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The body of a woman in her 40s was found in a vacant field near the intersection of E Second Avenue and N 24th Street.
Police say detectives found the body while looking for Debra Wagner. The Medical Examiner will confirm the victim's identity, determine the cause of death and notify the next of kin, police say. There were no obvious signs of trauma, they said.
-- Times Staff Writer
[Photo: Stephen J. Coddington, Times]
TAMPA -- Two men pleaded guilty today in federal court to stealing mail and victims' identities to fraudulently obtain more than $200,000 from banks throughout the Tampa Bay region.
William Wayne Dykstra and Mark Warren Jackson both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud. Each faces up to 30 years in prison and as much as a $1-million fine.
According to their plea agreements, Dykstra, 65, and Jackson, 57, would steal mail containing personal information as well as checks from the U.S. mail. Prosecutors said the men used the stolen documents to unlawfully obtain copies of victims' Florida driver licenses, then opened numerous bank accounts and mail boxes throughout the bay area. Prosecutors said the men deposited counterfeit checks then withdrew money. Dykstra lives in Tampa, and Jackson, a former attorney, lives in Pinellas County, according to court records.
The conspiracy lasted from about April 2000 until July 2004. Prosecutors said Dykstra and Jackson fraudulently obtained or attempted to obtain more than $200,000 from banks during the four-year period.
-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer
DADE CITY -- Tonya Michelle Adams agreed this morning to spend 15 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to 31 charges including burglary, grand theft, forgery and criminal use of personal identification.
The 31-year-old mother was arrested in February 2007 and accused of a weeks-long theft spree in which she stole credit cards, Social Security numbers and other personal financial information from homes and mailboxes in Dade City and Zephyrhills in 2006. Authorities say she shared this information with others.
She faced up to 160 years in prison if convicted and sentenced to serve consecutive prison terms on every single charge.
Adams was reluctant to go ahead with the plea deal, but after a chat with the judge and her lawyer she realized no better deal would be offered. She faced a minimum of 10 years in prison.
She did have one request before sentencing: a two-day furlough from the Pasco County jail so she can visit her children before she goes to prison.
Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa denied that request.
-- Jamal Thalji, Times staff writer
[Photo: Pasco County Sheriff's Office]
Museum leaders cite its location as the primary reason for its troubles. Executive director Michelle Turman said the plan is to find a new location for the museum, probably in Clearwater.
In closing the facility, located in Pinewood Cultural Center, which also houses the Florida Botanical Gardens and Heritage Village, she said she and the board of directors would have more time and energy to focus on that search.
-- Lennie Bennett, Times staff
[Photo: Douglas R. Clifford, Times files]
BRANDON -- Verizon workers hit a gas line this afternoon, causing a leak that shut down Oakfield Drive from S Kings Avenue to Brandon Hospital.
The gas leak started just before 2 p.m. at 618 Oakfield Drive, in front of Studio 618 hair salon, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reported.
There haven't been any evacuations.
-- Jessica Vander Velde, Times staff writer
DADE CITY -- A 16-year-old boy told friends he planned on "bringing a gun to school and shooting everyone," according to a Dade City Police report.
He had a map of his school, access to guns and motive, authorities say.
George Paul Adams was arrested Wednesday at Moore-Mickens Education Center at 38301 Martin Luther King Blvd., where he was a student.
Adams had taken a map of the school from an art class, police said. He drew a "detailed route of travel" within the school and labeled areas where he intended to shoot others -- the office, the cafeteria and multiple rows of classrooms -- according to police.
On his MySpace page, police say, the boy wrote: "I really really hate everyone at school they mare me want to do wut I did last year but really kill."
Police say he had access to more than 25 firearms inside his home. No further information was immediately available on the weapons.
After his arrest, the boy told police he plotted the shooting to scare other students. He was mad, authorities say, because the school had held him back for a year.
--Nomaan Merchant, Times Staff Writer
[Victoria Gotti talks to the media as she leaves the Sam M. Gibbons United States Courthouse in Tampa. Daniel Wallace, Times]
Wearing a plain blue shirt and blue pants, he swiveled in his chair, patted his attorney on the back and chuckled in general conversation before and during his arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Jenkins, which lasted about five minutes. Gotti's New York area attorney Charles Carnesi told the judge he planned to file a motion for a change of venue.
Outside the courtroom afterward before leaving in a black Lincoln Town Car with two other men, Gotti's sister, Victoria Gotti, defended her brother's innocence, saying he has been targeted because of his notorious last name.
"If they could pull his father out of the grave three more times they would," she said. "They would try his bones."
Victoria Gotti said her brother doesn't belong here, having turned his life around years ago.
"John is not a part of this thing," she said. "He is definitely not a mobster."
Before the hearing, Carnesi made no comments as he walked up the steps of the courthouse at 11 a.m., giving a slight smile and a wink as he entered the building.
Gotti has remained in federal custody since being arrested at his Oyster Bay, N.Y., home on Aug. 5, the day FBI officials and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa announced an indictment against him.
A separate indictment charged four other New York area men, and one from Tampa, with similar racketeering, murder and drug charges.
Federal authorities say the men charged in the separate indictment committed crimes in the Tampa Bay area under the direction of one of Gotti's associates.
--Kevin Graham and Kim Wilmath, Times staff writers
NEW PORT RICHEY -- A vehicle crash with injuries has created a traffic snarl on Little Road near the West Pasco Government Center.
All southbound lanes are closed, the Florida Highway Patrol reports, and traffic heading north has slowed to a crawl. At least one patient is being airlifted to the hospital.
The accident happened about 1:10 p.m. Keep checking tampabay.com for updates.
-- Times staff writer
PORT RICHEY -- Authorities have released details about the suspect in the murder of an 82-year-old man sleeping in his Timber Oaks home early this morning.
Joseph Wido and his 79-year-old wife Roberta were sleeping when a man broke into their home at 10519 Quimby Drive, Pasco sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said. The suspect tied up Roberta and killed Joseph, Doll said. The sheriff's office did not release the cause of death or if the killer took anything.
The suspect is a white male between 35 and 40 years old, Doll said. He is 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing about 170 pounds, with dark eyebrows, dark eyes and dark hair, Doll said.
The man was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, red cloth gloves, and a bandanna or rag over his nose and mouth when he broke into the home, Doll said.
The murder happened between midnight and sunrise today, Doll said. Just before noon, a neighbor entered the home and saw Roberta tied up next to her husband's body, Doll said. Deputies and paramedics arrived at 11:52 a.m., and Joseph was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. Authorities then secured the area around the home to search for the suspect, but found no one.
Roberta was treated at the scene for minor injuries from being tied up, Doll said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Pasco Sheriff's Office at (800) 854-2862.
Please stay with tampabay.com for updates.
--Nomaan Merchant, Times staff writer
TEMPLE TERRACE -- Police have called for the public's help in identifying two women they say conned another woman out of $4,500 after assuring her they had won $250,000 in the Florida Lottery.
The women, both Hispanic, asked a middle-aged woman at a shopping center on 56th Street for a ride to an immigration office in the area, police said. On the way, one woman told the victim she had recently won the lottery but couldn't cash the ticket because she was an undocumented immigrant.
Detective Carlos Lopez said the two women told the victim they knew someone who could skirt officials and cash the ticket even though they weren't citizens, but they had to put up a significant amount of "good faith" money to prove the ticket was legitimate. The women told the victim they had several thousand dollars but needed more. They asked her for $25,000. She offered $4,500, which she withdrew from her Bank of America account and placed in an envelope.
The women put the envelope in the victim's glove compartment "for safe-keeping," Lopez said, which is when "the switch" probably occurred. The women told her they needed to stop at a store to buy stamps, but as they approached the store, one of the women told the victim she probably shouldn't leave the money in the car after all. When the woman retrieved the envelope, it contained only scraps of cut-up newspaper, and the two Hispanic women were gone.
Police described the first woman as Hispanic, 20 to 30 years old, 5 feet to 5 feet 5 inches tall, 110 to 120 pounds, with a slender build, brown hair and brown eyes. Police said she was wearing a beige blouse, beige pants and a beige baseball cap.
Police said the second woman, pictured, i
s also 20 to 30 years old, Hispanic, 5 feet to 5 feet 3 inches tall, 130 to 140 pounds, with a medium build and brown hair with blond streaks. Police said she was wearing a white blouse, blue jeans and a gold bracelet on her right wrist.
The two are wanted on charges of grand theft and a scheme to defraud. Lopez said he's not sure they victimized anyone else. "Usually when people do this, they do it constantly. There may be other victims out there who haven't stepped forward," Lopez said. "Victims get embarrassed at the fact of, 'Hey, I got taken,' you know?"
-- Kim Wilmath, Times Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Temple Terrace police
BRANDON -- A Brandon High School senior was arrested at school Wednesday, accused of forcing his way into the back porch of a teenage girl's house last week and fondling her, deputies said.
Jaison Chacko, 17, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the Aug. 21 attack, Hillsborough sheriff's officials said.
Chacko approached the 15-year-old girl as she approached the porch of her Brandon home, then asked to be let inside. The two did not know each other, deputies said.
When the girl said no, Chacko forced himself inside the porch area, where investigators say he restrained and fondled the girl. Then, he muscled the teen into a chair, but she escaped attack by kicking Chacko in the groin and running into her home, authorities said.
On Wednesday, deputies arrested Chacko on the Brandon High School campus.
Authorities said he was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation, false imprisonment and burglary with battery. He was taken to a Juvenile Assessment Center.
-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer
Photo courtesy Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigators work the scene of an early morning accident in which a 10-year-old boy was hit by this Dodge Pt Cruiser after running into the street to chase a ball. [SKIP O'ROURKE | Times]
VALRICO -- A 10-year-old boy was hit by a vehicle at his school bus stop this morning when he chased a ball into the street, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office officials say.
Christian Gonzalez, a Valrico Elementary School fourth-grader, was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital, where he is in serious condition, Sheriff's Office and school district officials said. He was conscious and breathing when rescuers arrived at the bus stop in front of Town and Country Mobile Home Park, 1221 Valrico Road, around 7:45 a.m. A traffic homicide investigator at the scene described the boy's injuries as life-threatening.
Christian was hit by a 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser traveling north on Valrico Road. The driver, 65-year-old Carlos Garcia of 333 Brandy Wine Drive, likely will not face criminal charges, Sheriff's Office spokesman J.D. Callaway said.
"Right now it appears to be an accident," Callaway said, but the incident is still under investigation.
Garcia reportedly stopped immediately when he hit Christian.
The bus stop is on Valrico Road between State Road 60 and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It's a busy two-lane thoroughfare lined with trees and, at the bus stop, a drainage ditch. Cars zoom by at 45 mph or more.
"They fly down here," said Pam Deems, manager of the mobile home park. "It's not good for (the kids) to have to stand out there."
The stop was moved from inside the park out to the edge of Valrico Road, according to Deems and another area resident.
"That was a bad decision," said Robin DeHate, who lives in a subdivision across the road.
Deems and DeHate said the stop was moved last year, but Hillsborough County School District Spokeswoman Linde Cobbe said it was moved in 2003.
Valrico Road was closed for about an hour after the incident.
Kim Wilmath and Jan Wesner, Times staff writers
Update: The evacuation order was lifted and people have been let back inside the building. Largo Fire Rescue Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Day said no leak was detected. The odor was possibly caused by a chemical spray on plants inside the building, Day said.
A Largo office building was evacuated this morning after a gas leak, emergency officials said.
Fire crews were called to the site at 13575 58th St. N around 8:45 a.m.
No injuries have been reported.
Casey Cora, Times staff writer
LUTZ -- An 8-month-old was rushed to University Community Hospital in Tampa after a near-drowning in a bathtub, according to Pasco County Fire Rescue. The agency did not have information on the baby’s gender or the extent of the child’s injuries.
The accident occurred in a home on Laurel Ridge Drive.
-- Helen Anne Travis, Times Staff Writer
TAMPA -- The construction worker who was struck Wednesday with a piece of metal that fell from the 36th floor of a condo tower under construction died at Tampa General Hospital, officials said.
Rafael Villasenor Cazarez, 28, was working on the 10th floor of the Element Building, 808 N Franklin St., at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday when the piece of metal fell, piercing his helmet and head. TGH spokeswoman Ellen Fiss said Cazarez's family declined to be interviewed. Although she confirmed his death, she said she could not say when he died.
Harry Costello, a spokesman for Manhattan Construction Co., said yesterday that the company was still collecting facts and could not comment further. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate.
-- Kim Wilmath, Times Staff Writer
LEALMAN -- The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office arrested 20 people on drug charges Wednesday, the culmination of a two month undercover investigation into street-level drug dealing in Lealman.
The Sheriff's Office worked with local leadership and neighborhood watch organizations to target 60 people on charges including sale and possession of crack cocaine, marijuana, oxycodone, hydrocodone and powder cocaine.
They started making arrests about 7 p.m. Wednesday. By 10 p.m., 20 people had been arrested, said Marianne Pasha, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. She said some of the people arrested had drugs when deputies picked them up. She said tips from residents helped law enforcement develop cases against some of the suspects.
As many as forty more arrests are expected within days, authorities said.
"That’s why it’s so important for neighborhood watch to be our eyes and ears in the neighborhood," Pasha said. "It does work. It’s a very important partnership."
--Stephanie Garry, 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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