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Suspect nabbed in carwash slaying
A 21-year-old man with a rap sheet that includes 23 arrests stands accused of the shooting on Aug. 30.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published November 8, 2005
TAMPA - Serial burglar DeAndre Gartmond, 21, has a tattoo on his back that proclaims, "Only God Can Judge Me."
But courthouse judges keep trying - and this time, he's charged with murder.
Federal and local authorities arrested Gartmond at a Winter Haven apartment complex Monday night and charged him with the Aug. 30 murder of 44-year-old Ronald Preston at a south Tampa car wash.
Gartmond was booked into the Polk County jail on one count of first-degree murder and one count each of armed robbery and armed burglary. He will be moved soon to the Hillsborough County jail.
Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin said detectives identified Gartmond after getting tips from citizens who saw well-publicized surveillance footage of Gartmond and another, still unidentified accomplice.
"Thanks to the surveillance video of the carwash, we had a video image of those terrifying moments before Mr. Preston was killed," Durkin said.
Just before 2 a.m., Preston was washing a 2002 Chevrolet S-10 pickup at the Southside Car Wash, 2101 S Dale Mabry Highway.
The surveillance tape shows a light-colored, four-door, late 1990s model Ford Taurus pull into the adjacent bay. A passenger jumps out of the Taurus, confronts Preston and shoots him in the back.
Preston collapses out of view of the camera. The tape shows the gunman jumping into Preston's pickup, apparently stealing things from it. The driver of the Taurus speeds away, and the gunman follows.
At about 4:30 a.m., the Taurus was seen in surveillance video at a Circle K gas station in Bartow in Polk County, according to police. A man matching the appearance of the carwash shooter is seen pumping gas and using the victim's credit card.
About 5 a.m., he appeared in surveillance video in a nearby Wal-Mart in Polk trying to buy expensive electronic products with Preston's credit card, Durkin said. The credit card was declined.
According to state records, Gartmond has a history of burglary convictions - part of a rap sheet that includes 23 misdemeanor and felony arrests dating back to age 13.
-- Staff researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.
[Last modified November 8, 2005, 21:45:44]
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