Jesus doll's GPS leads to a return

By Times Wires
Published December 28, 2007

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Someone stole a baby Jesus doll Wednesday night from a Nativity scene in front of the Wellington Community Center in Palm Beach County.

But village leaders knew about a similar theft from Bal Harbour earlier this month, so they equipped their figurine with a GPS tracking device.

The device led sheriff's deputies to a nearby home, where they recovered the stolen item Thursday morning.

Danielle K. Santino, 18, of Lake Worth was charged Thursday afternoon with grand theft between $300 and $5,000, according to the affidavit.

"I don't anticipate this will ever happen again," said Dina Cellini, who oversees the annual display. "but we may need to rely on technology to save our savior."

BARTOW

Fiery attack suspect charged in 2 killings

A man already charged with setting two women on fire during a robbery has been charged with the unrelated slayings of two gas station employees, Polk County authorities said.

Leon Davis Jr. was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder in the Dec. 7 killings of Pravinkumar Patel and Dashrath Patel. The men, who were not related, were changing the price on a sign when Davis tried to rob the gas station where they worked, according to an arrest affidavit.

Davis, 30, is also accused of dousing Yvonne Bustamante and her sister-in-law, Juanita "Jane" Luciano with gasoline and setting them on fire during a robbery of a Nationwide insurance office on Dec. 13.

Luciano was 51/2 months pregnant, and her baby, delivered prematurely after the attack, died a day later. Bustamante died last week. Luciano remains in critical condition, a hospital spokesman said Thursday.

OCALA

Wesley Snipes' tax trial will stay put

Actor Wesley Snipes' federal tax-evasion trial will go forward next month in this central Florida city, despite motions by his lawyers for a delay and relocation.

The rulings were among several that U.S. District Judge William T. Hodges made Monday in the case.

Snipes' lawyers had claimed he cannot get a fair trial in Ocala, about 80 miles north of Orlando. Snipes' filed two motions to dismiss or transfer the trial, citing racial prejudices in the area.

An October, 2006 federal indictment charges Snipes with fraudulently claiming refunds totaling almost $12-million in 1996 and 1997 for income taxes already paid.

The 45-year-old star of the Blade trilogy and other films also was charged with failure to file returns from 1999 through 2004.

BOCA RATON

Car and body found in canal 15 years later

Authorities have identified bones found in a car submerged in a canal as a those of man who disappeared 15 years ago.

Barry Fish was reported missing Nov. 11, 1992. Investigators now believe he lost control of his silver 1986 Mercedes coupe and careered into the canal. They do not suspect foul play.

Palm Beach County sheriff's detectives were searching the canal Dec. 4 during their investigation of another case.

Instead, they found the Mercedes with Fish's bones still buckled into the driver's seat.

Times wires

[Last modified December 27, 2007, 23:51:25]