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Official's son charged with animal cruelty

By Times staff
Published December 1, 2006

The son of former Hillsborough County Commissioner Tom Scott, who works at a Christian day school at his father's church, was arrested late Wednesday night on charges of animal cruelty, confinement of animals without food and water, obstructing an officer with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer. Marlon Jauron Scott, 25, the media specialist at King's Kids Christian Academy in East Tampa, was accused of keeping two Rottweilers on 3-foot chains in direct sunlight, a Tampa Police Department arrest report states. Scott was released from Orient Road Jail early Thursday morning on $7,500 bail.

Woman guilty in death of newborn

Nicole Batiste, 20, pleaded guilty Thursday to aggravated manslaughter of a child. Authorities accused Batiste of giving birth on Oct. 15, 2005, and leaving the newborn boy to die. She gave birth alone on a tile floor in her bedroom in the house she lives in with her mother. Circuit Judge Jack Springstead set sentencing for Jan. 11. Batiste will be sentenced as a youthful offender - that was part of the plea agreement - which means she can't get more than four years in prison and her total sentence can't go longer than six.

Defendant avoids steeper charges

A jury Thursday convicted Willie Andre Haynes, 38, of aggravated battery in the stabbing, beating and burning of an on-and-off girlfriend. Haynes had faced charges of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree arson in the attack on Catina Washington. Had he been convicted on the original counts, he could have faced 60 years in prison. But the aggravated battery charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, and he could get as few as six. Sentencing is set for Dec. 13.

Deputies seek man in bank robberies

Deputies are seeking a toothless man they think tried to rob two banks this week. He's white, 65 to 70 years old, 5-foot-10 to 5-foot-11, 220 pounds with a possibly crippled right hand. Investigators say that on Thursday he attempted to rob Washington Mutual Bank at 1101 W Brandon Blvd. shortly before 3 p.m. by sliding a note to a teller. The teller slipped him back a receipt, and the man walked out without money. Deputies think it's the same man who successfully robbed Pilot Bank at 668 Oakfield Drive in a similar manner.

Driver dies when SUV hits pole

A Tampa man died late Wednesday night in a one-vehicle crash in Temple Crest. Carlos C. Gray, 33, was driving northbound on N 40th Street in the 7000 block when his Mitsubishi SUV left the roadway and struck a mailbox pole, Tampa police said Thursday. The vehicle flipped onto its roof and slid a distance into several phone poles beside the roadway. Gray died at the scene.

[Last modified December 1, 2006, 10:18:50]