Digest

Crime journal

By Times Staff Writer
Published October 25, 2007

TAMPA

SUSPECT PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN EXPLOSIVES CASE

Ahmed Mohamed, one of two suspended University of South Florida students accused of federal interstate explosives charges, pleaded not guilty Wednesday. Local lawyer John Fitzgibbons entered the plea, confirming that he will represent Mohamed in the high-profile case. Mohamed, 26, and fellow student Youssef Megahed, 21, were charged with illegally transporting explosive materials after they were arrested in August in South Carolina. Mohamed also faces a charge of teaching how to make explosive devices. He pleaded not guilty to both and waived his right to an arraignment. Both men remain in jail. Megahed, whose family lives in Tampa Palms, was granted bail by a U.S. magistrate, but the government appealed and is awaiting an order from U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday as to whether Megahed can be released pending trial.

Man charged with murder in robbery

A 29-year-old Tampa man faces a first-degree murder charge after police said he admitted shooting a man during a drug-related robbery in late September. Timothy Garrit Jones, 9402 Rosebury Court, was charged early Wednesday after investigators said he shot Taruce Burks in the stomach during the Sept. 28 attack. Jones also will face a felony armed-robbery charge. Burks was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he remained until he died Friday, his 22nd birthday.

HOLIDAY

62-cent robbery is on the books

About 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, an unemployed 47-year-old man was on his front porch with his dog at the Holiday Travel Park when a white Chevrolet pickup pulled up. The man told authorities this is what happened: A masked man walked toward him. As he turned to go inside, he felt a metal object against the back of his head. He heard the cocking sound of what he believed to be a .44-caliber Magnum. "Give me your money or give me your life," the robber said. So the man handed over his money, and the robber fled - with 62 cents. The story's veracity is uncertain, sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said.

ST. PETERSBURG

Teen trying to sell jewelry is shot

A gunman shot a St. Petersburg teen late Tuesday after a jewelry purchase turned violent, police said. Police said Patrick Jones, 18, had been waiting outside his apartment about 10:25 p.m. at the Bridgewater Place Condominiums on the 100 block of 112th Ave. NE, hoping to sell jewelry to a person who contacted him via cell phone. Instead, police said one person emerged from a car and pointed a handgun to Jones' left side then pulled the trigger, sending him to Bayfront Medical Center.

WARNINGS, BUT NO TWISTERS: Despite a tornado warning from the National Weather Service for Pasco County about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, there was no report of a touchdown, said Jim Johnston, operations coordinator for the Pasco County Office of Emergency Management.

[Last modified October 25, 2007, 00:08:52]