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Holiday revelers leave pickles, bullets behind

By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN
Published January 3, 2007

There was no full moon on New Year's Eve. But even if there had been, it wouldn't be enough to explain all this.

A bullet fell from the sky just before midnight Sunday and lodged in 46-year-old Debbie Bingham's left bra strap. She was sitting on a picnic bench, watching fireworks in St. Petersburg, and didn't know what happened until her son saw blood drip from her arm. She wasn't badly injured.

Police called to investigate a burglary at Northeast Park Baptist Church early Sunday morning found a trail of pickles. They followed it across the street to a shopping center, where they found 39-year-old David Palmer. Officers arrested him on a burglary charge.

And Fred Holley was apparently so excited about 2007 that he dialed 911 14 times Sunday to wish everyone at the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office happy new year.

The dispatchers apparently didn't share his enthusiasm - the 46 year-old St. Petersburg man was arrested for 911 abuse.

So what accounts for the outbreak of the strange?

"It's definitely true that alcohol plays a role in New Year's for many people," said Sgt. Jim Bordner, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.

There's more.

The Sheriff's Office is still searching for whoever slashed the tires of 30 vehicles and several inflatable snowmen in Seminole this weekend. Detectives believe all the slashings took place at night.

The weekend also saw its share of unusual accidents.

Marcos Vazquez-Martinez, 34, pulled out of a mobile home park in Hillsborough County a little too quickly on New Year's Day, losing control of his 1999 Chevy and ramming into a utility pole. The pole fell on Guadalupe Gasper, 24, of Dover, who was walking along Highway 60 and minding his own business, the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies cited Vazquez-Martinez for driving too fast for road conditions; Gasper was taken to Tampa General Hospital and his condition was not available Tuesday. Deputies said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Even schools weren't spared, though students were gone for the holidays.

Tony Shortt, a 32-year-old transient, was arrested on charges he smashed through a window at Gibbs High School and cracked open three vending machines with a screwdriver.

Police say Shortt also is suspected of burglarizing 10 vending machines at Northeast High School just recently.

During another holiday.

Christmas.

Times reporter Abbie Vansickle and researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8472.

[Last modified January 3, 2007, 06:00:15]