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Owner saved from burning boat

By Times Staff
Published May 17, 2005

A 34-foot boat carrying more tha 500 gallons of gasoline burns Monday morning in Tampa Bay south of the Gandy Bridge and offshore from the Weedon Island area. Fire officials from Tampa and St. Petersburg said the lone passenger, boat owner Stanley Jackson of Tampa, was rescued by a nearby boater and was okay. The fire was put out quickly by Tampa Fire Rescue, Coast Guard officials said. The Coast Guard removed the boat without any gas leaking into the bay, officials said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

12-pack gave boy a boost in stolen car, police say

TAMPA - A 12-pack of Bud Light beer doubled as a booster seat for a 13-year-old boy, barely 4 feet tall, who was caught driving a stolen car over the weekend, police said.

The Temple Terrace teenager was arrested on charges of auto theft Saturday after a short foot chase, Tampa police said.

The 2000 Dodge Intrepid was reported stolen to Temple Terrace police about 7 p.m. Tampa police officers Rob Fannin and Braxton Baird spotted the car "driving erratically with what looked like a young boy driving the car."

When the officers got closer to the vehicle, the teen ditched the car and took off on foot. Officers noticed that the steering column in the car had been dismantled and then went after the teen. They also found the pack of beer they said the teen used to help him see over the steering wheel.

TAMPA - David Onstott is accused of murdering a child and already faces the possibility of life in prison or death. Monday he was charged with another felony: attempting to escape from jail.

Deputies on Saturday caught Onstott, housed in a one-man cell since his arrest last month, trying to scratch his way through a wall at Orient Road Jail, according to Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

Deputy Kevin Brown heard scratching noises coming from Onstott's cell about 4:30 a.m.

He and another deputy found Onstott, accused of the murder and attempted sexual battery of 13-year-old Sarah Lunde of Ruskin, had gouged into the wall of his concrete block cell with a towel rack.

ST. PETERSBURG - A cabdriver was shot in the abdomen near 40th Street S and 13th Avenue S just before 11 p.m. Monday.

The driver's name had not been released late Monday. Authorities said his injuries did not appear life-threatening.

The reason for the shooting remained under investigation, though robbery was a distinct possibility, authorities said. Officers were still searching for possible suspects at presstime.

ST. PETERSBURG - Police detectives are asking for the public's help in solving the Sunday morning killing of Gregory Allen Sorrell.

Sorrell had attended a gathering hosted by his brother Saturday evening at 1417 45th St. S. He was seen leaving between 2:30 and 3 a.m., police say. A short time later, Sorrell was found on 14th Avenue S, three or four blocks from his brother's home, bleeding from his head. He had been beaten with a hard, blunt object and died at Bayfront Medical Center.

Police officials encouraged anyone with information about the killing to contact homicide Detective Rusty Zitzelberg at (727) 893-7164.

TAMPA - A woman shot a 14-year-old burglar in the shoulder when the teen tried to break into her east Tampa home, police said.

Bryante T. Bradley, of 1705 E Shadowlawn Ave., was treated for his gunshot wound at Tampa General Hospital and released, police said. He later confessed and was charged with burglary, police said.

Bryante had gone to the home at 3104 Lila St. sometime after 8 p.m. on Friday, police said, where he tried to enter through Wylene Washington's bedroom window. He started banging on her window and she yelled at him to stop, but he didn't, police said.

BROOKSVILLE - The death of a Chocachatti Elementary School first-grader who had bacterial meningitis has not put other students at high risk for contracting the illness, the Hernando County Health Department says.

In a letter sent to parents on Monday, Chocachatti principal Michael Tellone wrote that the school was dealing with the recent death of first-grader Sydney Fillmore. He also attached a letter the Health Department.

The Health Department wrote that an investigation found "the incident involved streptococcus pneumoniae, which is not the type of meningitis that is considered highly contagious."

[Last modified May 17, 2005, 01:37:19]