Digest

Crime journal

By Times Staff Writer
Published October 16, 2007

SEMINOLE

Robber takes cash, drugs from pharmacy

Pinellas sheriff's detectives are looking for a man who robbed a Seminole pharmacy Friday. The armed man ordered a pharmacist to the floor and told another employee to fill a black duffel bag with pain medications, detectives said. He also took cash from the register. The crime took place around 5:40 p.m. at Trinity Pharmacy, 9488 Seminole Blvd. Detectives said the man was white, between 40 and 45 years old and weighed about 165 pounds. They estimate his height at between 5 feet 8 and 5 feet 10. He wore an orange baseball cap, a white button-down shirt with a Progress Energy logo, a striped tie and green slacks. Anyone with information is urged to call the sheriff's robbery unit at (727) 582-6200.

TAMPA

Two teens arrested in theft of vehicle

Two teens were arrested early Monday after officials said they led deputies on a slow chase in a stolen car. The boys, age 13 and 16, were spotted about 4:30 a.m. in a 1996 Nissan Sentra at Bearss and Livingston avenues. Deputies say the car had been reported stolen. Instead of pulling over, deputies said, the driver continued on several roads before reaching the Pasco County line, where deputies deployed "stop sticks" to bring the car to a halt. Both teens were arrested. The 16-year-old driver was charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding, grand theft auto and two counts of auto burglary. The 13-year-old passenger was charged with grand theft auto and two counts of burglary.

BROOKSVILLE

Fugitive is arrested on sex charges

One of Hernando County's most wanted fugitives is behind bars after hiding from authorities for more than a year and a half. Pasco County sheriff's deputies arrested Bill Eugene Plowman of Brooksville on Friday night in Aripeka after receiving word from Hernando deputies Plowman would be in the area. The 47-year-old truck driver fled in March 2006 after Hernando deputies began investigating a 14-month sexual relationship he had with a 14-year-old girl, according to arrest reports. Plowman is charged with 10 counts of lewd and lascivious battery and one count of sexual performance by a child. He was jailed in Pasco County pending a transfer to Hernando County.

CLEARWATER

Oven suspected as cause of condo fire

An oven malfunction ignited the blaze that scorched a third-floor condominium at the On Top of the World about 9 p.m. Sunday, Clearwater fire officials said. Investigators believe resident Jack Beller, 89, may have left his oven on for several hours, causing it to malfunction and start the fire. Firefighters extinguished the flames in 10 minutes. Beller and two other people, as well as a firefighter, were taken to a hospital as a precaution. No one was injured, according to spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts. The fire caused $40,000 in damage to Beller's condominium at the residential community, 2069 World Parkway Blvd. in Clearwater. The condominium directly below his sustained $10,000 in water damage.

[Last modified October 15, 2007, 23:14:23]