The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is warning the consumer of fraud occurring with store gifts cards in the Tampa Bay area. A technique currently being used at multiple retailers involves tampering with gift cards by covering the original bar code with a new bar code. Scammers are taking gift cardsContinue Reading
Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Vice Unit conducted a special investigation known as “Operation Santa’s Naughty List” over six days where undercover detectives identified and helped victims of human trafficking who might be forced into prostitution. Assisting PCSO in the operation which began on Tuesday, December 3, 2019, were officers fromContinue Reading
On Monday, Tampa police arrived on scene of an intrusion alarm at Advance Auto Parts at 1717 N. 50th St. Upon arrival, the officer spotted the suspect, 37-year-old Leonard Henry inside the store. Henry saw the officer and threw a large pair of channel lock pliers through the front doorContinue Reading
On Friday, November 29, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a body found on the 10000 block of East Bay Road in Gibsonton. This week, sheriffs deputies arrested Edgar Martinez, 32, and charged him with First Degree Murder. On December 06, 2019, Martinez was charged with Tampering with EvidenceContinue Reading
An investigation is being conducted over the death of Marcus Antonio Young, 33, an inmate at the Falkenburg Road Jail. On December 1, 2019, Young was involved in a medical incident when he collapsed while walking through the visitation area to visit a relative. Young fell forward and struck hisContinue Reading
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office reported that a school security officer, Leroy King, 36, employed by Hillsborough County Schools was arrested on Friday, December 6, for pawning his agency-issued gun and equipment multiple times between June to December of 2019. At the time of the incidents, King was employed as aContinue Reading
Early this week, unknown suspects forced entry through the locked gate to the victim’s property and stole her horse. Deputies and the victim searched the surrounding area and later located the horse deceased in a nearby field. The horse had been slaughtered for the meat. On Thursday, Manatee County deputiesContinue Reading
On Thursday evening, Tampa Police Department received a 911 call from a male victim who told dispatch that the suspect, later identified as Robert Beausejour, was trying to kick in the door at 1606 E. North Bay St. Officers responded and observed Beausejour standing on the passenger side of aContinue Reading
Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 22-year-old Alberto Escartin Ramos of 2850 New Tampa Hwy #111, Lakeland for one count felony battery of a sports official after he punched the head little league umpire in the face. According to the affidavit, Ramos disagreed with a call an umpireContinue Reading
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) announced the arrest of 104 people during Operation Trade Secrets II, 76 of them were men purchasing sex and only 28 were women who engaged in the sex trade. The operation was focused on the “johns”, or buyers. Like any business, the human traffickingContinue Reading
On Friday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests of Wesley Gussman, 24 and Alicia Fisher, 26 for burglary and other charges. Officials between 9:00 p.m. November 13, 2019, and 5:30 a.m. November 14, 2019, at least three suspects broke into cars, taking credit cards and other personal itemsContinue Reading
Last month on October 22, 2019, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic call at the home of Sonny Gyger. Prior to arrival at Gyger’s home, deputies were made aware that child porn existed on his computer. Gyger had already left his residence by the time deputies arrived.Continue Reading
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputies report investigating an explosion at a bank ATM in Oldsmar. According to detectives, at about 3:27 a.m. on Monday, November 4, 2019, they responded to the BB&T bank, located at 3209 Tampa Road, in Oldsmar, for an alarm call. When deputies arrived, they discoveredContinue Reading
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office reported the arrest of 47-year-old Michael Augustin for Felony Littering. In early October, Augustin drove to a wooded area located near Foxworth Road and Camden Field Parkway in Riverview and illegally dumped approximately 300 cubic feet of debris. Among the debris were two boxes markedContinue Reading
Hillsborough County deputies arrested a Tampa man was arrested Saturday afternoon for a road rage incident that allegedly throwing nunchucks through a vehicle’s window. The incident occurred near the intersection of Linebaugh Ave. and Sheldon Rd. when 56-year-old Leonardo Fernandez cut off another driver. The victim of the attack reportedlyContinue Reading
Clearwater man, Gerard Graves, 27, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for unlawful possession of firearms in a school zone. According to court documents, on May 27, 2015, the Drug Enforcement Administration learned through a confidential informant (CI) that Graves, a convicted felon, was attempting to sell aContinue Reading
37-year-old William Hennessey of Spring Hill was sentenced to 51 months in prison Monday for distributing Schedule II controlled substances after burglarizing a pharmacy. In March this year, Hennessey broke into Suntrust Pharmacy in Port Richey and stole a large safe filled with thousands of highly-addictive Schedule II controlled substances,Continue Reading
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an apparent murder-suicide that occurred on Friday in Wimauma. Shortly after 7 p.m. on Oct. 25, deputies received a 911 call reporting a shooting at a mobile home on the 15000 block of Carlton Lake Road. Deputies arrived to find an adult maleContinue Reading
Polk County Sheriff’s are are looking for an attempted murdersuspect linked yo a shooting in the Dawn Heights Drive area in Lakeland. According to witnesses, 34-year-old Marlon Tyrone Burgess shot a 20-year-old man after they met at another location in Winter Haven and Burgess drove the two of them toContinue Reading
On Thursday night, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s arrested a man responsible for an armed robbery in Brandon. According to authorities, 25-year-old Wilberto Robledo Rios entered the WaWa gas station at 1710 W Brandon Boulevard in Brandon, where he pointed a firearm at employees and demanded cash. Rios obtained nearly $1,000 before fleeingContinue Reading
The international homicide rate has dropped 20 percent since 1990 and a new study concludes it’s likely not due to changes in domestic policies or current events. Researchers from the University of South Florida (USF) and other institutions studied data from 1990 to 2015 on 126 countries that made upContinue Reading
