Digest

Crime journal

By Times Staff Writer
Published September 4, 2007

TAMPA

Man shot by stranger who gave him a ride

Donald Sternhagen depended on strangers for a ride early Monday and ended up getting shot in the back and robbed in his own home. He had been out partying in Ybor City with friends when he got separated from his roommate, who was driving, said J.D. Callaway, a spokesman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Sternhagen, 29, of Tampa then ran into a man and a woman who agreed to give him a ride to his home at 8701 Elmdale Place. He didn't catch their names. At the house, the man followed Sternhagen inside and shot him in the back and took stole his wallet, said Callaway. Shortly afterward, authorities say, the pair crashed their green four-door Pontiac through a fence and into a pole at Davis Road and Morris Bridge Road, less than 2 miles from Sternhagen's home. They drove away. The pair were both white and in their 30s or early 40s. Sternhagen was taken to University Community Hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. His condition was stable, said Callaway.

ST. PETERSBURG

Man left in street after shots fired

A 22-year-old man was in critical condition Monday after being shot during a street party. The man was found lying near the intersection of 10th Street and 24th Avenue S, said police. The shooting occurred about 4 a.m., and after the gunfire, partygoers fled, said Sgt. Michael Kovacsev. Authorities did not make the man's identity public on Monday afternoon.

ST. PETERSBURG

Husband arrested in stabbing death

A man accused of stabbing his wife to death with a kitchen knife was arrested early Monday. Ronald Williams, 42, was held on a charge of second-degree murder. St. Petersburg police went to the couple's home at 3921 Ninth Ave. S about 1:30 a.m. and found Williams' wife, Mariama, on the kitchen floor. The 31-year-old had multiple stab wounds to her upper body, said Sgt. Michael Kovacsev. Williams' stepparents told authorities that Williams called them and said he didn't know if his wife was dead or alive, Kovacsev said. Later, Williams called 911 and threatened to commit suicide. Less than an hour after an alert went out to look out for Williams, he was arrested by Tampa police near the Gandy Bridge. He confessed to stabbing his wife and said, "It all centered around her being unfaithful," according to Kovacsev. The couple's 2-year-old daughter was being cared for by family members, officials said.

TAMPA

Man held in lewd assault on girls

A Bradenton man was arrested Monday at Adventure Island after grinding and gyrating against two minor girls, according to Tampa police. Jerard Russo, 43, was taken into custody about 3 p.m. by officers at the water theme park after he massaged the shoulders and waists of two minor girls, rubbed against them and became aroused, police said. He was charged with a lewd and lascivious act and booked into the Orient Road Jail.

[Last modified September 3, 2007, 23:33:51]