Arson detectives investigate Palm Harbor house fire

[JIM DAMASKE | Times ]

PALM HARBOR -- Arson detectives from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office are investigating a fire that destroyed a Palm Harbor home tonight.

The house, located at 792 Natalie Lane in Palm Harbor, caught on fire about 6 p.m. It has four stories, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

According to Pinellas County property records, the comparable sales value of the home is more than $1 million. Detectives said it appeared to be a total loss. They will continue investigating tomorrow during daylight.

--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer

Man injured in accident at I-75 northbound at Highway 60

TAMPA -- A Hudson man was seriously injured when his silver SUV overturned on Interstate 75 during rush hour on Tuesday.

Erik. M. Andersen, 32, was driving in the left lane of I-75 at State Road 60 when he reached over to grab his sunglasses and lost control of the SUV, said Sgt. Steve Gaskins of the Florida Highway Patrol.

The car left the road hitting the median before turning over. Andersen was ejected and was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital.

He's being charged with careless driving and failing to wear a seatbelt.

The accident closed the left northbound lane of I-75 for 45 minutes while troopers investigated the scene.

-- Robbyn Mitchell, Times Staff Writer

Motorcyclist critically injured in crash

ST. PETERSBURG -- A motorcyclist was critically injured when he crashed his bike after losing control on a turn about 6 p.m. today.

Christian S. Hiller, 37 of St. Petersburg, was riding west on 57th Avenue North when he failed to negotiate a right turn onto 26th Street, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The motorcycle hit a water meter, then a concrete wall, throwing the driver forward. He was not wearing a helmet, according to troopers.

No other vehicle was involved in the wreck.

--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer

New construction detective nabs unlicensed contractors

TAMPA -- Three unlicensed contractors have been arrested by a new undercover officer who targets the construction industry, Tampa police said today. The department created the position with funding from the construction permitting fees.

David Pacheco, Luther Turner and Rene Crespo were all invited to an office by investigators to possibly get a contracting job, said Capt. Brett Bartlett of the Tampa Police Criminal Intelligence Unit.

Each man was told of a job and when they named their prices they were arrested for contracting without a license, he added.

Pacheco, 42, or 4529 Brayra Road, was targeted because he was circulating fliers without a contractor number on it, which is against the law, Bartlett said.

"It was like saying please arrest me because if you don't put a contractor number on your fliers it's because you don't have one,"  he explained.

Turner, 65, of 3130 W Lambright Ave., has been charged previously with contracting without a license.

And Crespo, 46, of 4002 S Manhattan Ave., is also being investigated in another case involving unlicensed construction.

For years, two former police investigators worked together to catch unlicensed contractors in the middle of their scams.

But because they were no longer officers, they couldn't make arrests which tied up their cases in paperwork until an officer was available.

When Detective Jeanette Hevel joined the unit in June, arrests could be made immediately and they've busted 12 contractors since then.

"It's important work because a lot of the people who get scammed by these guys are seniors who pay $10,000 to $20,000 and they just don't have that kind of money to lose," Bartlett said.

To protect against unlicensed contractors, Bartlett suggests asking for full name, company name and contractor number. Check www.myfloridalicense.com or call the City of Tampa Construction Services at (813) 274-3100 to verify the information you've been given.

-- Robbyn Mitchell, Times staff writer

Dade City man charged with April murder in Tampa

TAMPA -- A Dade City man was arrested in connection with an April murder through help from the Tampa community, police said today.

Tyree A. Jenkins, 22, of 38701 Island Ave. in Dade City, was charged with murder, robbery with a firearm, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon.

Tampa police detectives said Jenkins approached Adrian and Willie Cherry outside Salem's Gyro Restaurant at 4004 E Hillsborough Ave. at 3:35 a.m. on April 8. Jenkins pulled out a firearm and robbed Adrian Cherry, taking his money and a gold nugget ring, police said. When Willie Cherry tried to intervene he was shot once in the chest and died later on scene. Jenkins then escaped in a red Dodge pickup.

Several neighbors gave detectives a description that led officers to Jenkins.

He was held without bail at Faulkenberg Road Jail.

--Robbyn Mitchell, Times staff writer

[Photo: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office]

10-year-old dies from go-cart crash injuries

LAND O'LAKES -- Ten-year-old Austin Carter would hold up Sunday school class to save lizards that wandered into the room. He worried the creatures missed their families.

Earlier this year, Austin revived a non-breathing newborn puppy. He had a reputation for rescuing hurt kittens, bunnies, even insects.
Austin died Monday from injuries suffered in a weekend go-cart wreck. Even after death, he’s still rescuing.

“We donated his organs and he already saved six kids’ lives,” said his father, Rhett Carter, 36. “I know this is what he wanted.”

Friends teased Austin, a fifth-grader at Pine View Elementary, because his fingernails were always dirty. He loved the outdoors, and even as a kid, was an avid hunter and fisherman.
“He was all boy,” said Tonya Stout, 42, director of the children's ministry at First United Methodist Church, where the Carters attended service.

Sunday afternoon, after church and the family grocery shopping trip, Austin, his 8-year-old sister, Brianna and stepbrother Colin Harbaugh, 14, went with a group of neighborhood kids to a nearby field for an afternoon of off-road riding.

Rhett Carter had just settled down to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the Green Bay Packers when his daughter and a neighbor rushed into the house.
“They told me Austin was knocked out,” Carter said Tuesday.

Once-a-week watering restrictions extended

The wet season wasn't that wet and the dry season is coming, so once-a-week watering restrictions will stay in place for the Tampa Bay area.

The board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District voted today to extend the existing one-day-per week limit on lawn-watering through Feb. 27, 2009. Officials cited several factors:

• Rain in 2008 has been closer to normal, but some parts of the district, which covers the Tampa Bay area and other parts of west-central Florida, did not receive enough rainfall during the wet summer season.

• Lakes, streams and rivers are still hurting from a two-year drought. Lake levels around Tampa Bay are about 3.1 feet lower than expected. Flows in the Alafia and Hillsborough rivers are considered severely abnormally low, according to Swiftmud spokeswoman Robyn Felix. For example, on a scale of 1 to 100, the flow of the Alafia River is a 1, she said.

• Rain in September, the last month of the rainy season, was below normal, and aquifers have started their seasonal declines sooner than normal. And drier than normal conditions are forecast through the fall and spring.

Watering restrictions apply to the use of water from public and private water utilities, wells, ponds, rivers, lakes, streams, ponds and other sources.

Richard Danielson and Jessica Vander Velde, Times staff writers

Murder trial paints two different portraits of defendant

LARGO -- Dennis George Roache came and went through the kitchen window because he boarded up the front and back doors with 2 by 4s. He thought he was being poisoned and spied upon. He thought his children were being sexually abused and that others were trying to convert him to homosexuality.

Delusional, paranoid, schizophrenic, he heard voices and menaced those around him -- even on paper, filing lawsuit after lawsuit, including against his own stepmother.

Yet Roache was also married, learned a trade, held down jobs, paid bills, wrote love letters, got along with those around him and even appeared intelligent. He learned to file all those lawsuits on his own.

The defense and prosecution of Roache took turns painting starkly opposing portraits of the defendant at his first-degree murder trial today. It is week two of the trial and day two for the defense, which is trying to spare Roache from a life sentence for decapitating Gregory Shannon with a machete in 2002.

State takes over Tampa-based Medicare HMO

Medicare will withdraw its contract with Tampa-based MD Medicare Choice at midnight after Florida regulators put the Medicare HMO into receivership.

The HMO has about 16,000 members in  Florida and 1,700 in the Tampa Bay area. To prevent disruption of care, Medicare will transfer them Wednesday into a similar HMO run by Humana.

Clients can continue seeing their primary care physician through the end of the year, even if that doctor is not on Humana's network, Medicare officials announced in a news release. Anyone currently receiving treatment in a hospital, nursing home or receiving chemotherapy or dialysis can continue those treatments.

Anyone who does not want to remain with Humana can switch to other HMOs or return to traditional Medicare until Jan. 1. After Jan. 1, their 2009 Medicare coverage will be provided by whatever plan they select during the annual end-of-year signup period, which begins in November.

MD Medicare Choice members should receive a letter from Medicare on Wednesday or Thursday and a letter later in the week from Humana, explaining these changes and options.

According to court documents, MD Medicare Choice the failed to maintain required reserve amounts to guarantee treatment. It also has a $10-million overdraft at Florida Bank.

Medicare HMO's are private insurance companies that receive monthly payments from the government for each person they cover. They then provide all that person's health care under the Medicare program. HMOs that treat patients efficiently can earn more than they pay out to doctors and hospitals.

MD Medicare Choice representatives could not be reached for comment.  For further information, call the Florida SHINE program toll-free at 1-800-963-5337.

Stephen Nohlgren, Times staff writer

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St. Pete police bust suspected drug house

[Dirk Shadd | Times]

ST. PETERSBURG-- Police marked the end of a four-month campaign against crime in some of the city's most troubled neighborhoods with the raid of a Palmetto Park drug house this morning.

Detectives seized marijuana, crack cocaine, a cocaine press used for making crack cocaine, a TEC-9 assault pistol, a Charter Arms .44 magnum revolver, two stun guns, $1,593.00 in cash, a 1995 Chevrolet Camaro and a variety of ammunition from a small house at 2751 3rd Avenue S.

Six people were arrested on various drug-related charges: Jonathan Blue, 21,  Desmond Blue, 36, Paul Jackson, 47, Daniel Pendleton, 56, Angela Bates, 38 and Mary Leacock, 21.

Police would not say how many drugs they seized. Officers also took six pit bulls into custody.

Police watched the house for three months. Residents complained drug deals, shootings and robberies linked to the house were plaguing the neighborhood.

"People referred to it like Taco Bell," said Officer Barry Books. "People were driving by there at all hours. It was always open."

The Police Department scheduled a news conference to highlight its latest crime prevention campaign to coincide with the drug bust. As reporters, television crews and city leaders gathered near the house, officers led a handcuffed Blue into a police vehicle.

Silver Alert program designed to help find missing seniors

Politicians, law enforcement agencies and those concerned with the care of the elderly convened Tuesday morning at the Largo Police Department to announce the implementation of a new alert system that will help locate those with Alzheimer's disease or diminished cognitive ability.

Like the Amber Alert System, the Florida Silver Alert Enhancement program will send bulletins statewide when an elderly person goes missing while using a vehicle. The information will be posted with news agencies and placed on state highway message boards.

"It's going to save lives," said Sallie Parks, past president and board member of the Area Agency on Aging. "I don't know what life, but I guarantee  you, it will save lives."

The program begins today in Pinellas County. Gov. Charlie Crist will sign an executive order Oct. 8 that will expand the program statewide. Because the system is closely aligned with the state's Amber Alert System, no additional resources are needed.

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, who attended the event, sponsored a bill that passed the House this month that would allocate $5-million from 2009 to 2013 to implement the system nationwide. Currently, eight states have the Silver Alert system.

Demorris A. Lee, Times staff writer

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Sheriff puts training chief in charge of jails

TAMPA -- Sheriff David Gee has chosen Jim Previtera, the former head of training for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, to be the county's new jails chief.

Previtera, at right, who joined the Sheriff's Office in 2005, has been promoted to colonel and will replace Col. David Parrish, who retired last week.

Previtera came to HCSO from the U.S. Secret Service, where he worked for eight years and served as an agent in the vice presidential protection division and was a member of the training staff in Beltsville, Md. Previtera began his law enforcement career in 1986 as a deputy with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

He holds a bachelor of arts in criminology from Saint Leo College and is a graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the U.S. Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center and the U.S.D.A. Leadership Training Course.

Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer

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Judge's husband arrested in prostitution sting

TAMPA -- The husband of a Hillsborough circuit court judge has been arrested, accused of soliciting an undercover police officer for a sexual act, Tampa police say.

Kevin J. Napper, 51, was arrested about 2 p.m. Monday after police say he offered $40 to an undercover female police officer for oral sex. Police found a gold wedding band in the driver's side door panel, Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

"I made a simple mistake," Napper, above left, told police after being arrested. He then requested to speak with his attorney, Davis said.

Napper, a Tampa defense attorney, has been married to Hillsborough Circuit Court Judge Katherine Gail Essrig, bottom left, since 1995, public records show. He is president-elect of the Tampa Bay chapter of the Federal Bar Association, according to the group's Web site.

Napper was released Monday after posting $250 bail. His arrest was part of a prostitution sting in Drew Park.

Reached at home Tuesday, Napper and Essrig declined comment.

Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer

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Pasco deputy responding to call shoots man

A man grieves at the scene at 4307 Straits Lane in Holiday, where a Pasco deputy shot a suicidal man this morning. Deputies first tried to subdue the shooting victim with a Taser. [BRENDAN FITTERER | Times]

HOLIDAY -- Three Pasco County Sheriff's deputies went to a home in Holiday this morning after learning that a man was actively harming himself.

They first tried to subdue him with a Taser, then shot him.

The man was not identified. Sheriff's Col. Al Nienhuis said his injuries did not appear to be life threatening.

The 911 call came about 9:20 a.m. The deputies as well as paramedics arrived to find a man with a knife. One deputy used his Taser to subdue the man, Nienhuis said, but it had no immediate effect.

The man dropped his knife but then picked up another and advanced on the deputies. That's when one of them shot him.

"He was making threats both to harm himself and the deputies," Nienhuis said.

The man was airlifted from the scene by Bayflite helicopter. The hospital was not disclosed.

Nienhuis said at least one other person was in the house at the time. No one else was injured.

Per standard protocol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting and the deputy, who also was not identified, is on paid administrative leave.

Neighbors around the tucked-away street in Beacon Square said the house has long been a site of drug activity.

Eric King doesn't know the man who lives there but has heard the rumors.

"He's the baddest element in our neighborhood," King, 42, said.

Molly Moorhead, Times staff writer

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Authorities looking for suspected bank robber

[Photos: Pinellas Sheriff]

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in identifying a man suspected of robbing two area banks recently.

The first robbery occurred at 11:45 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Fifth Third bank at 1703 McMullen- Booth Road in in Safety Harbor.

The second happened just before 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at Anderen Bank, 3412 East Lake Road in Palm Harbor.

The photos above were captured during the latest robbery, deputies said.

The suspect is not believed to be armed. He is described as white, in his 40s, about 5 feet 9 and 200 pounds. When last seen, he was wearing a blue T-shirt, khaki shorts, tan boots, a baseball cap and gold wire-rim glasses.

Anyone with information can contact Detective Carl Vitro, Robbery/Homicide Unit, at (727) 582-6200. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers, toll-free, at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477).

Luis Perez, Times staff writer

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Tips sought in Clearwater taxi driver homicide

Clearwater police are asking the public's help in identifying the person responsible for killing a local taxi driver two weeks ago.

And they hope releasing these photographs of a shirt similar to the one the suspect was wearing will generate leads.

The victim, Jack LaGrand, 50, of Clearwater was found shot to death in a parking lot behind 25706 U.S. 19. Police believe the Sept. 17 shooting happened sometime between 1 and 2 a.m.

A business owner in the small strip mall, which is west of Westfield Countryside Mall, found LaGrand just before 7:30 a.m. and dialed 911, police said.

Police also released a grainy image (left) caught on surveillance tape of a man leaving the scene. He is described as 5 feet 7 to 5 feet 9, with a thin build and short dark hair, police said. He was wearing a white T-shirt like the one pictured above and dark shorts.

Detectives urge anyone with information to call the Clearwater Police Tip Line at (727) 562-4422.

Luis Perez, Times staff writer

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