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Residents move on, cautiously

Within a week, a death and a shooting startled Bay Breeze Mobile Home Park, filled mainly by retirees.

By YUXING ZHENG
Published November 13, 2005

CLEARWATER - Most of the time, residents say, the Bay Breeze Mobile Home Park lives up to its name. It's quiet. It's cozy. And it's got a terrific view of Tampa Bay.

So last week, days after a late-night homicide and an unrelated five-hour police standoff shattered the tranquility of the park, residents were ready to move on.

"Everyone's just going on with their life, but being a little more cautious, keeping their eyes open," said resident Mark Demarcantonio, 56, a retired machine shop supervisor. "If they see something strange, they're going to report it."

The trouble at the park, which is on the 2900 block of Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, began Nov. 3. That's when resident Anthony Haines, 58, was found dead in his mobile home after suffering at least one stab wound. No arrests had been made in that case as of Friday, police spokesman Wayne Shelor said.

Then, on Nov. 5, police shot Grover Cleveland Schneider, 35, once in the upper torso as he walked toward them with a handgun at the Clearwater Bait & Tackle shop across the street from Bay Breeze.

Schneider, who rented a room from a Bay Breeze resident, was in serious condition Friday at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. Police shut down part of Gulf-to-Bay for several hours that night as Schneider pointed the gun to his temple, drank beers and repeatedly told police he wanted to die.

Police do not believe the two incidents are related, Shelor said.

But some residents still felt the effects of the violence a week later.

"I'm nervous," said resident Denise Yonge, 44, who called police Nov. 3 after the woman who discovered Haines' body ran to her house. "I'm edgy. I don't come out at dark. It's an eerie feeling being around here right now."

About 65 calls were made to police from the mobile home park in the past year, police records show. Most calls were for 911 service. Six of the calls had something to do with Haines' home. Those calls included a theft, a grand theft auto, a check on someone's welfare and the report of Haines' death.

The only signs of a police presence on one afternoon last week were the strips of red tape blocking the door to Haines' double-wide blue trailer.

No homicides had occurred at the park until Haines' death, park manager David Kirkpatrick said. His father built the 80-unit, family-owned mobile home park in 1953. He declined to say what the rents are, but he estimated that seasonal residents make up about half of the park's population and about 80 percent are retired.

But that's changing, say some residents, and so is the park.

Younger residents started moving in over the past decade, disrupting the friendly, family-like atmosphere in some areas of the park, said retired resident Freddeann Vajo, 73, who used to work in a deli.

"They're a rough bunch, half of them," said her husband, William Vajo, 75, a retired limousine driver. "If you go into the garbage bin, you find in there a bunch of beer cans."

Richard Robinson, 75, rented a room in his mobile home to Schneider, the man involved in the standoff with police. Schneider, who had a Tennessee driver's license, stayed to himself and came out of his room to cook, said Robinson, a retired education professor who taught at InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico.

"He was just such a clean-cut, intelligent guy that I didn't ask a lot of questions," said Robinson, as he chain-smoked cigarettes at the dining room table. "He was very meticulous, very, very clean. He's so clean it embarrassed me."

The only time 10-year resident Carole James, 72, felt scared to live at the park was about four years ago when she suspected a neighbor was dealing drugs. The neighbor had homeless people stay with him who would often go through James' yard, the retired meat clerk said.

She tried not to pay any attention to it, and the neighbor moved out about a year ago.

"I keep my doors locked, I stay to myself, and I try not to get into other people's business," James said. "That's all in the past, and I hope this is, too."

Staff writer Douglas R. Clifford contributed to this report. Yuxing Zheng can be reached at 727 445-4163 or at yzheng@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 13, 2005, 03:00:43]