Sunday, April 28, 2013
Among the 15 deputies the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office will remember at a May 15 memorial are Sgt. Ronald Harrison, who was shot dead in Brandon, and Deputy David Abella, who died in a patrol car accident north of Causeway Boulevard.
Fourteen men and one woman will be rememberd at this year's annual memorial service for fallen officers, including Sgt. Ronald Harrision, a 27-year veteran, who died after he spearheaded an operation on State Road 60 to keep drunken drivers off the streets. Also on the list is rookie Deputy David Abella, a Plant City High graduate and 26-year-old father of three, who in 2004 died when his patrol car hit a curb and slammed into two utility poles on 50th Street north of Causeway Boulevard. The May 15 memorial, in Tampa at Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park, is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. (see below). Abella, in his first year of service, was the first Hillsborough deputy in 17 years to die in the line of duty. His funeral services were at …
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Even with a crackdown on graffiti by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, new sightings are not unusual. Beware, though, the penalties are stiff. Best to channel your "art" elsewhere.
Reported last month were the "thousands" of graffiti tag marks at the heart of an investigation that led to the arrest of three youths in Brandon. It was at the site of one of the more extensive displays of this graffiti that representatives from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office talked about the serious ramifications of graffiti, regardless of whether it is gang- or art-related. Unchecked graffiti leads to the "perpetual decay of everything," said Larry McKinnon, a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesperson. Instances of graffiti are not hard to find, regardless of the ramifications they carry for the perpetrators. Those consequences include possible jail time, fines and civil liabilities, "with various businesses for …
Friday, April 26, 2013
Who's responsible for the more than 55 vehicle break-ins in Brandon, Seffner and Valrico over one month's time? While deputies seeks clues, motorists should take heed of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office's "Lock It Up" crime-prevention video.
The recent spate of vehicle break-ins reported in Brandon, Seffner and Valrico is another reminder why it's important to take heed of the "Lock It Up" video released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office late last year. The video extolls motorists to do the one thing they can do most simply to deter vehicle break-ins: lock their doors. The video has no narration, until the end, as it shows a series of shoppers putting recently bought merchandise into their vehicles. The "clicks" are timed in beat to the music. Then, there's the shopper in a rush, called back into the shopping center, who fails to do that one thing that matters most. She doesn't lock the doors and the nearby thief in sunglasses. lifting his sunglasses to get a …
Monday, April 22, 2013
In Plant City on April 20, a man reportedly attacked his 75-year-old grandmother after a physical dispute.
Armed with a machete, a man reportedly attacked his grandmother in Plant City on April 20 after an earlier "physical dispute," according to a report from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The report notes that at about 4:28 p.m., Anthony Wayne Griffith, 34, of 7608 Loghouse Road, and his grandmother, Barbara A. Harvey, 75, engaged in a physical dispute. "The suspect then armed himself with a machete and attacked her, causing deep lacerations to her face and upper body," the report continues. Griffith reportedly called 911 shortly after the incident "and explained what he had done." Held without bail at the Hillsborough County Jail, he faces charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a weapon on a person …
Operation Gun Swap in February asked county residents to rid their homes of unwanted firearms. This month the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office released a video showing what happened to those guns.
It was the end of the line this month for more than 2,500 unwanted firearms turned in during Operation Gun Swap in February, said to be the largest such gun swap in the nation, according to a release from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. "The nation's largest single-day gun swap came to a fiery finish at a steel mill, where the rifles, shotguns, and handguns were incinerated in a 3,200-degree furnace," according to the sheriff's report. "The packaging, transport and destruction of the unwanted firearms was supervised by a team of [sheriff's office] detectives." As for the melted metal that once was weapons? Melted metal "will become rebar and coat hangers," the report notes. February’s Operation Gun Swap invited residents to …
Friday, April 5, 2013
The young brothers were abducted from their grandmother’s Carrollwood area home April 3. Authorities now believe their father has taken them out to into open waters.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has updated its Amber Alert for Cole and Chase Hakken, two young boys abducted from their grandmother’s Carrollwood area home on April 3. Authorities now have reason to believe their accused abductor, their father Joshua Hakken, 35, may be traveling with the children on a 1972, 25-foot Morgan sailboat. The boat has the registration number of FL3717BK and has a blue hull. The boat in question is named “Salty” and has a picture of a paw near the hull on both sides, according to a FDLE media release. The stern also has “St. Petersburg” written on it in white letters. The vessel has a blue Bimini top and when its sail is unfurled it is white with blue trim. Read all stories related to the abduction The…
Friday, March 22, 2013
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has cracked down on the "thousands" of graffiti tag marks noted throughout the county. Arrests and stern warnings come in the aftermath of an almost year-long investigation.
The "thousands" of graffiti tag marks that have been springing up throughout central Brandon have been at the heart of an investigation that led to the arrest of three youths in Brandon this week. It was at the site of one of the more extensive displays of this graffiti that representatives from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office talked about the serious ramifications of graffiti, whether it is gang-related or, in this case, "art" related. "If you allow it to continue unchecked then it will keep going and keep going until the fear will start to set in," said Larry McKinnon, a spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. People won't want to shop at businesses marked with graffiti, he said, "and people won't want to …
The lieutenant leading the latest Brandon graffiti crackdown notes where the illegal activity has been the greatest while a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesperson talks about the costs of both "gang" graffiti and "art" graffiti.
The lieutenant heading the graffiti crackdown that led to the arrest of three youths in Brandon on March 20 said the investigation started last year, in May, when "we first started noticing" the extent of the activity. Since then, "we have been documenting it, cleaning it and pursuing the suspects," said Lt. Frank Losat, of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, who noted the break in the case last week that led to the identification of one of the suspects. "Ultimately, two more individuals were identified, too," he added, and "we were able to make three arrests in the investigation." Losat noted that the majority of the graffiti in this case "extends from Parsons Avenue and State Road 60, all the way back down towards Brandon High …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Photos show why traffic was halted for more than two hours March 19 at East Lumsden Road and South St. Cloud Avenue, where motorists Kathryn A. Means, 75, and Kelly Thomas Fort, 21, reportedly were transported and airlifted to area hospitals.
Two Valrico drivers, ages 75 and 21, were involved in a serious accident at East Lumsden Road and South St. Cloud Avenue today, March 19, after the older motorist reportedly failed to stop at a Valrico stop-sign intersection just east and south of the Abbey Grove and Valrico Grove subdivisions, respectively. Kathryn A. Means, 75, of 122 Oakhill Ridge Road, and Kelly Thomas Fort, 21, of 828 Rocky Mountain Court, were sent to area hospitals with "incapacitating" and "life-threatening" injuries, respectively, according to a report from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Means, who was driving a 1998 Pontiac Sunfire convertible, reportedly was wearing a seat belt. So, too, was the more seriously injured Fort, who reportedly was …
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Sean Rice, owner of O' Brien's Irish Pub & Family Restaurant in Brandon, was recognized at the March 13 Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office quarterly awards ceremony.
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Sunday, March 17
By Meredith Rucker As part of its quarterly awards ceremony March 13, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office recognized Sean Rice, owner of O’Brien’s Irish Pub & Family Restaurant in Brandon, for his fundraising efforts on behalf of Hillsborough County Deputy Dan Whitt by presenting him with the Citizen's Award. Whitt is a husband and father of four who is battling stomach cancer. When approached last year by friends of the deputy looking to help the Whitt family, Rice offered to host a fish-fry fundraiser at his pub at 701 W. Lumsden Rd., Brandon, with a promise to donate 100 percent of the proceeds to the Whitt family. The event was held at O'Brien's Irish Pub Dec. 12, raising $30,000 for the family. The battle against cancer strikes …
Vintage Bride
12:42 pm on Monday, April 8, 2013
I love ya, sweetie. Good advice to any one who may see them ;) more ›