Crime journal
By Times Staff Writer
Published December 14, 2007
TAMPA
Nurse accused of relationship with inmate
Lisa Ann Mendez started her day as a jail nurse Thursday and ended it as an inmate. Mendez, 35, a nurse at the Falkenburg Road Jail was accused of developing an inappropriate relationship with an inmate. Mendez of 7137 Waterside St. regularly brought leftover dinners to inmate James Lee Johnson, 37, a sheriff's spokeswoman said. Mendez developed the relationship with Johnson between July 10 and Dec. 11, while working as a contracted nurse through Armor Correctional Health Care Services. Johnson, who court records show is serving time at the jail for battery, was assigned as a trustee - a designation of comparative freedom which is given to inmates who display good behavior. Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said Mendez gave Johnson her cell phone number, deposited money into his canteen fund and wrote him letters containing "romantic gestures." Mendez was released from jail after posting $2,000 bail. "The only thing I am guilty of is sharing the food I brought in for lunch," Mendez said in an interview Thursday night.
BROOKSVILLE
Body identified as Pinellas woman
A body found in the woods earlier this week has been identified as Dominique Lewis, a 19-year-old from St. Petersburg. Her body was found Tuesday morning near Brooksville Rock Road. Lewis had been arrested for fraud and disorderly conduct in the past few years, according to a records search. Her last known address was 1637 18th Ave. N, Apt. C, in St. Petersburg.
DADE CITY
Man charged with kidnapping women
Pasco deputies arrested a 39-year-old unemployed Dade City man after they say he kidnapped and threatened to kill two women. Domingo Zamora forced his ex-girlfriend and her mother into his Lincoln Town Car at gunpoint Wednesday afternoon, deputies said. He then struck and choked his 29-year-old ex-girlfriend and shot his gun into the floorboard between her feet. He let the women go when the 67-year-old mother fainted from the stress, deputies say. Zamora is at the Land O'Lakes jail on $190,000 bail. He is charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault and felony battery.