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Two charged in golf shop theft
By RYAN DAVIS, Times Staff Writer PORT RICHEY -- Bill Lemay is certain the thieves who took $20,000 in golf clubs from his shop on Wednesday were not golfers. They didn't touch the Callaway ERC II titanium drivers with $499.99 price tags. They didn't touch the Scotty Cameron putters that go for $249.99. "They took clubs that were inexpensive," said Lemay, who owns Golf Place in Port Richey. "They were just grabbing." They also weren't very good criminals, he said. Two St. Petersburg men face charges in the burglary and theft of Lemay's shop, and the theft of a pickup truck from a Gulfport man, Pasco County sheriff's deputies said. They said the two men used the truck to ram through the back door of the shop at 10134 U.S. 19. It's the same method used previously to steal clubs from a Pinellas County golf shop. On Wednesday, the burglars grabbed sets of clubs, used clubs and Callaway Hawkeye woods. Pasco sheriff's spokesman Jon Powers said the men were done in by "the combination of bad luck and alert citizens." The shop's alarm sounded shortly after 6 a.m. on Wednesday. Lemay and deputies headed to the store. "As soon as I came around the back, I saw the doors were gone," Lemay said. The double steel doors in the back of his strip-mall shop had been knocked 6 feet into the store. At the scene, deputies found an empty Toyota bag, which they think held the tools for changing a flat tire, according to deputy reports. They also found a "For Sale" sign with a phone number in Gulfport. Gulfport police went to 4940 15th Ave. S. There they discovered that Miguel Pizano was missing a 1987 beige Toyota pickup, which he had last seen on Tuesday night, Gulfport police said. Right as Pizano was talking to police, Roger Hatfield, who owns a car lot near the golf store, called to report two suspicious men trying to fix a flat tire. They had asked him for a jack. He wondered why they were hiding their beige truck among the cars at Hatfield's Auto. So he peeked under the beige tarp covering the truck bed. He saw a lot of golf clubs, he said. "Nobody plays that much golf," Powers said. Hatfield called 911. As a deputy arrived, he found a 1987 beige Toyota pickup with white paint on the rear bumper. One man came walking out of a nearby shop and was immediately arrested, deputies said. The other fled. For 30 minutes, deputies and a sheriff's dog chased him over a fence, across a canal and into some woods. The dog, Fox, bit the suspect and he started to sink into what deputies described as "quicksand." He surrendered, deputies said. The man who deputies said ran from them was Claude Edward Smith, 41, of 6100 Highland St. in St. Petersburg. He faces charges of violation of probation, grand theft auto, grand theft and burglary, deputies said. He was being held without bail Thursday at county jail in Land O'Lakes. He has a record that includes burglary and dealing in stolen property. The other man, 36-year-old Roderick Smith of 2515 15th Ave. S, faces charges of grand theft auto, grand theft and burglary, deputies said. He was being held at the jail in lieu of $15,000 bail. He has a record that includes assault and battery. Golf shop smash-and-grabs have become increasingly common. The Edwin Watts Golf shop chain was offering $100,000 last year for help catching burglars. On Jan. 25, 2001, at its Palm Harbor store someone used a car, possibly rigged with some sort of battering ram, to smash a hole in the rear of the building. About $40,000 worth of clubs was taken. Pinellas County sheriff's officials will investigate any connection between Wednesday's crime and previous burglaries, Sgt. Greg Tita said. Lemay said he can see why golf shops would be popular targets. "If you have a $400 club and you tell somebody you'll sell it for $100, it's hard to resist," Lemay said. -- Ryan Davis is the police reporter in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245, or toll-free at 800-333-7505, ext. 6245. His e-mail address is rdavis@sptimes.com.
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