Digest

Crime journal

By TIMES STAFF
Published June 30, 2007

SPRING HILL

PASSENGER DIES WHEN CAR BACKS UP ON U.S. 19

A cement truck slammed into a car that was driving in reverse on U.S. 19 Friday afternoon, killing the car's passenger and injuring the driver, the Florida Highway Patrol reported. The accident occurred at 12:20 p.m. just south of County Line Road. Elias Diaz, 33, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the 1997 Mitsubishi Mirage, Miranda M. Fender, 21, of Holiday, was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. The truck driver, Isaac H. Steelman, 29, of Hudson, was not injured.

TAMPA

Club managers face noise charges

Two managers of Club Fuel in Ybor City were arrested after Tampa police said the club yet again violated city noise ordinances. Police arrested Richard Mackizer, the club's senior vice president of operations, at 10:15 p.m. Thursday and general manager Blerim Ljena when they returned at 12:30 a.m. Assistant City Attorney David Shobe said there are eight criminal cases pending against Fuel managers for noise ordinance violations. Shobe said if Mackizer is found guilty, the City Council could hold a public hearing to discuss suspending the club's alcohol permit.

BROOKSVILLE

Videotapes aid in ATV crackdown

This spring, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office was regularly getting complaints of people buzzing through South Brooksville on all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes. But when deputies would chase the vehicles, which are not street legal, drivers would escape offroad. So deputies began videotaping the drivers on May 3. On May 25, using the information gleaned from the cameras to secure warrants, deputies started rounding up the drivers. Friday, the Sheriff's Office reported the arrest of 15 people for ATV-related offenses.

HUDSON

2 end up in jail for sewage disposal

When the sewage treatment system at Forest Green Mobile Home Park began malfunctioning Monday morning, park owners Frank and Susan Page told workers to scoop up the sewage and throw it in a Dumpster, where it headed to a landfill, authorities said. By Thursday, the Pages were in jail on charges of illegally dumping human waste. Each faces one felony count of commercial littering, and one misdemeanor count of causing a nuisance to health. They were each released on $5, 500 bond from the Land O'Lakes Detention Center. A citizen tipped off the Department of Environmental Protection about the incident.

TAMPA

2 wounded in shooting near club

One man was critically injured and another wounded in a shooting Thursday morning outside the Thirsty Turtle club on W Waters Avenue in Tampa. A man known only as "Lucky" shot Charles Griffith, 26, and Shivago Reeves, 24, both of Tampa, at 3 a.m. Thursday, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Deputies say the man pulled a gun during a fight with Reeves and Griffith, but investigators do not know what caused the fight. They remain hospitalized at St. Joseph's Hospital, authorities said.

[Last modified June 29, 2007, 23:38:23]