Clearwater Criminal Defense Law Blog

Pinellas Park Police say a woman they observed driving on a tire rim turned out to be a second-grade teacher who was in possession of cocaine.Officers say they spotted the vehicle at the intersection of Park Boulevard and 49th Street early last Sunday morning and initiated a welfare check due to the vehicle operating on only three tires. Upon approaching the vehicle they say they noticed the driver, whom they later identified as Lauren Laraine Garner, gave off an odor of alcoholic drink and had glassy, bloodshot eyes.Police continued by administering field-sobriety tests, which they say the...

A St. Petersburg man was arrested last week after authorities say he drove the wrong way while intoxicated on the Courtney Campbell Causeway and initiated a wreck that injured a handful of people.Police say that Collin John Cole piloted his Ford F-150 light truck the wrong direction in the eastbound lanes of State Road 60 over Old Tampa Bay around ten o'clock last Friday night. A couple in a Toyota Corolla allegedly spotted him first, veering off onto the shoulder and narrowly avoiding a collision. However, according to the report, Cole's vehicle struck the rear of a Hyundai Santa Fe behind...

A Brandon man is languishing in the Sarasota County Jail after authorities there accused him of murdering his girlfriend and attempting to burn her remains.Sarasota County deputies were dispatched to a vehicle fire on I-75 near Osprey in mid-October whereupon they discovered a Chrysler minivan aflame. Within the vehicle they subsequently discovered the charred body of Kristen Kelly, a 34-year-old mother of three.The county's investigation immediately focused upon Michael Connor Clark, Kelly's boyfriend and the father of her three children. The 34-year-old Brandon man allegedly told...

Hillsborough Sheriff's deputies say an argument ended in a fatal shooting last Thursday, and county authorities have charged the surviving party of murder as a result.According to deputies, 17-year-old Tamichael Broadnax and 20-year-old Reynaldo Charles Hernandez became engaged in a verbal altercation at around eleven o'clock that evening in the parking lot of a Town 'N Country apartment complex.Although authorities released few other details, they say that Hernandez eventually produced a firearm and shot Broadnax. Paramedics were dispatched and transported Broadnax to St. Joseph's Hospital,...

Brooksville police say a local property manager stole tens of thousands of dollars in rent and fees while working as a property manager earlier this year.According to Hernando county authorities, Maria Danielle Marriage absconded with around $45,000 in the months between May and September. Investigators say the fees she allegedly wrongfully pocketed included rent and security deposits, among others.Her former employer, an apartment complex in south Brooksville, says they conducted an internal audit and eventually involved law enforcement in a four-week investigation that ultimately led to...

A Tampa man is facing charges after police say he fled the scene of an accident that left a bicyclist dead.According to police, Aristeo Antonio Pascual was navigating his bicycle on the exit ramp from eastbound Interstate 4 to U.S. 301 in the pre-dawn hours of the day last Wednesday when a 2016 Mercedes 300C piloted by Christopher Jerimiah Cole allegedly struck Pascual.Highway patrol investigators say the collision threw the 44-year-old man from his bicycle. He was mortally injured in the collision, succumbing to his injuries at the site of the crash. Investigators say they found fragments...

Two brothers who Pinellas County authorities say shot and critically wounded their cousin turned themselves over to police early last week to face charges of second-degree murder.Christopher J. Henson, 30, and Divante Montreal Henderson, 25, are accused by county authorities of becoming embroiled in an argument with their cousin Taoufik Borji, 38, one evening in late September last year. According to deputies, Divante and Borji had a verbal altercation regarding the latter's relationship with the former's girlfriend earlier that morning at Borji's home in Badger Handcock Acres.Investigators...

A Spring Hill teen is accused by Hernando County authorities of shooting a woman in the face, critically injuring her.According to Hernando County sheriff's deputies, Christian Fitzgerald accosted Brianna Goble at an apartment complex clubhouse last Thursday evening around half past nine. There are no reports regarding what went on between the two, but authorities say Fitzgerald fired at Goble, striking her with at least one round in the skull.Goble was subsequently taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital where her condition was stabilized. According to Sheriff Al Nienhuis, doctors expect...

A man from St. Petersburg was sentenced to two decades in prison last week after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide.According to Pinellas County investigators, Taurus Randall Frederick became involved with an angry exchange with Jeron Anthony Davis last summer. The two allegedly became embroiled in an argument in a parking lot, but the dispute spilled over into the street, as the 30-year-old Davis ran across the street with the now-39-year-old Frederick in pursuit in his Chrysler 300.Per the arrest warrant, Davis stumbled on the curb after crossing the street and lost his footing....

Witnesses say a Tampa man beckoned a neighbor to his car, produced a firearm from within it, and fatally shot him.Authorities say Matthew and Susan Downey were standing outside of their home in Sun Bay South last weekend when Brian Joseph Baker signaled the couple to join him alongside his vehicle.Investigators did not say what, if any, was said among the trio, but they allege that Baker retrieved a .40-caliber handgun from his car, leveled it at Matthew, and fired several rounds at him. The investigative report continues by saying that Susan held the mortally-wounded Matthew as they awaited...