Police reports

Disbarred lawyer faces identity theft charges

CLEARWATER -- A former lawyer who was disbarred last year was charged earlier this month with stealing the identity of a client, then buying a $250,000 home in Atlanta and opening credit card accounts in the client's name.

Iric Vonn Spears, 37, of Clearwater was arrested Dec. 4 on four charges of grand theft, two charges of mortgage fraud, one charge of identity fraud and nine charges of forgery. He was released Thursday from the Pinellas County Jail after posting $150,000 bail.

Authorities say Spears stole the identity of Reginald Dalton, whom he met at a social function in August 2000.

After their meeting, Dalton hired Spears to represent him in an employment contract dispute with a former employer. To represent Dalton, Spears obtained personal information and employment documents from Dalton, said an affidavit written by Robert D. Ulmer, a white-collar crime investigator with the State Attorney's Office.

But Dalton later learned that Spears had purchased a residence in Atlanta for $250,000 in Dalton's name without his knowledge, the affidavit said.

Dalton found out about the purchase after the bank called to tell him they were foreclosing on the Atlanta property, which he knew nothing about. Ulmer obtained documents from the closing that contained Dalton's signature, which had been forged by Spears, the affidavit said.

Ulmer also learned that Spears had attended the closing on the property, saying he was there representing Dalton.

Spears received $63,500 after the closing for legal services and repairs, money he was not entitled to have, Ulmer wrote in the arrest affidavit.

Spears also used Dalton's personal information to open two credit card accounts in Dalton's name, then ran up about $7,900 in purchases, the affidavit said.

Spears had a practice in St. Petersburg, but the Florida Supreme Court disbarred him in April 2001.

The disbarment was retroactive to April 1998, said the Florida Bar Association.

According to the bar, Spears failed to properly hold a client's funds in trust, then didn't notify the client of a settlement or deliver the funds to the client.

Spears, who had been in practice in Florida since 1992, had agreed in 1998 to a three-year suspension from practicing law, but was disbarred when another complaint arose against him, said the bar.

Arrest made in robbery of convenience store

CLEARWATER -- A man was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion he robbed a convenience store with a pellet gun.

Jason S. Merkle, 23, of Clearwater was charged with robbing the Dodge convenience store, 1194 NE Cleveland St., just before 9 p.m. Wednesday. Clearwater police said Merkle pointed the gun at a clerk and took $263 from the register.

Police caught Merkle, after which he admitted to the robbery, arrest reports state.

Merkle, who is on probation for bad check charges, was being held at the Pinellas County Jail Thursday in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Police seek robber of Family Dollar store

LARGO -- Police are searching for a man who held up a Family Dollar store Wednesday night.

The man entered the store, 1442 Missouri Ave., about 7:35 p.m. He grabbed a pair of pants on display in the store and draped them over a handgun. He approached the assistant manager, asked her for help, then pointed the gun at her. The robber forced her to take him to the back office and open the safe, Largo police said.

The robber took about $1,300, stuffed the cash in a blue bag, took a cordless phone and exited the store through the rear door, police said. No one was injured.

Though customers and other employees were in the store at the time, none witnessed the stickup. Officers searched the area but did not find the robber. He is described as a white man in his early 50s with white hair and a moustache. He wore glasses and a tan corduroy jacket.

If you have information about the robbery, call Largo police at 587-6730.

Law enforcement plans DUI crackdown

Law enforcement officers will be out in force this holiday season looking for drunken drivers. A statewide initiative will go into place today in which police officers, sheriff's deputies and highway patrol troopers will be looking especially closely for signs that motorists are impaired.

Police in Clearwater and Largo are planning details, as is the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Almost 1,300 people were killed in Florida last year in alcohol-related crashes, about 42 percent of the state's traffic fatalities.

"We're going to be out in force," said Lt. Steve Burch, commander of the Clearwater Police Department's traffic division.

Burch said he hoped people attending holiday parties would remember that a drunken-driving accident can be especially tragic this time of year.

"You don't want to be the cause of tragedy for some family this time of year, or for your own," he said.

"People don't think what it's like to go knock on someone's door at 3 in the morning and tell them their mother isn't coming home; or to be the one who receives that visit."

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