Calm is restored for Holiday residents

Neighbors in Holiday Lake Estates will celebrate today with a "freedom march."

By MOLLY MOORHEAD, Times Staff Writer
Published November 10, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Ryan Joseph Antonucci

HOLIDAY - Since August, when gunfire rang through the streets of Holiday Lake Estates with alarming regularity, life has gone quiet again.

Authorities say that's because the two main culprits in the violence are no longer a threat.

One is dead.

The other is in jail.

"Things have calmed down quite a bit," Pasco sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said Friday.

Pasco deputies this week arrested Ryan Joseph Antonucci, a 21-year-old Pinellas Park man who is accused of threatening a teenager with a gun and shooting at a Merita Drive house in separate incidents in August. He is charged with shooting at or into a building and aggravated assault, which together carry up to 20 years in prison.

He was arrested from the Pinellas County jail, where he was serving a sentence for cocaine possession and violating probation.

Authorities also say Antonucci is a gang member.

Aaron Slavin, who prosecutes all gang-related cases for the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office, said Antonucci appears to be affiliated with a local subset of the national Bloods gang.

And he was on the opposing side of 20-year-old Robert Maniatis, who was arrested in August after allegedly threatening his neighbors in Holiday Lake Estates. He bonded out of jail, and soon more gunfire was reported.

On Aug. 19, authorities say, Antonucci shot at Maniatis' house. A day later, after a 25-year-old New Port Richey man was found shot to death in Tarpon Springs, Maniatis was named as a person of interest in the killing.

But Maniatis, who had been in trouble with the law since his teenage years, died of an overdose in a U.S. 19 hotel before authorities found him.

Tobin says that with Maniatis' death and Antonucci's arrest, the crime spike in the neighborhood is all but resolved.

He said there were other suspects in the shootings, but none who authorities could build enough of a case against to make an arrest.

"We're always seeking more information," Tobin said.

In an effort to rally neighbors and re-emphasize safety in the community, the Sheriff's Office is hosting a "freedom march" today.

The event will include free food and entertainment, a parade through the neighborhood, guest speakers and numerous safety exhibits.

Freda White plans to attend with her 13-year-old daughter.

White's son, Nick, was grazed by a bullet in one of the August shootings while knocking on a friend's door. She believes Maniatis was responsible - her kids grew up with him and witnessed his descent into violence. Since he died, she said, calm has returned to Holiday Lake Estates. But one concern, at least, remains.

"We got a bad report card for the neighborhood," White said. "It's going to take 10 years to come back."

Freedom March of Holiday Lake Estates today

To participate in the community parade, be at Paul R. Smith Middle School on Sweetbriar Drive at 9:30 a.m.

The all-day event includes free food and drinks, live bands, safety stations and speakers, including Sheriff Bob White, state Rep. John Legg and schools Superintendent Heather Fiorentino.

[Last modified November 9, 2007, 22:37:20]