Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Pirate radio station closed

Hip-hop music, club ads and profanity all came from a radio frequency police say nobody should have been using.

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 10, 2005

TAMPA - Police this week shut down a pirate radio station that they say has been broadcasting hip-hop music on FM 99.1 since last month. Tampa police and Federal Communications Commission officials seized about $20,000 in electronic equipment after searching Thursday at 4402 N Melton Ave. and at Palm Avenue Baptist Tower Apartments, 215 E Palm Ave.

Investigators say the unlicensed broadcasting began Nov. 20, with operators working from the peach-colored building at Melton and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Authorities later determined the signal was coming from the Palm Avenue Baptist Tower Apartments, where they found two FM antennas on the roof. A similar antenna was found on the northwest side of the Melton building, pointing southwest.

On Nov. 22, investigators began listening to the radio station almost daily. They heard men announcing advertisements for Club 112, a nightclub at 901 N Franklin St. in Tampa, police spokesman Joe Durkin said. They also heard announcers using profane and "violent language," according to a report.

Following Thursday's search warrants, detectives questioned and released three people associated with the station, Durkin said. The person authorities say they believe set up the pirate station has been identified and will be interviewed.

Police have not arrested anyone, but Durkin said Detective Greg Stout is still investigating. Unauthorized radio transmissions or interference with commercial radio stations is a felony.

[Last modified December 10, 2005, 00:50:10]