Those who partied with Steven Aitken tell of wads of cash, drinking and lies that made them watchful. He's in a Pinellas jail now on bank robbery charges.
By LEANORA MINAI
Published September 10, 2003
DAYTONA BEACH - Eric Seawright was a great guy.
He bought everybody drinks. He carried wads of cash in both front pockets. And, nearly every night, he grilled steaks by the pool.
But for all his partying, acquaintances said, Eric was a little strange. He seemed jumpy, tense, as if he were holding something back.
His secret, investigators say, was his identity.
Eric Seawright was actually Steven Michael Aitken, accused of the brazen robberies of seven Pinellas County banks.
"We all hung out with him," said Karla Millen, 40, who called authorities after seeing Aitken's face Saturday on America's Most Wanted. "We all sat and ate with him, drank with him."
On Tuesday, the 36-year-old Aitken was being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail as investigators inspected a green van Aitken used to get around in Daytona Beach. They found receipts for motels from Treasure Island to Ormond Beach.
Aitken was returned to Pinellas County late Tuesday and booked into the jail.
"It's a relief," said St. Petersburg police Detective James Shakas, the lead detective. "He was so dangerous. It's great that nobody got hurt."
Formerly of St. Petersburg, Aitken spent 10 years in state prison after a conviction on charges of kidnapping a St. Petersburg boy and fondling himself in front of the youth.
Nobody had a clue of that when Aitken showed up in Daytona Beach.
* * *
It was early March when Aitken arrived on the main strip, where the Harleys roar for Bike Week. He quickly blended into the fabric of transient workers, many of whom stay at the oceanside motels.
The Streamline, a hotel billed as a gay resort, was Aitken's first home, though he ultimately would live in at least five hotels.
"I checked him in," said August Wilaby, 35, the desk clerk at Streamline. While there, Aitken played Eddie Money songs on the jukebox and bought people drinks in the lounge.
In July, Aitken moved to the Travelers Inn across from the ocean, staying in Room 109, known as "The Astronaut." For $45 a night, Aitken got to "sleep with the stars," as the motel motto goes. A painted mural of John Glenn covered his wall.
Aitken quickly became friends with two young men, Corey Stafford, 18, and his friend, Colby Smith, 17. They had just arrived from Iowa with $60 between them.
"They were hungry," said Jock Tate, manager at Travelers Inn. "He bought them something to eat, took them job hunting."
Life around the pool at Travelers Inn was relaxing. Almost every night, about 20 construction workers, most laboring at nearby ocean high-rises, would gather around the grill and drink for hours. Aitken was known to consume a case of beer in a few hours.
"He always had a cup of alcohol in his hand," said Tate, 47. "Beer, vodka, something."
Aitken bought food at Publix and did the grilling himself.
"He was buying big thick steaks," said Stafford, who earns $7 an hour as a construction worker. "Shrimp, lobster. The guy was blowing $70 on steaks every time he went to the store."
Aitken never talked about himself and usually left the party early, around 11 p.m.
"He always acted like he had to go to work," said Karla Millen, also a construction worker.
Soon, Millen and the others grew suspicious and began asking Aitken what he did for a living. Aitken would say only that he worked for a Miami attorney's office. He said he couldn't be more specific.
His pals began to think that Aitken was an undercover police officer.
* * *
Those pals began to distance themselves after Aitken made verbal sexual advances to one of the young men at Travelers Inn.
When Aitken bought Stafford, the young man from Iowa, a pair of $80 K-SWISS sneakers, Millen became concerned.
"A stranger just doesn't buy you sneakers and cook you stuff," Millen said she thought to herself.
On Thursday, Aitken was ordered off Travelers Inn property after an argument with guests, said Tate, the hotel manager.
The next night, Millen was sitting at the bar in the Belleair Bowling Alley when Aitken walked in. He sat beside her and ordered an Absolut and cranberry juice, then a double-shot of vodka.
"He was apologizing to me, saying he was a good guy," Millen said. "Then he made a threat."
She said Aitken told her to get her friends and family out of the motel.
"Something's going to happen," Aitken said, according to Millen. "I told him to stop talking like that."
* * *
Millen was relaxing Saturday, watching America's Most Wanted on TV, when she saw Aitken's face.
"That's him! That's him!" shouted Millen, who called the TV show and was referred to the FBI. She said she spoke with local and federal authorities all weekend.
At 5:30 p.m. Monday, an FBI agent showed up at Millen's home. She directed the agent to the Travelers Inn.
The agent showed the motel manager a photo of Aitken.
"That's him," said manager Tate. "No one else has those eyes."
Just then, Aitken unexpectedly walked up and knocked on a guest door.
The agent told Tate to call 911. Tate complied, then walked outside of the office and began talking to Aitken, hoping to distract him.
Moments later, FBI agents and Daytona Beach police swarmed Aitken with guns drawn.
"Get down!" police shouted. "Don't move a muscle."
Aitken, a .45-caliber handgun tucked in his waistband, did not put up a fight.
"He had just a blank look," Tate said. "Then real quiet and real innocent, he said, "What did I do?' "
