Police reports

Vehicle inquiry leads to bank robbery arrest

Detectives on Wednesday charged a Port Richey man with robbing an Oldsmar bank last month after tracking him down through a vehicle that his stepson allegedly used to rob another bank on a different day.

While looking into the March 7 robbery of the Republic Bank at 3711 Tampa Road, investigators learned from a Pasco County detective that the getaway vehicle used in a February bank robbery in Pasco was registered to Peter Gonzalez, 39, of 11214 U.S. 19 in Port Richey.

Gonzalez matched the description of the robber given by Republic Bank employees, according to a sworn statement from Pinellas sheriff's Detective Paul Martin.

When showed several photographs that included Gonzalez's image, three Republic Bank employees picked him as the man who stole $5,377 on March 7, deputies said.

"He wore no disguise," said Sgt. Greg Tita, spokesman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Gonzalez demanded money from a teller, pulled out a bank bag and gave the teller a note demanding money, deputies said. He indicated that he had a gun, but Tita said he did not have one.

Gonzalez was charged with robbery and was being held Thursday at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

In the Pasco County robbery at the Capital City Bank in Port Richey, authorities arrested Thomas Joshua "T.J." Beshears, 26. Beshears is Gonzalez's stepson.

A bank robbery committed March 6 at the First National Bank, 1100 East Lake Road, is still under investigation, Tita said. Gonzalez is not a suspect in that crime, he said.

Man's bail increased in attack on girlfriend

NEW PORT RICHEY -- A judge on Thursday raised the bail for Barry Colbert of Moon Lake, charged last month with repeatedly punching his girlfriend and beating her dog with a hammer.

Circuit Judge William Webb ordered bail set at $50,000 for Colbert for the aggravated battery charge involving his girlfriend, who was airlifted to a St. Petersburg hospital with a broken nose and a concussion. The bail in the case was previously set at $1,000.

Colbert, 39, also is being held at the county jail on $10,000 bail on a felony animal cruelty charge involving the attack on Buster, a boxer mix still recovering from a broken jaw and a severe head wound. The dog lost an eye in the attack.

Colbert also faces charges related to a February incident in which authorities say he got drunk and let a 7-year-old boy drive his car.

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