Monday, May 20, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
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 said Friday. The duo was seen using a white truck to extract the grease from a storage system attached to the inside of the fast food restaurant at 1601 S. Tamiami Trail around 3:30 a.m. Thursday, authorities said. When the restaurant's manager noticed the men were not wearing the normal uniform and were acting unusual, he called police. A patrol officer found the two men and the truck later that night at Fruitville Road and Shade Avenue, police said. One of them, 23-year-old Leroy L. Shorter of Pinellas Park, is also charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug …
Monday, May 6, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A Pasco County man is accused of killing a litter of pit bull puppies by whacking them with a shovel. David Thompson went to a mobile home on Catalona Avenue in Moon Lake Estates Friday, April 26 to help his friend Martin Smith move out, according to a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office’s incident report. Smith and his father, who also came over to help him move out, got into an argument about what to do with the 8-week-old puppies in the mobile home’s yard. There were also two adult pit bulls there. Smith later told deputies he didn’t have the money to care for the puppies. Thompson, 21, is now accused of settling the argument in his own way. He told deputies he took a shovel and hit each puppy in the head with it. The force of each strike …
Monday, April 8, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
Alexis Ortiz was already in the custody of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office on charges related to a burglary at Ridgewood High School when a deputy discovered an iPhone in Ortiz's shorts. That iPhone, the sheriff's office says, contained a photo of a man perfomring a sex act on a 2-year-old girl. So Ortiz, who lives in Port Richey but worked as a garden tech at The Home Depot in Holiday, now faces a charge of possession of a photograph depicting sexual performance by a child in addition to a charge of burglary and three counts of dealing in stolen property that were already levied against him. A grandmother faces child neglect charges after deputies say she lost track of her 11-year-old grandson at a Bradenton Walmart and left him there. …
Monday, April 1, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
Police news can often impact, or at least interest, surrounding communities. OMG PD is an occasional feature that examines the "oh my gosh police items" from beyond Lutz. A Countryway couple has been taken to the hospital while another family deals with wreckage to their home following a single-car crash Monday, March 25. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says the accident occurred as Angus McArthur, 83, of the Countryway area was driving his 1999 Mercury eastbound on Waters Avenue when he lost control. McArthur’s car “left the roadway, went through a wooden privacy fence and struck a house,” a media release from the sheriff’s office said. Chamberlain High School history teacher Phillip G. Kornell thought he was arranging to meet an…
Monday, January 7, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual and ‘oh my gosh’ police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
For the third time in four months, the U.S. Coast Guard docked in St. Petersburg after seizing millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine. The latest drug bust worth $11 million was announced Thursday after crews docked in St. Pete. Authorities say that totaled 17 bales of the powdery drug. Laurie Eberhardt, 67, was standing on the second-floor balcony of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club watching the fireworks from First Night St. Pete, when she felt something strike her wrist. She looked down and realized she was bleeding. According to St. Petersburg Police, Eberhardt was struck by a falling bullet shot in celebration of the New Year. Eberhardt, according to police, was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where a bullet was removed from her …
Thursday, December 27, 2012
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and other local agencies believe the same man is connected to nine separate bank burglaries, including one in Lutz.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help to identify a bank burglar they say breaks in after-hours and then leaves without taking anything from his crime scenes. The serial burglar has so far been connected to nine burglaries in three separate counties. In the two Hillsborough cases, the man broke into his target banks and left without anything to show for his efforts. “It’s really unusual that someone would break into a bank after hours,” said Debbie Carter, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. “They (detectives) have not been able to determine that there was anything taken.” Carter said the suspect has been connected to the Dec. 22 burglary at Bay City Bank, 18315 U.S. Highway 41, in Lutz…
Monday, December 24, 2012
We compile the odd, weird and ‘oh my gosh’ police news from throughout the Tampa Bay region. In Florida, there's no shortage.
A homeowner made the mistake of answering her door last week without knowing first who had just knocked. According to the Bradenton Patch, Teresa K. Lindsey, of the 4300 block of Fairfax Drive, heard the knock at her door shortly after 9 p.m. She looked out and when she didn't see anyone so she opened the door. A suspect stepped into her view and forced his way into the residence. The man, described as between 5-feet-six-inches to 5-feet-8-inches tall and 150 to 165 pounds, demanded money and other items. Lindsey gave him what she had and the man forced her into her bedroom closet before running away. Maybe the sun was in her eyes, but 93-year-old Fern Botdorf said she did not see a Pasco County deputy flagging traffic in the road, when …
