Kidnapping victim contacts Sheriff's Office
By Times Staff
Published October 31, 2005
TAMPA - A 21-year-old woman, who was kidnapped at gunpoint at a Tampa apartment on Sunday morning, turned up safe in the afternoon in Orlando, Hillsborough sheriff's deputies said.
About 8:20 a.m., Tiffany Eubank was taken at gunpoint from 5411 Ginger Cove Drive Apt. H, where she was staying with a friend, said sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.
The suspected kidnappers were Alonso Cook, 21, who has a child with Eubank, and his brother, Steven Cook, 19, authorities said.
On Sunday afternoon, Eubank called the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to report that she was fine in Orlando at Alonso Cook's apartment. Eubank did not want to press charges, Carter said.
But the Cook brothers still were arrested in Orlando on charges of armed kidnapping and armed burglary. Hillsborough arrest warrants were issued based on witness accounts.
Carter did not know when they would be brought back to Tampa, and Eubank did not wish to return home on Sunday afternoon, opting to stay in Orlando at Cook's apartment.
Man hit by police car still in hospital, faces charges
ST. PETERSBURG - A 38-year-old man remained in Bayfront Medical Center Sunday being treated for injuries suffered when a city police officer ran over him in a patrol car on Saturday.
Police said Darrell L. Ward was pedaling away on a bicycle as they tried to arrest him in connection with an attempted burglary at a gas station. An undercover detective on foot tried to tackle him, knocking him into the path of a cruiser, police said. Bayfront officials would not comment on Ward's condition Sunday.
Ward was charged Sunday with one count each of burglary, fleeing to elude police, and possession of burglary tools. His bail was set at $20,000.
Two men accused using paintball guns on children
Two Pinellas Park men were arrested on charges of child abuse Saturday after shooting two children with a paintball gun, police say.
According to police reports, Joshua Lee Joseph Gilmour, 18, and Andrew Jamie Trowbridge, 20, were inside a moving vehicle at the 9000 block of 54th Way around 3 p.m. when they shot a 10-year-old girl in her stomach with a paintball. The girl suffered minor welts and bruising.
Sixteen minutes later, another child was shot with the paintball gun in the 8400 block of 49th Street N, according to arrest reports. It's unclear who shot the child.
Both men were arrested on two counts of felony child abuse. They posted $2,000 bail each Sunday.
Large attendance, few arrests at Guavaween
TAMPA - Guavaween drew about 50,000 people to Ybor City on Saturday for an evening of revelry, the Tampa Police Department said Sunday.
By the end of the night, 46 adults and one juvenile had been arrested, according to police spokesman Joe Durkin. Most of the charges involved alcohol and drugs. Five people were arrested for underage drinking.
The Guavaween arrest log included three felony charges and 44 misdemeanors. Durkin noted that officers reported relatively few problems with Guavaween, although the event also has attracted larger crowds in the past.