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By ERIC STIRGUS
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 1, 2000
CLEARWATER -- Police are investigating whether three Largo residents arrested earlier this week are linked to a string of random shootings with BB guns in Clearwater and Largo, said Clearwater police.
No one was seriously injured in any of the shootings, police said.
Two of the three have been charged with aggravated battery in connection with one shooting.
Police also have charged the two with auto burglary and say investigators are trying to determine whether the two men are responsible for dozens of other vehicle break-ins during the past two months in Clearwater and Largo.
Private security cameras at a school in Largo, a supermarket in Clearwater and at Church of Scientology properties downtown helped investigators catch them, police reported.
Investigators say a surveillance video outside a Scientology property in downtown Clearwater showed someone shooting from a green Saturn on Thanksgiving Day, officials said.
Two people were shot with BBs in that incident, said police spokesman Wayne Shelor. Thevictims apparently were picked at random and did not require hospitalization, he said.
From that videotape, police were able to identify the license plate of the Saturn and tracked down the owner, Shelor said. The owner's son, Joseph Barnes, 20, 12332 93rd St. N., was driving the car at the time of the shooting, police said.
"He admitted to quite a few things," Shelor said.
Shelor said Barnes led police to Jose Muzaurieta, 22, of 1159 Clearwater-Largo Road, who police say fired the BB gun.
Also arrested was a woman, Brandy Morrison, 21, also of 1159 Clearwater-Largo Road. She is accused of using a stolen check to buy cigarettes.
All three were arrested Monday and taken to the Pinellas County Jail.
Barnes was charged with aggravated battery and auto burglary. Muzaurieta was charged with two counts of aggravated battery and a count of auto burglary. Morrison was charged with uttering a forged instrument.
Police now are investigating whether the three have any connection to a string of 80-200 auto burglaries reported during the past two months in Largo and Clearwater. Also, both cities have recorded incidents of random shootings with BB guns during the same period.
Police suspect a group of people has been breaking into cars and stealing items later sold to area pawn shops, said Shelor.
A surveillance camera at Largo Middle School caught two men smashing the window of a car and taking items inside, said Largo police investigator William Magnuson. The men were driving the Saturn videotaped on Thanksgiving, police said.
In a third incident, a surveillance camera at an Albertson's supermarket in Clearwater caught one of the suspects using a check stolen from a car to pay for a pack of cigarettes, police said.
Authorities said the rash of auto burglaries has occurred at various places in Clearwater, Largo and nearby unincorporated areas.
The BB gun shootings have been reported along N Fort Harrison Avenue in Clearwater and Missouri Avenue in Largo, police said.