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RV salesman charged with sexual battery

By TIMES WIRES
Published December 30, 2006

A 49-year-old Lithia man has been arrested and accused of raping a woman while she was sleeping. Donald R. Carter, a salesman for Lazy Days RV, was charged Thursday with sexual battery on a physically helpless person. He was released from the Hillsborough County Jail on $25,000 bail. Hillsborough sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said the alleged crime occurred Dec. 13. The accuser, a 20-year-old woman, told investigators she had an upset stomach and was sleeping when she was sexually battered. Callaway said he could not reveal the location of the alleged crime or any other details to protect the identity of the accuser. Carter could not be reached for comment Friday.

Officials identify victim of wreck

Troopers released the name of a New Jersey man who died Thursday in a traffic crash on Interstate 75 near Sun City Center. Joseph Hanula, 56, of 2125 Stillwater Road in Newton, N.J., died at the scene of the accident, which happened just after midnight, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Hanula was headed north in the outside lane of I-75 in a 2003 Chevrolet when a 2004 Chevrolet driven by Robbie Colemire III, 34, of Foster, Ky., rammed into the back of the vehicle, troopers say. Investigators believe the lights on the back of the 2003 Chevy weren't working, and Colemire didn't see the vehicle until it was too late. No charges have been filed.

Suspect arrested in home burglaries

A 33-year-old man suspected of numerous daytime burglaries in Pasco, Hernando and Sumter counties was arrested Thursday and charged with armed burglary and grand theft auto. A Pasco County detective spotted a late-model tan Mercury on Rose Avenue that had been reported stolen from Sumter County. Willie Rocky Rhoden of 5311 Durden Road, Lacoochee, was sitting in the front seat, according to reports. The Mercury had been used in several residential burglaries during mid to late December in the Dade City area, said sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin. In addition to stealing the car, Rhoden is accused of a burglary that occurred Tuesday. Rhoden was being held in the Land O'Lakes jail Friday afternoon on $70,000 bail.

Pasco man among 5 killed in crash

Five people, including a former Dade City resident, died in a plane crash Dec. 22 near Panama City, the Associated Press reported. Barry DeLong, 51, a Dade City resident until the early 1990s, was traveling to the Bahamas for Christmas with his wife, Roxanne Costello DeLong, 57, and two friends. The twin-engine Cessna took off about 8:30 a.m. in rainy, windy conditions. Pilot John Johnson also died in the crash. A local memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Jan. 6 at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Dade City. This is one of two recent crashes to claim the lives of former Pasco residents. Former New Port Richey resident Mike Burlingham and his mother were killed in a crash Tuesday in Tennessee. Investigators say ice formed on the wings of that plane, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

[Last modified December 30, 2006, 01:22:38]