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Police investigate death as a possible homicide

By Times Staff
Published November 7, 2005

A man was found dead at 4:15 p.m. Sunday in his apartment by a sheriff's deputy who was checking on the man's welfare.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office was investigating the death at apartment J3 at 6165 58th St N as a homicide, said spokesman Sgt. Jim Bordner. The man's name was not released because next of kin had not been notified late Sunday. Authorities released no other information.

TARPON SPRINGS - A 78-year-old Holiday woman was dragged about 10 feet Saturday after a purse-snatcher in a car grabbed her purse and she tried to get it back, police said.

According to police, a man pulled up next to Mona Miller in a small, green car while she was unloading groceries at a Publix, 40932 U.S. 19, and took her purse from her shopping cart. Miller saw the man grab her purse and reached inside the man's vehicle after he jumped into the driver's seat.

Police say the man then drove away with Miller hanging onto the driver's side of the car, dragging her for 10 to 15 feet. Miller suffered broken bones, but her condition was not available Sunday. Police are searching for the suspect, a thin, white man in his 20s or 30s, 5 feet 9 to 6 feet, with dark shaved hair and a mustache. He wore a gray shirt and tan shorts.

PLANT CITY - A 30-year-old Plant City woman died early Saturday morning while trying to pass a vehicle stopped on rural State Road 39 in east Hillsborough County.

About 2 a.m., Mia Lee Bice of Plant City and 2-year-old Richard Bice were headed north on State Road 39 near Bruton Road. Bice's 1998 Saturn quickly came up on a stopped Jeep sport utility vehicle, which was waiting to make a left turn into a private driveway, according to Florida Highway Patrol reports.

Bice steered into the southbound lane, where she collided head-on with a 2003 GMC van. The impact sent Bice's four-door Saturn spinning into the left side of the Jeep.

Bice, who lived at 601 A Dort St., in Plant City, died on the scene. Richard received minor injuries.

The driver of the GMC van, David Vandervender, 39, of 702 Tilman Place in Plant City, suffered minor injuries. The driver of the 1990 Jeep, Sherry Ward, 23, of 10212 Judy Road in Dover, was unharmed.

TAMPA - A 33-year-old Tampa motorcyclist died early Sunday morning after crashing into a van on Gunn Highway.

About 3:15 a.m., William Wood was driving a 1993 Kawaski motorcycle, heading northwest on Gunn Highway near Plantation Boulevard in north Tampa. Speeding at more than 65 mph, Wood's motorcycle collided with the rear of a Dodge van, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Wood, of 5408 Marlwood Court, died at the scene.

[Last modified November 7, 2005, 01:09:07]