Deli owner shot for second time, family says

ST. PETERSBURG -- Six years ago, Narendra Patel was shot in the chest during a robbery at his deli in St. Petersburg.

Patel survived.

Monday night, Patel was robbed and shot again at his deli. And police and family members said it appears he will survive again.

The robbery Monday occurred about 10:30 p.m. at Patel’s Star Deli, 2451 Fifth Ave. N.

Two males, one wielding a gun, barged in the store and robbed Patel, then shot him, police and family members said.

Sunny Patel, the man’s nephew, said Patel gave money to the robbers but was shot anyway.

“You give up the money, you’re not supposed to be shot,” Sunny Patel said. “That’s what we always thought.”

Police said Narendra Patel was in stable condition at Bayfront Medical Center late Monday night. Police and family members said they expected him to live.

Police did not release descriptions of the robbers late Monday.

Patel survived a shooting in 2002 even though he was hit in the chest. The robber fired two more shots at Patel, but they missed him. The robbers got away with $80.

Three men, including a 19-year-old who fired the gun, were arrested in that robbery.

The shooter, Christopher J. Russell, was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of robbery and attempted murder.

Sunny Patel said he doesn’t believe this second shooting will scare his uncle out of the business.
“He didn’t quit the last time,” he said. “He’s not going to give it up this time.”

-- Nicole Hutcheson, Times Staff Writer

When Jupiter and Venus align

Sarah Williams, astronomy student at SPC, takes a look from the observation deck of the St. Petersburg College observatory, atop the science building on the St. Pete Gibbs campus.

ST. PETERSBURG -- The St. Petersburg College planetarium has gotten a lot of phone calls about the bright planets visible in the southwest after sunset. This evening's beautiful conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and a waxing crescent moon could be seen all over the bay area.

These three objects will not appear this close together again until the year 2052. This grouping of planets is particularly appropriate this holiday season, as a similar conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in the summer of 3 B.C. is considered a possible explanation for the Christmas Star.

On that occasion, these two planets passed so close to one another that they were indistinguishable as two separate planets.

Jupiter is the 'star' on the right, with Venus below and to the left of Jupiter. Over the next few nights the moon will move farther to the east (left in the photo), and the separation between Jupiter and Venus will gradually increase.

The moon is the closest of the three objects, followed by Venus and Jupiter; both of these planets are on the far side of the sun.

-- Craig Joseph, Special to the Times


Photo by Craig Joseph, Planetarium Director, Department of Natural Science/Gibbs Campus, St. Petersburg College.

Rescue workers lift ship worker after 40-foot fall

TAMPA  — Tampa Fire Rescue crews rescued a 29-year-old ship worker Monday after the man fell 40-feet from the deck of a freighter into the ship.

The accident happened shortly before 4 p.m. at Tampa Bay Ship Building & Repair, 1130 McCloskey Blvd, in the Port of Tampa.

Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said the man was working on the deck of the freighter Thor Neptune, a dry docked freighter out of Bangkok, when he fell.

The man, whose name was not released, did not have life-threatening injuries. Rescue workers were able to reach him by lowering a crane and a basket into the ship.

The man was awake when he was rescued. He was taken to Tampa General Hospital.

Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer

Photo courtesy Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade

Surgeon injured in plane crash will operate again

TAMPA — The left hand of Dr. Daniel Greenwald, which helped him earn a reputation as a plastic surgeon, will recover fully after a plane crash nearly killed him Friday.

“I’ve had better days. I am alive,” Greenwald said Monday. “My hand is pinned and may need some (more) surgery. ... I think I’ll be fine.”

Greenwald, 48, and friend, Mitch Kirby, 19, were returning from a sightseeing trip over the Port of Tampa when Greenwald’s Extra 300 single-engine plane struck a sailboat floating in a shipping channel and a sea wall before it flipped over onto the Peter O. Knight Airport airfield on Davis Islands. Kirby suffered a broken leg while Greenwald, who piloted the plane, broke a bone in his left hand.

Greenwald, former head of plastic surgery at Tampa General Hospital who now runs Bayshore Plastic Surgery, said he expects to be back to work within two weeks. He said he was on a normal approach for landing Friday when he didn’t see the sailboat in his flight path because of the angle of the plane’s approach and because the boat didn’t have its sails up.

Plant City officer clocked 37 mph before crashing into bleachers, report says

TAMPA -- Plant City police Officer Chad Rader was traveling 37 mph on a motorcycle before he crashed into metal bleachers last month, injuring himself and three others, including the police chief.

That's according to a crash report released Monday in compliance with a public records request by the St. Petersburg Times.

Seventeen people, most from the Plant City Chamber of Commerce's leadership class, were sitting in the bleachers at the Plant City police headquarters on Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. watching Rader give a motorcycle demonstration when he lost control of the 2005 Harley-Davidson.

According to the crash report, another officer clocked Rader at 37 mph as he rode toward the bleachers. Rader applied his brakes, the report says, but the front wheel locked up and the officer began to skid, leaving a 41-foot skid mark.

That's when Rader tried to steer the motorcycle to the right, at which point the motorcycle tipped over in the opposite direction, the report says. Rader was thrown from the motorcycle, and the bike slid 36.3-feet on its left side before crashing into the bleachers.

Lynn Connor, one of the Leadership Plant City members who was injured, said she couldn't tell how fast the motorcycle was going before it hit her, slamming into her right leg.

"I just remember the motorcycle coming at me at what seemed to be a high rate of speed," she said today from a room at Habana Health Care Center. She was moved to the center from South Florida Baptist Hospital on Wednesday night for round-the-clock physical therapy.

Helen Stratigakos, an attorney for Connor, said she has notified Plant City police that she is investigating claims from the accident.

Stratigakos' only comment about the crash report was that she had hired her own investigators to determine the speed at which the motorcycle was traveling and to inspect the motorcycle itself.

Tom Scarritt, an attorney who is handling the case for Plant City police, said he is also in the process of hiring independent experts to study the crash and determine its cause.

To read previous coverage, click here.

Rebecca Catalanello, Times Staff Writer

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End near on dispute over construction at Pinellas County jail

Pinellas County leaders Tuesday will consider paying a construction firm nearly $2-million to end an impasse over costs for a jail medical wing.

If approved by the County Commission, the payment will mark a final settlement between Pinellas and Skanska USA Building in a case that officials said offers valuable instruction on how not to handle big construction projects.

“The lessons learned have already been implemented,” said Bob LaSala, who was hired as county administrator in September.

Excluding the payment on the table Tuesday, the county has spent a total of $34.2-million on the medical wing, with Skanska getting $25-million of that amount.

Construction of the medical wing began with a sense of urgency in mid 2004 as crowding at the county jail intensified. It was hoped the project would be completed early in 2006.

Changes to the scope of the project and cumulative delays put the medical wing significantly behind schedule. Inmates did not move in until August 2007, roughly a year and a half later than hoped. Skanska and the county have been in mediation since.

Officials said Monday that at the outset the county failed to develop a firm estimate of what the project would cost. Initially, the county also had a team managing the project that was “in over its head” when it came to the complexities of jail construction, said public works director Pete Yauch.

The poorest decision, however, may have been to allocate $20-million to construction in May 2005 despite not having a final design in place, officials said. Confusion ensued over expectations, which led to finger pointing and tension.

LaSala said he understands the county saw a need to move swiftly, but failed to so in a prudent way.

“There’s fast-tracking then there’s moving too fast,” LaSala said. “And hindsight is 20/20.”

Skanska had initially sought a final payment of more than $7-million as compensation for alleged design deficiencies and time delays brought about by ever-evolving design demands.

While the county admits to having stumbled, officials said Skanska also had some performance issues. But rather than pursue potentially lengthy and expensive litigation, a decision was made to recommend the settlement.

John Cammack, Skanska’s executive vice president, said he was happy with the result and looks forward to the opportunity to work for the county again.

“There’s some guilt on both sides,” Cammack said. “And the settlement is probably more than they wanted and less than we wanted.

Will Van Sant, Times staff writer

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Baby nearly drowned by watered-down formula

The tough economy forced a young mother to stretch her infant formula supply by watering it down, nearly killing her baby.

The 5-month-old boy was rushed to the pediatric intensive care unit at University Community Hospital over the weekend after his mother diluted his infant formula, causing "water intoxication" that could have drowned the child. Sodium treatments and drugs saved the child's life, UCH hospital officials said.

The baby was moved to the recovery floor of the hospital's pediatric care center today, and his prognosis is good. UCH Chief of Pediatrics James Orlowski reminded parents to never dilute formula with water, because babies can literally drown from the water intake.

UCH officials didn't release the mother's name until a 3 p.m. press conference, where she is expected to speak publicly and warn parents about watering down formulas. She told hospital officials the cost of formula, at up to $15 per can, combined with her personal economic situation, caused her
to dilute the liquid without knowing how harmful water can be to newborns.

Tampabay.com will post more details as they come.

Justin George, Times Staff Writer

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Elderly woman dies after Thanksgiving Day fire

TAMPA -- An 85-year-old woman who was rescued from a Thanksgiving Day house fire died a day later, Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said today.

Frances Andrews Baker was unconscious when she was found inside her burning home just after 4 p.m. Nov. 27. Wade said she was treated for severe smoke inhalation and taken to Tampa General Hospital, where she died the next day.

Baker lived at the house, 1915 E 18th Ave., for 44 years. Fire marshal's investigators said the fire was started by an electrical failure of a portable radio on the stove top. The radio's plastic casing melted, filling the home with black smoke and causing $45,000 in smoke damage.

There was no smoke alarm in Baker's home, Wade said.

Baker's death was the fourth fire-related fatality in Tampa this year, Wade said. Including Baker's, two of the deaths could have been prevented had the homes been equipped with working smoke detectors, he said.

Wade urged people to make sure they have working smoke alarms and working carbon monoxide detectors in their homes.

Anyone who cannot afford a smoke alarm is encouraged to call their local fire department for information about a free giveaway program. Also, elderly or disabled people who cannot maintain or install a smoke alarm are also asked to call TFR for help. The number is (813) 274-8241.

Rebecca Catalanello, Times Staff Writer

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Man fires gun in Dade City bar

DADE CITY -- The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a man they said fired a gun inside Cooper’s Place, a bar in Carver Heights at 13500 Center St. According to reports, the man shot the gun about 11:20 a.m. today. He did not aim at, or hit, anyone inside the bar. Deputies have not released the man's name.

- Helen Anne Travis, Times Staff Writer

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Palm Harbor man dies after suffering medical problem behind wheel

PALM HARBOR -- A Palm Harbor man died Monday when he crashed his car after he suffered an undisclosed medical ailment while driving.

Joseph L. DePodesta, 68, was driving through a parking lot at 2375 Curlew Road at 9:45 a.m. when he lost control of his 2007 Hyundai Azera, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The Azera hit a curb and a small tree before running into a concrete wall surrounding a trash bin at Perkins Restaurant.

DePodesta was pronounced dead shortly thereafter at Mease Countryside Hospital. A cause of death is pending, but the man died from the medical condition and not because of the car crash, said FHP spokesman Sgt. Steve Gaskins.

Rita Farlow, Times Staff Writer

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