputies moved to subdue Rayburn after he tried to stab a deputy with a glass crack pipe on Oct. 3, 2006. He then threw the pipe, which shattered and sent fragments flying at a deputy's head, according to a sheriff's report. The Sheriff's Office said deputies handled the incident properly. 

Rayburn joins a growing list of inmates who have alleged abuse by detention deputies at the jail and who have provided videos to back up their claims. He is the fifth person to make such a claim this month.

-Times staff writers

Busch plans four parks in Dubai

Orlando Anheuser Busch Cos.  signed a deal to put about $5-billion worth of theme parks in Dubai.

Busch Entertainment Corp., the brewing giant’s theme park unit, unveiled the deal with a unit of Dubai World, Nakheel, an arm of the Dubai government. Nakheel will finance the parks, paying Busch license and management fees.

The location is a five-mile-wide series of islands called Jebel-Ali that are being pumped up from the bottom of the Arabian Sea. When completely developed, Dubai World envisions a city of 280,000 with 15,000 hotel rooms and what's being called Busch's Worlds of Discovery -- SeaWorld, Aquatica, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove.

The Busch parks will be on a 330-acre island shaped like Shamu the killer whale. The first phase, which would open in 2012, will have Sea World and Aquatica, a water park. Several years later a Busch Gardens park, which includes zoo animals and theme park rides, will open along with Discovery Cove, a boutique  park that offers personal interaction with dolphins and other sea creatures.

Universal Studios recently signed a licensing deal for a park about five miles away on the Dubai mainland.

Dubai is the second-largest of the United Arab Emirates.

-- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

Largo police search for missing woman with dementia

LARGO -- Police are appealing for help in their search for a woman with dementia who has been missing from an assisted living facility since Tuesday afternoon.

Mary Gill Zelter, 86, voluntarily signed out of the Royal Palms assisted living facility at 300 Lake Ave. about 1 p.m. She was last seen driving her 2003 white Chrysler Sebring convertible away from the retirement home. Her credit card was used to make a purchase at an Albertsons grocery store at East Bay Drive and Belcher Road about 1:30 p.m., police say.

Zelter suffers from dementia and high blood pressure and left Royal Palms without her prescribed medications. While police said she is not in danger from not taking her medicine, they are concerned that because of her dementia she could become lost, hurt herself or suffer from exposure to cold weather.

"We're beside ourselves," Zelter's daughter, 54-year-old Mary Lalucci of Belleair, said this morning. She fears that this might not be a case of a senior citizen wandering off but that someone might have harmed her mother.

"As of Tuesday night, when it got dark, she would have reached out for help," she said.

Although Zelter does have dementia, she can get around on her own, was allowed to sign herself out of Royal Palms and had improved enough to make other short trips to the store in the past month, Lalucci said.

Zelter, a retired registered nurse and travel agent, has lived at Royal Palms about four months. Before that, she lived in Venice. Lalucci said it's possible that she might try to return to Venice.

"The Venice police and her old neighbors are all on the lookout," she said.

Zelter is about 5 feet, 3 inches tall, has a thin build and white hair. Her car has a black top and a Florida tag, CZ 103. Police ask anyone who sees her or has information about her to call (727) 587-6728 or 587-6730.

- Times staff writer

Hospitalized jail inmate dies

A Pinellas County Jail inmate hospitalized with an apparent staph infection and pneumonia died at 4:14 p.m. today.

Earlier today, a doctor at Largo Medical Center told Dorothy Palinchik's family the infection had done irreversible damage to her arms and legs, turning them black and cold because there was no circulation in them. Doctors recommended amputating the limbs, according to the family.

But family friend Lisa Hillary said doctors later amended their opinion and told the family Palinchik would probably die even if the surgery was performed. So family members opted not to have her limbs amputated and were planning to take her off life support, Hillary said.

Palinchik, 42, of St. Petersburg was in the intensive care unit at Largo Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized since Friday.

She was booked into the jail on Feb. 13 on a charge of stealing a $9 Philly cheesesteak sandwich from a St. Petersburg Publix. She declined her boyfriend's offer to post her $250 bail, opting instead to to serve the time, he said.

But over the next week, Palinchik grew gravely ill. On Feb. 21, she was transferred to the jail's medical wing. Her family said she had a staph infection caused by the antibiotic-resistant MRSA bacteria. The next day, she was taken to Largo Medical Center. Her family has contended that she repeatedly asked for help at the jail but received inadequate care, getting one Motrin and one Sudafed despite running a 101.5-degree fever for five days.

When she arrived at Largo Medical Center on Friday night, Palinchik was scared, conscious and complained of trouble breathing and chest pain, Hillary said after talking to a nurse. Later, she lapsed into a coma.

Sheriff's officials say medical privacy laws prevent them from releasing any information about Palinchik's medical history or care at the jail, although they have said she did not have any open wounds that would suggest an infection when she was booked.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating the care she received, a standard practice, officials say, when an inmate becomes so seriously ill.

Click here to read more about crowded conditions at the Pinellas Jail.

- Jonathan Abel, Times staff writer

Cold morning, cool day before temperatures dip again

[Lawren Louli braves the chilly morning while walking her two Australian shepherds along the shore at Lassing Park in St. Petersburg this morning. Dirk Shadd | Times]

Despite the promise of sunshine after a chilly night, don't expect too much of a warm-up today, forecasters say.

Temperatures will stay in the upper 50s or lower 60s for most of the day and again sink into the 40-degree range overnight. Northern counties may again be issued a freeze warning with temperatures there expected around 30 degrees tomorrow morning.

Early Thursday, freezing weather was recorded in Hernando and Citrus counties. Officials in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties also prepared for the temperature drop, opening several shelters.

Bay News 9 meteorologist Juli Marquez said temperatures will bounce back to about 80 degrees over the weekend. But, she said, the warming trend will be short-lived, another cold front is expected to move through late Monday and into Tuesday morning.

Check conditions throughout the day in our weather section. Here's a glance at current area temperatures:

[Image courtesy Bay News 9]

- Casey Cora, Times staff writer

Funeral plans announced for Ch. 10 weatherman Dick Fletcher

An announcement was posted to day on the WTSP-Ch. 10 Web site that a public memorial is planned for Saturday, with everyone in the bay area invited to say goodbye to iconic weatherman Dick Fletcher.

A "celebration of life" ceremony is set for 11 a.m. at the Suncoast Cathedral, 2300 62nd Ave. N in St. Petersburg. The announcement says that Fletcher's wife, Cindy Fletcher, is inviting "friends, family and all of Dick's fans" to the service.

Fletcher died Tuesday at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg, after a stroke he suffered Feb. 18.

For more about the service, click here.

Times staff writer

Warning: 'Water man' might be up to no good

TAMPA — The man said he was a water department employee there to check her faucet.

So, the elderly woman led him to her sink, where he turned on the water.

Then, the man told her he could save her money by running “a fiber optic line” from the sink to the water meter out back, police said.

But when the woman led the man to the back of her home, a second person entered and stole jewelry.

Now, the Tampa Water Department and Tampa Police are warning citizens to be on alert.

All water department employees are in uniform, carry identification and operate city vehicles that display the city logo. The department rarely requires entry to private property.

If you have any questions about work the water department is doing in your neighborhood, call (813) 274-7400.

The suspect in the incident above is described as white, 30 to 35 years old, 5-foot-8, thin, with dark short hair, dark eyes and a “clean-cut appearance.” He was wearing khaki pants, loafers and several badges.

Police know of a second similar offense in which nothing was taken. That suspect wore glasses and a water department name tag around his neck, Davis said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Tampa Police at (813) 232-6800.

- Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer

Lithia couple planning 'Big Redneck Wedding'

Staff writer Jan Wesner is writing for tomorrow's St. Petersburg Times:

"You are cordially invited to attend the second wedding of Christy and Kevin Gonzalez.
Nuptials will include mud wrestling, mattress surfing and a donkey."

Get an invitation like that, and there’s little question. You are a redneck.

Kevin and Christy, who live in Lithia, already knew that about themselves. That’s why they agreed to go on My Big Redneck Wedding, a reality show hosted by comedian Tom Arnold on cable network CMT.

The couple actually got married in June during a snook fishing trip to Englewood with their pastor. They’d already lived together two years, and friends and family were itching for them to make it legitmate. "Not like she was pregnant or anything like that," Kevin quickly points out. "Basically we had people bird-dogging us about getting married."  ...

Kevin and Christy like to drive trucks in the mud, hunt hogs and go to church. They are, by their own account, rednecks. So it was only fitting that they would have a country-themed wedding at a ranch in Odessa.

She wanted to ride in on a horse. He would come in on an all-terrain vehicle. The flower girl would be perched on a donkey. Guests would mud wrestle in a plastic wading pool or ride on a mattress pulled behind a speeding ATV. "It's pretty much just stuff we normally do," Kevin said.

They didn’t know it would be on TV. Christy's cousin heard about the wacky antics they planned and submitted their name for the show without their knowledge. Kevin and Christy found out a month or two before that they were selected.

Read the full story here.

Police investigate noose at Lake Roberta

TAMPA — Who hung a noose at Lake Roberta?

Tampa police are looking into it.

Gael Murphy, 59, was at the Seminole Heights lake on Feb. 11 checking on a drainage project there when she said she noticed a nylon rope dangling above the head of a subcontractor she was speaking with.

“I look up and it’s a noose!” she said Wednesday. “There’s nothing like a noose.”

Murphy, an animal rights advocate who lives in Egypt Lake, was originally touring the area after getting complaints from neighbors that a drainage project there was affecting wildlife.

While those complaints didn’t appear to be substantiated, Murphy said that what she did find that day concerned her enough to contact the company doing the work, the NAACP and the city.
Eventually, Tampa Police got involved.

“It’s something we’re taking very, very seriously,” Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said Wednesday.

Detectives are investigating the matter to determine whether it meets the specific requirements of a hate crime under Florida law, she said. There has been no determination as to who tied and hung the rope.

Murphy said that when she first noticed the noose, she was speaking with a supervisor with Kamminga &am