Crime Journal

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 20, 2007

PLANT CITY

Inmates injured as pickup hits sheriff's van

A pickup truck rear-ended a Polk County sheriff's van carrying inmates Wednesday morning, injuring four of them, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Troopers say Michael J. Bowen, 35, of 8252 Edison Ave. in Lithia, was headed south on County Road 39 south of Old Hopewell Road near Plant City. Traffic slowed and Bowen's 1996 pickup struck the rear of the Polk sheriff's van, troopers say. Bowen suffered minor injuries, as did the driver of the van, a sheriff's deputy. The inmates transported to Tampa General Hospital were: Carol Carter, 34, a state Department of Corrections inmate; a 17-year-old boy imprisoned by Hillsborough County; Tyree Levinson, 58, a Hillsborough County inmate; and Luis Viera-Rodrigues, 39, a Hillsborough County inmate, troopers say. The injuries were minor, troopers say.

BRANDON

Man accused of lewd act at school

A 33-year-old Brandon man exposed himself to students at McLane Middle School about 1 p.m. Tuesday and solicited them to commit a sex act, according to Hillsborough deputies. The man was arrested on felony charges of lewd or lascivious conduct and lewd or lascivious exhibition, and a misdemeanor count of trespassing on school grounds. He was outside a fence at the campus, Hillsborough school spokesman Stephen Hegarty said. Daniel Jack Hill, of 406 Big Cedar Way, Brandon, listed his occupation in jail records as dishwasher at a local International House of Pancakes. He was arrested at 306 N Knights Ave., the school's address, and was being held Wednesday in a Hillsborough County jail, with bail set at $15,250.

TAMPA

HIV raises stakes ofprostitution arrest

A misdemeanor prostitution arrest at Fletcher Avenue near Interstate 75 turned into a felony Tuesday morning after the defendant told authorities he was HIV positive, Hillsborough sheriff's deputies said. Patrick Lynn Whaley, 39, of 10019 Courtney Palms Blvd., Brandon, was charged with misdemeanor prostitution and criminal transmission of HIV, a felony. Deputies say he agreed to perform a sex act in exchange for $200. He also offered to give a professional massage despite not being a licensed massage therapist, which added another misdemeanor charge of the unlicensed practice of a health care profession. Whaley was being held in the Orient Road Jail with bail set at $1,500.

YBOR CITY 

Decomposed body found in closet

Police discovered a decomposed body of a woman inside an abandoned Ybor City house Wednesday. A passer-by alerted police to a foul odor coming from 2303 N 23rd St. at about 4 p.m., Tampa police Lt. Charles Courtoy said. There were no obvious signs of trauma, but the body was in such a state of decomposition that investigators could not determine the person's approximate age. Officers forced the rear door to get into the building, and found the body in a closet. "We don't know if this is a homeless person or what," Courtoy said. Investigators have labeled the death suspicious.

[Last modified December 19, 2007, 23:37:08]