THE PAIN OF PURSUIT: While on patrol in Robles Park, a Tampa police officer observed a man driving a 1995 Cadillac with a busted tag light. The officer threw on his lights and siren, but the man in the Caddy refused to stop. A "high-speed check" of the tag to see if the car was stolen turned up nothing, so the cop turned off his emergency equipment but continued to observe the suspect's car. Per the report: "As the vehicle traveled on Avon St. [the officer] watched as the driver exited from the driver's window, allowing the vehicle to continue forward." The officer approached in time to witness the defendant scurry into a nearby house while his wheels crashed into a chain-link fence. The officer found the man on the floor of the house "with an open fracture to his lower left leg." A witness reported that the suspect's leg had been run over in the swan dive from the car window. The owner of the house reported that she did not know the suspect and a quick peek under the sofa turned up a freshly hidden .22-caliber handgun. Once released from Tampa General, the suspect will face a litany of charges.
SCUMBAG OF THE WEEK: From the "total asshole" files comes this report of an attempted mugging of a woman walking south on N. Marion Street toward a HARTline bus station. As the victim traveled under the I-275 underpass she noticed a man walking toward her in the opposite direction. When the two passed, the man grabbed the woman's shoulder bag and tried to run off with it. The woman managed to hold onto the bag, both preventing the thief from taking it and pissing him off further. Per the report: "The suspect then punched the victim on the right eye and fled north without the victim's property." The woman, who was seven months' pregnant, had some swelling and redness to the eye but refused medical attention. The total asshole remains on the loose.
FUN WITH A GUN: A Tampa man found a .38-caliber handgun abandoned in the parking lot of the Park Avenue Apartments on Whiteway Drive. He put the gun in his pocket and returned to his home, where he "went upstairs to call police." While in his bedroom the handgun accidentally discharged in his pocket, striking the man in the right thigh. The man was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital where he was listed in stable condition. No foul play is suspected. The handgun has been safely secured in the "cursed weapons" section of the evidence locker.
From the files of the T.P.D.
This article appears in Jul 19-25, 2006.