TAMPA -- A judge has agreed to allow the Hillsborough State Attorney's office to videotape Connie Freeman's testimony about what she witnessed the night she was attacked and her husband was killed. Freeman, 50, has late-stage cancer and may not be able to testify at a December trial

Investigators say that on May 15 Kathy Freeman, 42, shot to death her 54-year-old ex-husband, Grover Freeman, then tried to kill Connie Freeman in the couple's lakefront home in Carrollwood. Connie Freeman has told detectives that Kathy Freeman whipped her with a pistol that had jammed, then dragged her by the hair to the balcony of the two-story house. Connie Freeman told authorities that as Kathy Freeman tried to throw her off the balcony, she managed to break free. Kathy Freeman remains in Hillsborough County jail without bail.

Man gets 12 years in fatal shooting

Anthony Eldridge, 30, was convicted of manslaughter in September after prosecutors successfully argued that he acted recklessly in brandishing the gun on the ride home from Tampa. The gun went off and killed Eldridge's acquaintance Thomas Grover, 24, a Manatee County paramedic who was driving the truck. A third man, Chris Hilgeman, who was in the back seat, grabbed the steering wheel and guided the truck into a guardrail on Interstate 4 near the Mango Road exit.

The men had been drinking beforehand and Eldridge's blood alcohol level was 0.16, twice the level at which the state presumes impairment, investigators said at the trial.

Police investigate fatal overdose

ST. PETERSBURG -- Detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding a fatal overdose early Friday of a 42-year-old St. Petersburg man.

Steve L. Grimsley was taken by paramedics to Northside Hospital & Heart Institute, where he was pronounced dead after drinking with friends at 1625 46th Ave. N.

Police say he might have overdosed on Dilaudid, a synthetic heroin used as a painkiller.

"We're attempting to determine the cause of his death, and if there's any culpability on anybody else's part," said St. Petersburg homicide Sgt. Mike Puetz.

Grimsley's death is the second loss for his parents, James and Dorothy "Leedy" Ferguson Miller of St. Petersburg. They lost son Johnny "Snook" Bishop to suicide last year. He also was 42.

Tampa man killed in wreck with semitrailer truck

TAMPA -- A 29-year-old Tampa man was killed Friday when his pickup truck collided with a semitrailer truck, Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies said.

Alex Alvarado, of 4525 Hampshire Road, was driving his 1987 Chevrolet pickup westbound at approximately 50 mph on Waters Avenue shortly after midnight. Investigators say he did not see a 1995 Mack truck pulling a large trailer in front. The semitrailer truck had just entered the intersection from Manhattan Avenue as the light turned green.

Alvarado's truck struck the rear of the semitrailer. Alvarado was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators said they suspect alcohol was involved in the crash.

The semitrailer driver was not injured, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Deputies arrest three in prostitution case

TAMPA -- Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies raided a Dover home Thursday and arrested three people for participating in a prostitution ring.

Elizabeth Castanon, 23, and Denise Rodriguez, 23, were charged with offering to commit prostitution. Obdulio Montero, 35, was charged with deriving support from prostitution. All live at the cement-block home at 3005 Dixon Road in Dover. They were taken to Hillsborough County Jail and were being held on $1,000 bond.

Three alleged customers were at the home at the time of the arrests. Deputies said they were questioned and released without being charged.

Firefighter gets 12 years in fatal shooting of friend

TAMPA -- The Manatee County firefighter convicted of mistakenly shooting a friend in the head after a night of drinking last year in Ybor City was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 18 years probation on Thursday. Anthony Eldridge, 30, was convicted of manslaughter in September after prosecutors successfully argued that he acted recklessly in brandishing the gun on the ride home from Tampa. The gun went off and killed Eldridge's acquaintance Thomas Grover, 24, a Manatee County paramedic who was driving the truck. A third man, Chris Hilgeman, who was in the backseat, grabbed the steering wheel and guided the truck into a guardrail on Interstate 4 near the Mango Road exit.

Tussle ends in boy's slashing

NEW PORT RICHEY -- A fight between two seventh-graders during art class at Gulf Middle School on Friday morning started with some name-calling.

It quickly escalated when one of the boys, Tony Basile, kicked the other's lunch box. That boy had a knife for art projects in his hand, and tried to push Tony. Instead, the boy slashed Tony in the thumb and chest, sending him to All Children's Hospital.

"It was a children's pick-on-each-other day and it turned into something more," said New Port Richey police Detective Jackie Pehote. "A crime occurred, but there was no intent to stab him."

The 12-year-old -- whose name is not being released because he is a juvenile -- is being charged with culpable negligence, which is a misdemeanor. He was booked at the county's juvenile detention center.

High school student says motorist grabbed her

CLEARWATER -- Authorities are searching for a man who grabbed a 16-year-old girl as she walked to her bus stop Friday.

The Pinellas Park High School student told sheriff's investigators she was walking near Westminster and Colfax avenues about 6:15 a.m. when a man drove by and pulled her to the car, said sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha.

She escaped and telephoned her mother. He is described as a 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10 Hispanic man weighing 130 to 140 pounds with dark hair, dark eyes, and clean-shaven with bushy eyebrows. He was driving a silver four-door, American car with a temporary tag.

Clearwater man accused of drugging two girls

CLEARWATER -- A 30-year-old Clearwater man was charged with two counts of child abuse Friday after authorities say he gave two girls a "date rape" drug, GHB.

The incident began Thursday about 10:30 p.m. when police responded to a call about an unresponsive 12-year-old girl at the Sea Air Motel on Clearwater Beach, said Clearwater Police spokesman Wayne Shelor. Police then found Joseph W. Robertson, also unresponsive, in a nearby room along with a substance they think is GHB, Shelor said.

Police say Robertson, 30, of 41 Devon Drive Apt. 21 gave two girls a drug they think was GHB, or gamma-hydroxybutyrate. Lab tests are being conducted, Shelor said. Robertson was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on Friday in lieu of $20,000 bail.

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