CLEARWATER -- The owner of a helicopter company who is accused of defrauding investors and burning his business has been extradited to Pinellas County to stand trial on 58 criminal charges.

Richard Patrick Naylor, 55, faces charges ranging from racketeering and organized fraud to arson and grand theft.

Authorities say Naylor set fire to his business, Thunderbird Helicopter Service at 1710 Calumet St. in Clearwater on June 23, 1998.

Naylor is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Georgia on related charges, but he arrived at the Pinellas County Jail this week to be prosecuted by the statewide prosecutor's office.

20-year-old charged with beating older man

CLEARWATER -- A 20-year-old man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion he beat an elderly man because he made a smart-aleck remark, Clearwater police reported.

The 67-year-old victim, Morais Campbell, was talking Tuesday evening with Rasool Bashir Jr., 20, in the 1200 block of Greenwood Avenue, police said. Bashir said he asked Campbell for a lighter and then heard the older man make a smart-aleck remark, arrest reports state.

Bashir admitted to police that he hit the man. He was charged with aggravated battery on an elderly person. Campbell suffered face injuries, including a possible broken nose, that were not life-threatening, police said.

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