Store clerk shot two nights after brother is shot

[EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN | Times]

St. Petersburg police investigate a shooting at the Suhani convenience store on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Street N. Click to enlarge photo.

ST. PETERSBURG — The owner of a convenience store was shot during a robbery Wednesday night, just two days after his brother was shot during a similar robbery at a St. Petersburg deli.

Indravadan Patel, 46, was shot during a holdup at his store at 2539 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N. The store, which is now called Suhani, was well-known for years as MaNNY’s before Patel bought it in 2005.

Police said Patel was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in stable condition and was talking when he arrived. In fact, police said Patel told them that his brother had been in Room 203.

On Monday night, Narendra Patel was shot during a robbery at his store, Star Deli, 2451 Fifth Ave. N. He was released from the hospital Wednesday.

“That’s two family members in three days. That’s just too much of a coincidence,” said Janmejay Patel, the son of Narendra Patel. “It just doesn’t seem safe to run a small business now.”

Police hadn’t made arrests in either shooting late Wednesday night. Police said they hadn’t determined if the robberies are related.

“Who knows? Robberies this time of year pick up,” said St. Petersburg police Lt. Mike Kovacsev. “You get things like this happening.”

The Patel family rushed to the convenience store Wednesday night after the shooting. A woman among them was wearing pajama bottoms.

Police said the holdup occurred about 10:15 p.m. Family members said Patel was cooperating with the robber when he was shot. His brother also cooperated with his attacker Monday but was shot anyway.

Police didn’t release a detailed description of the robber, but said he may have had an accomplice. They were reviewing a surveillance tape early today.

Patel bought the well-known store from Manny Bonotan, who had run one of the few independent gas stations in the county. The store had become an icon in the city, and Patel promised to run it much the same when he took over.

“We’ll have cheaper gas prices than the brand stores. Just like before,” he told the St. Petersburg Times in 2006.

Patel named the store Suhani after his daughter.

“It’s upsetting because you have a businessman just struggling to make a living and then something like this happens,” said Tim Rinker, who owns the barbershop next door to Suhani.

Rinker heard about the shooting and came to the store. He said his employees often shop there, while Patel comes to his place for haircuts.

“Before anybody else gets hurt we want to catch these guys,” Janmejay Patel said. “This is not funny any more. This is very scary.”

Police are asking anyone with information about the robberies to call 727-893-7780.

--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer

Photo: Janmejay Patel, 27, watches over the scene at the Suhani convenience store after his uncle was shot there about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. His father was shot in a similar incident on Monday. "The American dream is not the American dream anymore," he said referring to the dangers of operating a business such as a gas station. "Nobody wants to own a small business." Click to enlarge photo.

Zoo president's proposed fine for unauthorized construction: $46,036

POLK COUNTY -- Water district lawyers say Lowry Park Zoo president Lex Salisbury should pay $46,036 in fines for excavating ponds and dredging wetlands without the appropriate environmental permits at his for-profit exotic animal park in Polk County.

Water managers say Safari Wild owners Salisbury and St. Petersburg veterinarian Stephen Wehrmann failed to obtain environmental permits for any of the changes they made on their 258 acres near the Green Swamp, which include animal pens and buildings, a marsh habitat and a one-acre island and surrounding moat.

All new commercial projects need Environmental Resource Permits, which ensure that stormwater is being properly treated and that neighbors aren't affected by flooding.

The water district outlines Safari Wild's violations:

Excavation of approximately 1.9 acres, covering about 1.83 acres with fill material, covering approximately 1.22 acres with impervious material, replcement of existing pipes with larger pipes along the drainage conveyance system, dredging and filling actvities resulting in impacts to approximately 0.3 acres of forested wetlands, the discharge of turbid water and sediment into 0.8 acres of wetland, lack of proper turbidity and erosion control measures throughout the property and the continued excavation of a pond after owners were told to stop their work.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District presented Salisbury with a consent order today, which says he has 14 days to agree to the fines or initiate a negotiation process. If they do come to an agreement, the district's 13-member board would review the fines for approval. If Salisbury and the district can't come to an agreement, the case could go into litigation.

Apart from the fines, Safari Wild will have to submit applications to authorize all construction that has taken place. Or as an alternative, owners can submit a plan to restore the property to its original condition, as it existed prior to the unauthorized activities.

Safari Wild has been working with the district to secure permits for remaining roadwork.

Safari Wild co-owner Wehrmann says, "We've talked with Swiftmud. We're working with them to solve these problems." He said Safari Wild never applied for the permits because owners interpreted the project to be an agricultural one, a working game farm.

"We're not big-time developers," he said. "We're both animal people...We just didn't know all these things came into play."

-- Times staff writer Alexandra Zayas can be reached at azayas@sptimes.com (813) 226-3354.

Bicyclist killed in Dade City

A male bicyclist was killed around 6 p.m. tonight when his bike collided with a vehicle, according to Pasco Fire Rescue. They did not release the victim’s age or name. The accident occurred in Dade City on State Road 301 near McDonald Street. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating. No other injuries were reported.

- Helen Anne Travis, Times Staff Writer

Teen arrested in string of 7-Eleven robberies

ST. PETERSBURG -- Three 7-Eleven stores were robbed at gunpoint in 90 minutes early Wednesday. By the afternoon, police had a 17-year-old suspect in handcuffs.

St. Petersburg police arrested Jarvis King on one count of armed robbery today and more charges may be pending. Despite his age, King's criminal record includes 11 previous charges such as possession of cocaine, marijuana, grand theft auto and battery.

Nurse robs own nursing home at gunpoint

CLEARWATER -- Registered Nurse Michael Villafana took a sick day on Nov. 26. That was also the day police say his employer, Highland Pines Nursing Home, was robbed of narcotics by a masked gunman.

Coincidence? The authorities think not.

Villafana (pictured), 31, was arrested today on a charge of armed robbery by Clearwater police.

According to police, a masked man used an employee access code to get inside the Highland Pines Nursing Home at 111 S Highland Ave. Armed with a 9mm pistol, police say, he robbed the staff of prescription painkillers such as hydrocodone, methadone, morphine and oxycodone. The robber then used the same code to escape the building, police say.

Investigators later determined Villafana is addicted to pain medication and say he was the masked gunman who robbed his own co-workers and employer. Police say they also recovered a gun and drugs from the robbery.

Villafana, of 600 Starkey Road in Largo, is being held in the Pinellas County jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. Court records show he pleaded not guilty to the charge today.

Jamal Thalji, Times staff writer

[Photo: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office]

Ross Perot visits Tampa VA hospital

TAMPA -- Texas tycoon H. Ross Perot visited the James A. Haley VA Medical Center today to take a tour of the hospital and speak to some severely wounded veterans.

Perot spent the morning at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital and praised wounded warriors and the hospital staff for their work helping troops recover.

"I can tell you without any question this (hospital) is right there at the top of the best run hospitals I have ever seen in the world," Perot said in brief comments to reporters. "When I see the care and attention and the advanced medical technology used to help these people return to a normal life, I just can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

Perot said wounded troops he spoke to were all in high spirits, which he said spoke well to the high quality of care they receive.

"It makes you proud to be an American," said Perot, whom the VA said had asked to take a tour. Reporters were not invited along.

Perot, 78, ran for president in 1992 and 1996 as a third-party candidate and has worked extensively in veterans affairs.

-- William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer

Search back on for two men

TAMPA -- The search has resumed for two missing men whose single-engine plane disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico, this time by the Citrus County Sheriff's Office.

The U.S. Coast Guard had been searching for Zachary Schlitt, 28, of West Palm Beach and Darien Peckham, 34, of Tampa, since their plane disappeared 20 miles southwest of Yankeetown on Sunday. The Citrus County Sheriff, which owns sonar equipment that can find submerged objects, joined the search on Monday afternoon.

At 5:40 p.m Tuesday, 48 hours after the men disappeared, the Coast Guard officials said they were stopping the search pending further developments.

Just before noon Wednesday, three Citrus County Sheriff's deputies resumed their search. Tuesday's search conditions were "truly terrible," said Citrus Sheriff spokeswoman Gail Tierney, adding that there were six-foot seas and water visibility of less than a foot.

"They are stil out there as we speak," said Gail Tierney, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. "They wanted to at least give it another shot."

Until Tuesday evening, the Coast Guard crews searched for the men for more than 40 hours over a 2,800-square mile area focusing on two areas where a seat and a flight bag containing aviation headphones were found. There was no sign of the men or their plane.

The two were traveling in a small Tampa-bound plane when, at about 6:45 p.m Sunday, an air traffic controller in Jacksonville reported that their 35-year-old twin-engine, fixed-wing Beech 35 Debonair aircraft, traveling from Tallahassee to Vandenberg Airport, lost contact, according to the FAA. The Coast Guard says the plane crashed into the gulf shortly after disappearing from radar.

St. Pete: Victim sues shooter's mother and mall for lack of security

ST. PETERSBURG -- James Dolan, the St. Petersburg man who was shot and blinded by a gunman in 2004 while he worked at Radio Shack, has sued the mother of the shooter for failing to help police find her son after a road rage incident earlier in the day.

Dolan and his wife, Christine, also named Radio Shack and Gateway Mall as defendants for failing to provide adequate security at the mall, at 7885 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N in St. Petersburg.

The 30-year-old father of three, whose home was redone by Extreme Makover months after the shooting, is blind in both eyes and suffers panic attacks. A few months ago, he sued an insurance provider for failing to provide worker's compensation benefits.

Leonora LaPeter, Times Staff Writer

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2 attorneys meeting with Gov. Crist about Pinellas-Pasco judgeship

Attorneys John "Jack" Helinger and Thomas H. Minkoff are finalists for a vacant Pinellas-Pasco circuit judge position and are interviewing with Gov. Charlie Crist this afternoon.

An announcement on who will fill the vacancy is expected this week. The vacancy was created when Judge Nelly N. Khouzam was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeals.

Helinger, 57, is a former prosecutor and longtime local attorney who is married to Circuit Judge Chris Helinger.

Minkoff, 58, was the 2006 pro bono volunteer of the year for Gulf Coast Legal Services in Pinellas County. 

Curtis Krueger, Times Staff Writer

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Clearwater lowers the boom on loud stereos

CLEARWATER -- Police have unveiled a new program designed to make sure people with loud car stereos have to face the music.

A link on the Police Department's Web site, www.clearwaterpolice.org, lets people report the loud noise.

The person making the report should note the date, location, and vehicle type and tag number, as well as a brief description of the driver if possible, police said.

A police officer must witness the violation in order to take action and issue the $91 fine. But the online report will result in a letter to the owner of the vehicle.

Florida statutes prohibit anyone in a motor vehicle from using any device to produce sound that can be heard from 25 feet outside the car. An exemption to the law exists for motor vehicles used for "business or political purposes."

So don't drop the dime on the ice cream truck.

Jonathan Abel, Times Staff Writer

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