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Suspect in SUV death arrested

The man, who worked for the victim, was arrested in Texas on Tuesday. He awaits extradition to Tampa.

By ASHLEE CLARK
Published August 11, 2006

Texas authorities arrested a man Tuesday who was wanted in last week's death of a Palm Harbor businessman found dead inside a burning SUV.

Jose Valdes, 30, of St. Petersburg worked for Rafael Garcia, whose body was found about 10 p.m. July 31 near St. Joseph's Women's Hospital in Tampa.

Garcia, 55, was discovered in a burning 2004 Nissan Armada and was dead when police arrived, Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said. Authorities have not said how he died, but describe his death as a homicide.

In a sworn statement, investigators describe a trail of evidence leading from the fatal scene in Tampa to St. Petersburg to California.

Valdes worked as a subcontractor on several cleaning jobs for Garcia's Palm Harbor company, AA Cleaning Concepts Inc., according to the Tampa police affidavit for Valdes' arrest.

The two were supposed to meet in the early evening on July 31 in St. Petersburg, police said. Police used cellular records to track both men's phones moving together from St. Petersburg to Tampa an hour before the blaze, the affidavit stated.

Valdes' phone transmitted four separate signals to a cellular tower within a mile of the crime scene, police said.

Tampa police are still piecing together what happened, but within 10 minutes of someone calling 911 about the fire, Valdes called his wife, Mirca Valdes. He asked her to pick him up at the Burger King parking lot at Dale Mabry Highway and Columbus Drive two miles from the crime scene, the affidavit stated.

When Mirca Valdes arrived, she noticed that her husband's face and arm were burned. His hair was also singed, the affidavit stated.

She took him to pick up his van at a job site at 600 First Ave. N in St. Petersburg at 1:24 a.m. on Aug. 1.

On Aug. 2, the facility administrator for the building contacted St. Petersburg police about "suspected suspicious blood stains" within his building, the affidavit stated.

Jose Valdes had not been seen since Aug. 1. But Tampa police received tips that he had fled to Riverside, Calif., shortly after Garcia's death, Davis said.

The police also learned that Valdes had bought a Greyhound bus ticket, and the bus would be making a stop in El Paso, Texas, which sits along the U.S. and Mexican border. Davis said she didn't know where his final destination would have been.

Officers from the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force met Valdes when he arrived and took him into custody without incident, Davis said.

The police haven't determined a possible motive because they have yet to question Valdes, Davis said.

No one from Garcia's family could be reached for comment Wednesday.

The investigation continues, and so far it doesn't appear that anyone else was involved in Garcia's death, Davis said.

Valdes was being held in the El Paso County Jail on charges of first-degree murder and arson in Garcia's death. Tampa police are working with El Paso law enforcement to coordinate Valdes' extradition to Tampa, Davis said.

[Last modified August 10, 2006, 22:53:41]