Two teens killed in Pasco crash

Two Pasco teens were killed in a two-car crash on Hudson Avenue Monday evening. Alyssa Annmarie Dyer, 19, of Hudson, and Alessandra Augello, 17, of Spring Hill, died in the 7:15 p.m. crash, which occurred west of Hays Road. The teens were driving separate cars. Neither had a passenger, Florida Highway Patrol troopers reported. Troopers said Dyer was driving a 1998 BMW east on Hudson Avenue when she -- for unknown reasons -- veered into the westbound lane. The left front of her vehicle hit the left front of a 2003 Saturn driven by Augello, troopers reported. Both teens were pronounced dead at the scene. Both were wearing seatbelts, troopers reported. An investigation is ongoing.

Disabled Pinellas Park man missing

PINELLAS PARK -- A 61 year old man went missing from an assisted living facility today, authorities said.

Thomas Allen, who reportedly suffers from dementia and paranoid schizophrenia, was last seen walking away from the facility, located at 7550 60 Way N. He was walking in the Park Boulevard and 59th Street N area. Authorities were notified at 12:43 p.m. An extensive search of the area was conducted by the Pinellas Park police department to no avail.

Allen, who is new to the area, has wavy gray hair and was last seen wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and a dark jacket.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Pinellas Park Police department at 727-541-0758.

Nicole Hutcheson, Times Staff Writer

USDA removes malnourished elephant from Balm owner

TAMPA -- Ned the elephant has new digs.

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials removed the 21-year-old Asian elephant from his Balm home Saturday after they found him malnourished in the care of his owner, circus trainer Lance Ramos.

Carol Buckley of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee in Hohenwald, Tenn., wrote in a diary she's been keeping about Ned that his shoulder blades were protruding from his 9-foot-6, 7,500-pound frame when he arrived at the sanctuary Sunday.

That's about a ton underweight, she said.

Ned, who was born at Busch Gardens on Oct. 10, 1987, is only the second elephant to ever be confiscated by the USDA, according to Elliot. He was born to two elephants who were captured in the wild in Southeast Asia, but who came to belong to a Busch Gardens breeding manager.

When he was 2 years old, Ned was sold to a circus trainer. He performed with the Big Apple circus for almost a decade until elephants were cut from the circus lineup. That's when Ramos took possession of the elephant, according to the sanctuary.

Jessica Milteer, a spokeswoman with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said Ramos was warned several times prior to the confiscation that his care of Ned needed to be improved.

This is not Ramos first encounter with USDA sanctions. In 2000, the federal agency charged him with violating the Animal Welfare Act after an 18-year-old female elephant broke free from a chain and killed Teresa Ramos-Caballero. The elephant died soon after of unknown reasons.

Ramos, who is also known as Lancelot Kollmann, has also been cited by the USDA in the past for failure to provide veterinary care to injured animals, causing trauma and harm to a jaguar and unsanitary conditions. He is currently appealing an administrative court ruling in a case brought by USDA concerning his treatment of bigs cats, Milteer said.

Milteer said the USDA only enforces civil and licensing sanctions and does not have the ability to bring criminal charges.

Ramos could not be immediately reached for comment.

Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer

Photo courtesy of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee

Getaway driver testifies at attack conspiracy trial

TAMPA -- The getaway driver testified today at the trial of a Sarasota man accused of hiring a hit man to attack his in-laws.

Sergey Zub, 41, of Brooklyn, N.Y., pleaded guilty last week to being part of a conspiracy that resulted in three attacks on Grigori and Galina Komissarchuk.

Alex Shevgert, 52, of Sarasota, is on trial at the federal courthouse in Tampa, charged with organizing the attacks on the Komissarchuks -- his in-laws and Russian immigrants with homes in Brooklyn and Sarasota.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Porcelli played parts of a secretly recorded conversation between Zub and Shevgert, with Zub saying he was upset that the FBI was asking him questions about an attack that took place in Brooklyn in April 2007. Prosecutors said Zub drove the 24-year-old hit man, Edmon Vardanyan of Tampa, to the Komissarchuks' Brighton Beach neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Shevgert didn't know the FBI was recording the phone conversation with Zub's permission.

Alafia principal keeps her job for now

VALRICO -- For now, a principal at one of Hillsborough County's top elementary schools will keep her job.

A school district report released late this afternoon notes the "very stressful work environment" at Alafia Elementary School in Valrico. Focusing more on the school and not so much principal Ellyn Smith, the two-page report cited the school's strengths and weaknesses and suggested recommendations.

The findings were presented to staffers at a meeting after school today. Points in the report include:

- The assessment team found a very stressful work environment for teachers and administrators. In addition, the community is experiencing the stress felt at the school.

- Some parents and staffers fear retaliation for speaking honestly and openly to reviewers sent by the school district.

- Faculty, staff, administration and parents appear fragmented and in distress. One major issue appears to be parents and staff comparing current practices at the school with those of the past.

- Necessary changes cannot be made in isolation by a single person or group. It will take the administration, faculty and staff, as well as the parents, working together to create a healthy school community.

The report also lists a dozen areas in which the school and its staff are doing commendable work.

Superintendent MaryEllen Elia dispatched a team to the A-rated school two weeks ago. The committee spent three days at Alafia and interviewed teachers.

Though previously planned, complaints from parents at a School Board meeting last month helped spark the review. Parents cited high teacher turnover, low morale and student safety issues on campus among their gripes. They asked for Smith to be removed.

Problems between parents and Smith began brewing over the summer. Since June, school officials have held at least six meetings regarding the situation at Alafia, long considered one of the county's best.

Smith has been an educator for more than 30 years. She previously was principal at Seffner Elementary for seven years and has been at Alafia since 2005.

Once she reviews the report, Elia is expected to make a decision regarding Smith's fate.

"These are the recommendations of the team, and ultimately the superintendent decides what happens," district spokesman Steve Hegarty said. "I think she's going to take them very seriously."

Chandra Broadwater, Times staff writer

[Photo: Skip O'Rourke, Times files]

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Fire out, but condo tower unlivable for now

[Laura Chapin, Special to the Times]

TREASURE ISLAND -- The call came in at 3:54 p.m. today as a kitchen fire on the fourth floor of the Blind Pass Lagoon condominium tower overlooking Boca Ciega Bay.

Firefighters weren't even on scene yet they when called in the second alarm, according to Treasure Island fire Chief Charles Fant. That's how much black smoke was already billowing out of the building.

By the time firefighters from seven agencies had contained and then extinguished the apartment fire at 9825 Harrell Ave. 30 minutes later, it was a three-alarm fire with 22 units on scene from Treasure Island, St. Pete Beach, South Pasadena, Madeira Beach, Gulfport and St. Petersburg.

No injuries were reported, but the 14-unit, five-story tower is unlivable tonight. Apartment 402 is a total loss, and water damaged some units on the third floor below. Power and water had to be cut off. There were 13 residents in all who had to be evacuated, but the Red Cross is here to help the handful who need lodging tonight.

Firefighters accomplished their most important task: to keep the fire from spreading to other units. It wasn't easy, the chief reported, especially with the sliding glass doors in the rear of the apartment open, fanning the smoke in the front of the building.

"Every time the guys tried to get in there," Fant said, "they got thick black smoke blowing at them."

Firefighters haven't had a chance to examine the scene for a cause of the fire. The investigation will continue in daylight on Tuesday.

Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer

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Brother accused of stabbing brother

ST. PETERSBURG -- Police say an argument between Donte Latron Denmark and his brother early Sunday morning ended with blood being spilled.

Denmark (left), 30, was arrested Sunday on a charge of attempted domestic homicide. Police say he stabbed his brother three times about 5 to 10 minutes after the two argued earlier.

The stabbing was at 9:25 a.m. at Denmark's address, 5899 Grove St., a police report states. Denmark used a 5-inch steak knife, the report said, which he plunged through the palm of his brother's left hand; then Denmark stuck the knife in the upper left side of his brother's torso; then he slashed and cut the side of his brother's right hand.

The victim was not identified but survived the attack and was hospitalized in unknown condition Sunday. Other family members told police they saw Denmark with the knife. Denmark admitted arguing with his brother but denied stabbing him, police said.

He is being held in the Pinellas County jail without bail.

Jamal Thalji, Times staff writer

[Photo: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office]

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Two charged with arson at Pinellas Park strip club

A homeless man and a St. Petersburg resident have been arrested in connection with a fire at a Pinellas Park strip club, deputies said.

Lawrence Antonio Hubbard, 24, of 835 15th St. N, and Sean Anthony Zander, 27, a transient, were arrested at the Bottom's Up Club, 8804 66th St. N, about 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

Deputies said Hubbard and Zander were involved in a disturbance at the club just before midnight Sunday. As they were told to leave, Hubbard allegedly stole a tip jar, deputies said.

Demolition work begins in rubble of abandoned building

[Fergusons' Contracting Inc., demolition worker Norm Robbins walks across the burned rubble from the Biltmore Apartments, which suffered a severe fire early Sunday morning. Willie J. Allen, Jr., Times]

ST. PETERSBURG -- Firefighters have begun sifting through the rubble of a vacant apartment building destroyed by fire early Sunday.

The three-story Biltmore Apartments, 435 Third Ave. N, was boarded up for years but was often used by transients as shelter. It went up in flames early Sunday. No one was hurt.

An excavator began demolishing the badly damaged building this morning. The demolition crew was moving slowly and under the watch of three fire investigators who are looking for possible bodies that may be in the building.

The building was believed to have been locked and empty before the fire.

"If we come across something, we'll be surprised," said Assistant Chief Jim Wimberly of St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue. "We're hoping that's not the case."

Report: Seffner man fled deputy, then took Taser during struggle

TAMPA -- A 26-year-old Seffner man is behind bars without bail today after fleeing from a Hillsborough sheriff's deputy during a pursuit and then taking the deputy's Taser gun in a struggle, an arrest report states.

Duane Allen Linscott, (pictured) of 11009 Circle Road, in Seffner, was driving a black 1994 Isuzu pickup truck Sunday just before 8:30 p.m. when Deputy A. Koehler tried to make a traffic stop at Williams Road near E Sligh Avenue, authorities said.

Instead of stopping, Koehler's report states, Linscott suddenly applied his brakes in an attempt to cause Koehler to run into him.

Koehler veered into the left lane to avoid a crash, at which time Linscott continued to drive north on Williams Road, the report states. Koehler followed Linscott as he ran stop signs and red lights on Williams, west on Harney Road and U.S. Highway 301, the report states.

Gus, the world's ugliest dog: 1999-2008

Gus watches his owner Jeanenne Teed as she walks across their motel room during a trip to the beach this weekend. Teed believed Gus was letting her know that he was in pain as a result of cancer. "He is getting narcotics, and every time I leave the room his eye trails me." She says he used to not be that way. "Now he just keeps staring at me." [EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN | Times]

He was bald, except for a white plume on the top of his head. Liver spots freckled his pale skin. He had one bulbous brown eye (the other had been claimed years ago, in a cat fight) and wobbled on three spindly legs.

He was Gus, the world's ugliest dog.

The tiny, hairless Chinese crested, whose owner lives in Gulfport, was crowned in June at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in California and quickly became a worldwide celebrity. He was flown to New York, featured on the Today show, Fox & Friends, Rachel Ray. Animal Planet ran a special on him last month.

Monday morning, the world's ugliest dog died in his owner's arms. The skin cancer he had been battling had wrapped around his spine. He had lost half his weight and was in a lot of pain, said his owner, Jeanenne Teed. On Monday, when he began struggling to breathe, she knew she had to put him down. Gus, who she had rescued as a puppy, was 9 years old.

"He took me to amazing places," she said through tears. "Who would have thought, that one little dog with no hair ..."

Lane DeGregory, Times staff writer

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New ramp opens on Courtney Campbell; traffic light removed

TAMPA -- A new ramp opened this morning from eastbound State Road 60, or the Courtney Campbell Parkway, to northbound Memorial Highway/Veterans Expressway. The change allows the triple-left traffic signal to be removed at the intersection of those two roads, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.

John McShaffrey, a DOT spokesman, said the permanent change was one of the most important parts of the Tampa Airport Interchanges project. Removing the traffic signal and opening the new ramp will significantly improve traffic flow westward and northward, he said.

"It's basically like uncorking a funnel," McShaffrey said. "This afternoon will be the real test. The proof will be in the pudding."

Police: Car theft suspect donned blond wig, tried to flee

TAMPA -- Watch out for the blond wolfman.

About 1:45 a.m. Sunday, on the third level of a Tampa city-run parking garage at 1550 E Sixth Ave., a police officer stopped to investigate a suspicious vehicle. Upon approaching the car, a 2000 silver Crown Victoria, a man inside placed a blond wig on his head and started to drive away. The officer stopped him and found stereo equipment, burglary tools, a window-breaking tool, a BB gun, a blond wig and a wolf mask, police said.

A 1993 Chevy nearby had had its door lock popped and ignition broken, police said. The owner of that car, Michael Turner, identified the items in the Crown Victoria as his.

Angel O. Criado, 23, (pictured left in photos) and Vahid Osmanovic, 24, (right) were each arrested and charged with grand theft of an automobile. They were taken to the Hillsborough County Jail and have since been released on bail.

Kim Wilmath, Times staff writer

[Photos: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office]

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Riverview man dies in motorcycle accident

A Riverview man died Sunday night in a single-vehicle crash on U.S. 301 after he lost control of a motorcycle, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Rodney Comer Aughtman, 39, died at the scene. Authorities said he was not wearing a helmet.

Aughtman was southbound on Highway 301 just north of Duncan Road in Riverview when he lost control of a 1999 Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle, troopers wrote in a report.  The accident happened at 11:19 p.m.

As the motorcycle climbed the center median, Aughtman tried to steer back onto the road but lost control and was thrown from the bike, the report said.

Part of the road was closed for two hours during the investigation.

Luis Perez, Times staff writer

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