CLEARWATER -- A Clearwater doctor pleaded guilty on Wednesday to defrauding his insurance company of more than $40,000 by making false claims on his car and a piece of medical equipment.

Dr. Larry Canton, 42, faced charges of insurance fraud and grand theft. A judge withheld adjudication after he pleaded guilty to the charges Wednesday, then sentenced Canton to two years' probation.

Canton also was ordered to pay $41,775 in restitution to State Farm Insurance, said James Trehy, an investigator with the Florida Department of Insurance.

Canton could not be reached for comment Wednesday. His attorney, Jay Hebert, said he will continue practicing medicine in the area.

Canton initially was arrested June 29. Investigators said he reported his 1988 BMW stolen from a mall in Tampa, then collected a $15,000 check from State Farm. Investigators determined that Canton had called a towing company under the name Larry Gant and had had the car towed to a dealership, arrest affidavits state.

Canton never claimed the car, affidavits state.

After the June arrest, investigators looked into another insurance fraud claim reported by an anonymous caller. The caller said Canton had damaged a bone density machine to collect insurance money.

Investigators learned that Canton had complained that exams from the bone density machine were not pulling in enough money. Some employees said they had never seen the machine used.

Victim's family won't sue over Bayflite accident

TAMPA -- The family of a nurse killed in the crash of a Bayflite medical helicopter one year ago will not file a lawsuit over the accident.

Attorneys for the family of Alicia Betita-Collins, who was killed along with pilot Mark Wallace and paramedic Erik Hangartner after their helicopter hit a transmission tower over Tampa Bay last April, said Wednesday they will not sue Bayflite, the hospital that runs the air ambulance service or the helicopter company.

"She was not a litigious person. This would have been her wish," said attorney Joseph Diaco.

But at a news conference, Diaco would not say whether the family had reached any settlement with the companies. Diaco said simply that it was time to get on with the grieving process.

He also said Betita-Collins had set up financial contingencies to help her two children and her ailing parents if she died unexpectedly.

Rescue personnel remove acid bomb in Kenneth City

KENNETH CITY -- A 20-ounce Power Ade bottle filled with about five ounces of an acidic liquid was found on the 5700 block of 40th Avenue N on Wednesday.

St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue was called to the scene to remove the bottle. An emergency medical technician donned a silver plastic suit, goggles and lime green boots, and carefully handled the bottle as five St. Petersburg police officers and firefighters looked on from a safe distance.

The bottle was an acid bomb, the "latest and greatest thing young kids are trying to pull off," said Captain Michael Domante of St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue.

Activist sues deputy over ejection from meeting

TAMPA -- Tampa Palms activist Bob Doran filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Sheriff Cal Henderson and a deputy. Doran alleges his arm was permanently injured when the deputy threw him out of a public meeting.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, claims Doran was injured, humiliated and embarrassed by the June 12, 2000 incident at Gaither High School. It names Henderson and Deputy Jay Mauk as defendants. Doran claims Mauk violated his right to free speech when he grabbed Doran and forcibly escorted him out of the meeting of the Northdale Special Tax District. Doran attended the meeting to protest the removal of board member George Helmstetter.

A spokesman for the Sheriff's Office could not be reached for comment.

Ex-DOT employee charged in kickback scheme

TAMPA -- A former Florida Department of Transportation employee was accused Wednesday of accepting at least $5,000 in kickbacks for awarding state contracts to a construction company where he once worked.

Kenneth Nelson Brown, 58, was the maintenance engineer for the office of toll operations for the DOT from July 1997 to January 1999. The former Valrico resident now lives in Alabama.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators and the DOT's Inspector General's Office said Brown created fraudulently high bids from other construction firms for repair work on DOT facilities in order to award contracts to C.T. Earle Maintenance Co. Inc. of Gibsonton. Brown was charged with organized scheme to defraud and unlawful compensation.

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