Digest

Crime journal

By Times Staff Writer
Published October 2, 2007

TAMPA

Apartment fire, burglary lead to man's arrest

Fire officials have ruled that a fire that heavily damaged an East Tampa apartment building Sunday night was intentionally set. Tampa police arrested Joseph Killins, 22, and charged him with burglary and arson. Witnesses said they saw Killins kicking in the front door of the apartment building at 1904 E Lake Ave. just before the fire, which began about 6:12 p.m., authorities said. Authorities later determined that Killins' mother knows the woman who lived in the apartment. The fire started in a second-story apartment, and firefighters worked to keep it from spreading to other units. Damage to the building was estimated at $400,000, fire officials said today.

Deputies seize marijuana, cocaine

Deputies arrested a 60-year-old Tampa man, accusing him of trafficking in marijuana and possessing cocaine and paraphernalia. Oscar Rodriguez of 10004 Memorial Highway was arrested at 10:40 p.m. on Thursday, deputies say. Deputies served a search warrant and found 55 marijuana plants and 0.105 ounces of cocaine in the home. Deputies confiscated a 40.2 pounds of marijuana. The estimated street value of the drugs is $40,000, according to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office.

HOMOSASSA

Dive instructor's body is found

A Citrus County dive team recovered the body of a missing dive instructor Monday morning. Jim Cummins, a 40-year-old Inverness lawyer, was found at 9:30 a.m. in the Gulf of Mexico near the mouth of the Homosassa River, according to the Coast Guard. Cummins and two men learning to dive were exploring underwater caves just offshore from the river Sunday afternoon. The two dive students resurfaced just before 2:30 p.m., but Cummins did not. After 15 minutes, they called for help. Cummins was a well known private practice lawyer in the tight-knit Citrus County legal community. In May, the Florida Supreme Court sanctioned the aggressive courtroom litigator with a six-month suspension after a former client filed a complaint.

DUNEDIN

New Port Richey pedestrian dies

A 48-year-old New Port Richey woman died Sunday, one day after she walked into traffic and was struck on Tampa Road west of U.S. 19. Deborah K. Carey suffered head and internal injuries when she was hit about 1 p.m. Saturday by a sport utility vehicle driven by Irene Arakas-Psomos, 38, of Palm Harbor, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Carey was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where she died about 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Officers said Carey was standing on the Tampa Road median when she stepped in front of Arakas-Psomos' westbound SUV. As Arakas-Psomos swerved, her car struck another westbound car driven by Judith B. Drake, 48, of Palm Harbor. No charges have been filed.

[Last modified October 2, 2007, 00:15:40]