Monday, May 20, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
Forget the shot of espresso. A woman having coffee at Starbucks in Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg this past weekend was shot in the calf when her friend's gun discharged from inside her purse. According to an article in the Tampa Bay Times, 38-year-old Amiee Peterson of Pinellas Park did not even realize that she had been shot until she saw blood oozing from her leg. Her friend, 51-year-old Pamela Back, also of Pinellas Park, told police that she kept the gun in her purse, but had never taken it out or cleaned it, since her father had given her the .25 caliber firearm. Two men are charged with stealing used cooking and fryer grease from a Wendy's in Sarasota and may be responsible for similar crimes in Pinellas County, authorities …
Monday, May 13, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A 20-year-old man fleeing authorities following a traffic stop was able to get away from the deputies chasing him, but not from an alligator. Bryan Zuniga, who was pulled over by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office at 2:47 a.m. May 9 for failing to maintain a single lane, later showed up at a local hospital with multiple puncture wounds to his face, arm and armpit area, telling authorities an alligator attacked him near a water treatment plant in unincorporated St. Petersburg. According to authorities, as they attempted to stop Zuniga, he jumped out of the passenger side door and fled from the scene near the 7100 block of 78th Avenue North, kicking a hole through a fence to make his escape. He was found a few hours later at the hospital, …
Monday, May 6, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A man wanted in connection with a March 15 homicide was found hiding in a child's crib and was bitten on the arm by a K-9 before being taken into custody Tuesday, St. Petersburg Police said. Detectives found Morris Hires, 18, hiding in a child's crib inside his home in the 500 block of 26th Avenue South around 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, officials said. Hires was tracked down by a police K-9 and was bitten on the arm by the dog during the course of the arrest as he resisted attempts to be taken into custody, police spokesperson Mike Puetz said. A Largo woman used a screwdriver to stab a victim in an argument over beer money, according to police. Sara Rivera, 49, got into a fight with the victim about his use of money on a debit card to buy more …
Monday, April 29, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A Sarasota office manager is charged with practicing medicine without a license after authorities say she performed a painful procedure on a patient following her cosmetic surgery. Christine Patterson, 44, is the brother of Dr. Alberico Sessa and works as the medical biller and an office manager at his Clark Road practice, Sarasota Surgical Arts, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. A patient came to the office in 2011 to complain of "massive swelling," with two witnesses telling investigators the woman's face was "swollen like a pumpkin." Detectives say Patterson contacted Dr. Sessa, who was out of town, then decided to insert a drain to remove excess fluid, reportedly telling the patient she had seen the procedure done "…
Monday, April 22, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
Police have arrested a suspect in the double homicide of an elderly man and his live-in girlfriend who were found dead Friday on a houseboat at a St. Petersburg marina, authorities said. Raynaldo Figueroa-Sanabria, 30, was stopped while driving a rental car in North Carolina and taken into custody, St. Petersburg Police said. In additional to first-degree murder warrants in the deaths of the victims, identified as John Joseph Travlos, 75, and Germana Morin, 74, Figueroa-Sanabria also had an outstanding warrant for trafficking in cocaine. Officials said they believe robbery may have been a possible motive in the deaths. According to police, Travlos and Morin lived together for about a year and a half in Travlos' houseboat/yacht, called "…
Monday, April 15, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A Clearwater man was arrested after authorities said he brought unregistered guns and ammunition onto the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC, on Sunday, according to a report from The Associated Press. Ty Carroll Mitchum, 29, was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police after they found him outside the building Sunday afternoon and searched his car. Manatee County authorities, working with the state, are seeking a former pharmacy store owner wanted since May 2012 in connection to a drug trafficking operation. Investigators accuse Ajay Patel of filling prescriptions for Oxycodone for a drug trafficking operation. Patel operated pharmacies on Longboat Key, Parrish and Bradenton. The Parrish pharmacy is the only one that is still …
Monday, April 8, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A local judge has order a St. Pete man to pay four homeless men $14,000 after they were beaten in one of his fetish films, according to a report by the Tampa Bay Times. Jeffery Williams, according to the Times, produced a, "series of fetish videos that showed women beating up handcuffed men." "The men claimed they were offered $25 to $50 each to be whipped, beaten and dominated by scantily clad women as cameras rolled. They said they were not allowed to fight back and had to endure the beatings for 12 minutes in order to get paid." A Palm Harbor man faces a felony charge after he allegedly punched a Pinellas County School bus driver who was trying to protect a special needs child. Frank Dom Bottari, 51, is charged with felony battery on a …
Monday, April 1, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
Police are looking for two Bradenton men who they say have been peddling fraudulent cruise packages to unsuspecting victims. Dale Lucas, 25, and Todd Kelley, 22, have been passing themselves off as representatives of "a well known Internet site" and claiming they are authorized to sell cruise packages or travel related services, the Bradenton Police Department said Tuesday. Lucas and Kelley have been targeting locations along Manatee Avenue and Cortez Road in Bradenton, police spokesperson Capt. Warren T. Merriman said in a media release. The two men come in dressed as collared shirts and khaki pants or shorts, presenting travel packages and laminated marketing materials, Merriman said. They allegedly collect payment for the travel package…
Monday, March 25, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
Tampa police say someone broke into a South Tampa apartment and made off with a silver Dell laptop. Before leaving, the suspect also grabbed a few grocery items, too. In addition to the laptop, police say the suspect took two pounds of bananas, a gallon of milk, two cartons of eggs and a gallon of ice cream. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has arrested an 18-year-old suspect for vehicle burglary after he reportedly was caught in the act by a neighbor. A man on Lahania Drive in Sarasota called 9-1-1 at around 10:00 p.m. Tuesday to say that he and another man were holding the 18-year-old suspect inside a vehicle he had been burglarizing. Suspect Charles Ross performed a well-executed running forward flip over two unsuspecting off-duty …
Monday, March 18, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A 70-year-old Brandon man faces a second-degree murder charge after deputies say he confessed to fatally shooting a man having sexual intercourse with his wife in the couple's home. Ralph Lewis Wald, 70, was arrested after he called 911 and told a dispatcher with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office that he just shot the victim for "fornicating" with his 42-year-old wife. Wald told authorities he had gotten up shortly before midnight Sunday to get a drink in the kitchen, when he saw the two in the living room having sex. Ward said he returned to his bedroom and grabbed his firearm, shooting the victim several times. A 19-year-old has been charged with shooting his father last week in Sarasota, police said Tuesday. Steven R. Phelps Jr…
