MORE THAN SHE COULD CHEW: Officers arrived at a private home in Tampa in response to a report of a domestic disturbance. Once on scene, the officers were advised by family members that the suspect had become "mentally unstable and had left the residence." One of the cops quickly located the suspect walking at Yukon and Greenwood and called out to her. The woman turned and attacked the officer's car, "trying to rip the spotlight off." The officer got out of his cruiser and attempted to take control of the woman, "at which time she began to bite [the officer] on the right forearm." A second officer quickly arrived, and working as a team the officers were able to take the woman into custody. Both cops were scratched and spat upon in the process. Per the report: "The Def[endant] was placed in the rear of marked unit 548 where the Def[endant] proceeded to chew on the door panel causing the vinyl panel to rip." After a trip to Tampa General, where the woman and the cops were all treated for injuries received in the scuffle, the defendant was taken to central booking and charged with two counts of battery and one count of criminal mischief.
DON'T TOUCH THE PURSE: A woman in her mid-40s was walking near Eighth Avenue and 19th Street in Tampa when a man approached her, grabbed her purse and fled on foot. The victim wasn't willing to part with the bag and ran after the thief. After a short chase, the suspect dove into a yellow 1983 Ford Mustang and shouted "Drive!" to his accomplice behind the wheel. Per the report: "The victim attempted to grab [the] purse by reaching into [the] car, at which time the defendant kicked her in the face." Undeterred, the victim "then jumped onto the vehicle continuing to yell at the defendant." By now, the thief had had enough and "threw the purse out at the victim." The two men escaped the scene but were quickly picked up a few blocks away. The woman did not require medical attention.
GASSING UP: During the overnight hours of Aug. 1, an unknown number of suspects entered the K-Bar Ranch housing development on Pictorial Park Drive and Morris Bridge Road in Tampa and stole the diesel fuel from 14 pieces of heavy equipment. The total amount of fuel taken was "approx. 2700 gallons with a value of close to $7,000." Shockingly, there are "no suspects," "no prints" and "no evidence," despite the fact that whoever did this "would have to be persons familiar with heavy equipment and have access to a tanker truck."
From the files of the T.P.D.
This article appears in Aug 16-22, 2006.