Mauro S. Solone, 33, was arrested after he robbed the Clover Pharmacy in Palm Harbor on Oct. 30. Based on a study of Solone's robbery pattern, deputies and other law enforcement officers were out in force that day. As soon as the pharmacy was robbed, deputies and officers rushed to the area and arrested Solone, who had jumped into a canal off Lake Tarpon.

Solone was a suspect in 18 robberies, 15 of them in Pinellas County. He pleaded guilty to the charges Feb. 8 and was sentenced Feb. 13.

A judge also ordered Solone to pay restitution totaling $4,002 to the 15 businesses he robbed. The most he got in any of the robberies was $596. In one, he got only $50. His average take was $266.80.

Solone got $133.40 for every year he was sentenced to spend in prison.

He had been released from state prison only two weeks before his current string began. He served 10 years for armed robbery. Investigators said he was using the money he stole from the businesses, mostly hotels, for drugs.

Man sentenced to year in jail for abusing dog

SAFETY HARBOR -- A man who tried to kill his dog with a board and a chisel has been sentenced to one year in jail.

Pinellas sheriff's deputies arrested Rudolph Reisberg, 60, on an animal cruelty charge in July. Neighbors called deputies after hearing Reisberg beat the dog, a 20-pound terrier named Fritz.

Deputies took Fritz to an emergency vet clinic, where he was euthanized.

Reisberg went to trial and was found guilty by a jury Feb. 21. A judge sentenced him to one year in jail, with 17 days' credit for time he had already served after his arrest. The jail time will be followed by four years of probation, court records show.

Reisberg asked a judge to reconsider the sentence but was denied Feb. 28. He has filed a notice of appeal.

Reisberg's wife, Lona, said in an interview after her husband's arrest that he loved the dogbut wanted to put Fritz out of his misery because he was very sick.

Rudolph Reisberg slammed the 36-inch board and the chisel into the dog's head. He thought that had killed Fritz, but the dog revived and whimpered. So, he struck the dog again, Reisberg's wife said.

The dog was quiet for a few minutes, but then the couple heard more whimpers. Fritz was still alive.

"My husband thought, 'If I hit him over the head, he'll die,' so he kept hitting him over the head. But he wouldn't die," Lona Reisberg told the Times. "He would come back to life every half-hour. He kept waking up."

Warrant issued for man in aggravated assault case

CLEARWATER -- A man who police say tried to run over an off-duty officer has failed to appear at a court hearing and now has a warrant out for his arrest.

Clearwater police say Carlton Lamar Grooms, 35, tried to run down Officer Tom Stein Oct. 13 as the officer worked an off-duty security job at Dillard's at the Countryside Mall. Stein had confronted Grooms because he believed he was stealing items from the store, arrest reports state.

Stein fired his department-issued gun at the car three times, but the suspect drove off. Grooms was arrested a week later in a St. Petersburg hotel. He faces charges of aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, robbery, grand theft and cocaine possession. But Grooms was a no-show at a pretrial hearing scheduled for March 1. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

Burglar is sentenced to 5 years in prison

LARGO -- A man whose apparent disdain for grunge music led to his arrest on burglary charges has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Largo police arrested Mark Janeski, 33, on burglary charges in August. The case against Janeski came together after crime analysts noticed a trend of business burglaries along East and West Bay Boulevard, then received word from a tipster that Janeski had bragged about being the burglar.

Police staked out Janeski's home, then found a cash register in his garbage. They later got a warrant to search his home and found a T-shirt with the words "Grunge s----" printed on the back. A surveillance camera in one of the burglarized businesses had shown that the burglar was wearing a similar T-shirt.

A jury found Janeski guilty of burglary Jan. 31. A judge then sentenced him to five years in prison on Feb. 7. Janeski will receive credit for 183 days he has already served in jail, court records show.

Janeski pleaded no contest to a second burglary charge and was sentenced to two years in prison, though that will run concurrently with the other sentence.

Janeski also was ordered to pay $350 in restitution to a Hess station and $666 to an Express Food Mart, the victims of his burglaries.

Janeski had served time before in connection with more than 20 other burglaries and thefts.

Man in pipe bomb case gets 2 years' probation

LARGO -- A man arrested in August for carrying a suspected pipe bomb has been sentenced to probation.

Ted Nicholas Kedzierski, 31, was charged with making or discharging a destructive device. Largo police pulled him over in August because a suspect in an arson fire, Ernest Stroud, 22, was a passenger in his Jeep.

Upon arresting Stroud, police found the pipe bomb in the Jeep. Kedzierski told them he used it for Fourth of July fireworks. Police said they did not think the arson and pipe bomb were related.

Kedzierski pleaded no contest to the charge Feb. 5. A judge found him guilty, then sentenced him to two years' probation, court records show.

Stroud is still awaiting trial.

Burglar's knife attack leads to 30-year sentence

SEMINOLE -- A man who slashed a homeowner with a knife after a burglary attempt has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

James Marcel Antoine, 39, pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and aggravated battery last month. Ten years of the 30-year sentence were suspended. Antoine, whose last known address is in Gulfport, also must serve 10 years of probation after his prison sentence is over.

Pinellas sheriff's deputies arrested Antoine in June after a homeowner, Gary Cox, spotted him with an armful of fishing poles and leaving his garage, which is in the 9300 block of 132nd Street N in Seminole. Cox gave chase, and Antoine dropped the poles and ran.

When Cox caught up to him, Antoine pulled a Swiss Army knife and slashed him. Cox suffered 7-inch-long cuts on both arms, but survived.

Antoine, who has a criminal record of 20 arrests in 20 years, was arrested by deputies nearby. He pleaded guilty to the charges Feb. 19, court records show.

Pet owner in abuse case is sentenced to probation

LARGO -- A man who was arrested for leaving an adult dog and eight puppies living in filthy conditions has been sentenced to probation.

Edward Lovelace, 25, was arrested in August on an animal cruelty charge. Neighbors of Lovelace, who at the time lived in the 10500 block of 114th Terrace N, called Pinellas sheriff's deputies to report that the 4-week-old puppies cried all night and were without food or water.

When deputies went to Lovelace's home, they noticed the mother dog was thin, while the puppies' stomachs were bloated with intestinal parasites. The puppies were living in an area littered with fecal matter and worms, sheriff's reports state.

Deputies also noted there were no bowls of food and water for the dogs. Animal services officers seized the dogs, who were doing fine a few days after Lovelace's arrest.

Lovelace pleaded guilty to the charge on Jan. 8. A judge found him guilty and sentenced him to six months' probation.

Man gets probation for burglary attempt

LARGO -- A man whose burglary attempt was foiled by a neighbor's barking dog has been sentenced to probation.

Largo police arrested Owen Harn, 20, in October based on suspicion he tried to burglarize a business in the 400 block of Seminole Boulevard. Police said Harn was on the roof of a strip of businesses in that area when a neighbor's dog heard them and started barking. The dog owner then called police, and Harn and a suspected accomplice, Joseph Thomas Dunn, 22, were arrested.

Harn pleaded guilty to charges of attempted burglary and obstruction on Feb. 25. After withholding judgment, a judge sentenced Harn to 18 months of probation.

Dunn is still awaiting trial.

Caretaker gets probation, must pay restitution

SEMINOLE -- A woman accused of stealing an elderly blind woman's credit card and charging $6,000 on it has been sentenced to probation.

Linda Lee Grimm, 49, was arrested in November on suspicion she stole the 73-year-old woman's credit card and used it about 12 times in a six-month period. She was a caretaker for the woman in Seminole at the time, Pinellas sheriff's deputies said.

Grimm, whose last known address is in Palm Harbor, pleaded guilty to an elderly exploitation charge on Monday. After withholding judgment, a judge sentenced her to five years' probation. She also must serve 10 days at the Pinellas County Jail on weekends, though she received credit for time already served in jail after her arrest, court records show.

Grimm also was ordered to pay restitution of $1,205 to the elderly woman, and $5,296 to the credit card company, records show.

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