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 13, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A man tried to sell 25 brass vases that had been stolen from plots at a Bradenton cemetery, authorities said Wednesday. Deputies were conducting an inspection at All American Metals recycling center, 5013 15th St. E., on May 3 when a man drove up in a minivan and unloaded a five-gallon bucket filled with broken cemetery vases, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office reports. An employee notified the deputies that the man, later identified as 38-year-old Ronald Marlow, was trying to turn the vases in for cash. Deputies obtained an arrest warrant for the man, tracked him down and arrested him on a charge of dealing in stolen property. The vases had been stolen from cemetery plots throughout Manasota Memorial Park, 1221 53rd Ave. E., sometime …
Monday, May 6, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A welfare fraud investigation has led to arrest warrants for 103 people accused of illegally selling their Electronic Benefit Transfer cards at a discount, often using the money to buy drugs or alcohol, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. The investigation was sparked by the 2012 arrest of local pizza restaurateur Gerald Millas, 51, who was found to be buying EBT cards for 50 to 60 cents on the dollar and using them to buy food and supplies for his three restaurants in Manatee and Sarasota counties, authorities said. A man is charged with beating a dog to death during a burglary at a Sarasota automotive shop, authorities said Monday. The 61-year-old suspect was seen on surveillance video beating the dog with a tire iron at …
Monday, April 29, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A teacher at Horizons Academy in Bradenton is charged with child abuse after he allegedly grabbed a 13-year-old student, threw him to the ground and then threw him out of his classroom, deputies said Thursday. Colby Cadwell, 30, was arrested at his Bradenton home Thursday morning, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. The incident occurred Tuesday at Horizons, according to deputies, who say the student flinched at another student like he might hit the student. Cadwell then grabbed the 13-year-old, "threw him to the floor, then picked him up and physically threw him out of the classroom," a sheriff's report states. Bradenton Police are searching for a man accused of robbing an elderly woman at knifepoint and threatening to kill …
Monday, April 22, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A 22-year-old Tampa woman is accused of "violently grabbing" her ex-boyfriend's penis during a dispute Tuesday in Bradenton, the Manatee County Sheriff's office reports. According to deputies, Laquavia Sharelle Wallace came to her ex's residence in the 3500 block of 14th Street West to pick up their daughter. While there, the former couple got into an argument because Wallace wanted to rekindle their relationship, an arrest report states. The argument became violent, deputies said, when Wallace "grabbed (her ex-boyfriend's) penis with her right hand and began pulling on it," which caused him pain. She was charged with battery. A 42-year-old Bradenton woman is charged with having sex with two teenage boys while other teens watched, Sarasota…
Monday, April 15, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual "oh my gosh" police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
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 open. Investigators say that Patel may have fled the country. When investigators executed a search warrant at a Bradenton home Wednesday, they found one thing they were looking for — a man allegedly in possession of rock cocaine — and one thing they didn't: An injured dog that had to be euthanized. Manatee County Animal Services arrived to take the canine to an …
Sunday, February 3, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual ‘oh my gosh’ police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
A man in a wheelchair just trying to shop at a Sarasota Walgreens overnight Tuesday was punched and robbed outside the store by a 28-year-old Sarasota man facing an attempted robbery charge. Justin Haney, of, 519 Richardson Way, Sarasota, was the man seen in surveillance footage before he left the store at 3601 Bee Ridge Road, and approached a 45-year-old man in the parking lot, asking to buy pills off of him, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. A man and a woman approached the 45-year-old victim as he came out of store just after midnight Tuesday and attempted to buy his prescriptions, but he had only purchased over-the-counter allergy medicine, according to the sheriff's office. When the victim attempted to get into his …
Monday, January 14, 2013
We compile the odd, unusual and ‘oh my gosh’ police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.
She was at the Land O' Lakes home to watch the kids and the dogs. But authorities say Jennifer Lynn Byrne, 30, helped herself to the homeowner's valuables. According to a Pasco County affidavit, Byrne was at the home on several occasions before the homeowner reported that jewelry was missing. The homeowner told deputies she believed Byrne took the items. In a post-Miranda interview, Byrne admitted to taking "several pieces of yellow jewelry" from the homeowner's bedroom and trading it for crystal meth. A man who allegedly kept “ninja gear” and explosive devices in a residence in Holiday is now behind bars. According to an arrest report from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Edward Day was looking through a dresser he shares with Chad …
Friday, December 21, 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 …
