THE GOOD GUYS: Here's a story of true heroism. Tampa police officers S. Mazza and T. Pasley were driving west on Seventh Avenue at 40th Street in Tampa when they observed smoke coming from a building on the west side of the intersection. The officers pulled around back, where onlookers reported that someone was still inside the building. Officer Mazza climbed an external staircase and kicked open a locked door, finding a man inside. Per the report: "He went inside and tried to pull the male out and the smoke overtook him." Officer Pasley then went into the building, managing to pull both Officer Mazza and the victim out of the building. All three were transported to Tampa General, where the man was listed in serious condition and the officers were quickly released.

OUR FATHER: On Sept. 1, a man entered Sacred Heart church on N. Florida Avenue in Tampa and began threatening the employees. Per the report, the man was "displaying strange behavior by yelling he was the pope and using profanity." In addition to his impious behavior and language, the man told the employees that the church "was his house." When police arrived, the self-appointed pope "refused to leave the church and challenged the officers to a fight." The officers deployed the Taser, juicing the pope three times before getting his cooperation. No other force was used, and the man was transported to Tampa General Hospital as a precaution (he suffered no injuries) where he was Baker Acted.

PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE: A private security firm received a report of an intrusion alarm at CTS Sales, a Nextel cell phone provider located on W. Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa. The firm notified police, who responded to the scene and discovered "the front door pried open with a crowbar" and evidence that "the suspect(s) had entered and rummaged through some cabinets and shelves." Unfortunately, it could not be immediately determined what, if anything, had been taken, since "the alarm company could not get a hold of anyone… ."

HOOKED: Tampa police nabbed a none-too-clever crook after he used a hammer and a screwdriver to break into the West Coast Pharmacy on N. Florida Avenue. The man admitted to the officers that once inside, he had used a "fishing gaffe" to reach behind the pharmacy's counter in an attempt to steal narcotics. The thief wasn't much of an angler, as his cast only managed to "pull out a bag of pill bottle caps worth less than $100."

From the files of the T.P.D.

This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 4, 2006.