Clearwater Criminal Defense Law Blog

A Tampa man was arrested in Orlando last week on suspicion of committing a double murder at a Clair-Mel filling station earlier in the week.Hillsborough County deputies say Raynald Joseph Lamothe is responsible for the killing on Tuesday of Dremaine Vashaun Johnson and James J. Nicholas at a Palm River gas station. Police were summoned to the gas station early that morning to investigate a report of a shooting in the area. Upon their arrival they say they discovered the bodies of the 24-year-old Johnson and the 23-year-old Nicholas near a gas pump.According to a store employee Johnson and...

Pinellas County deputies say a St. Petersburg man and woman murdered the man for whom they both worked, then attempted to evade justice in South Florida.According to investigators, Jaritza Maribel Diaz and Christopher Lee Robertson II were hiding in a Homestead hotel when law enforcement caught up with them last week. The duo are suspected of killing their boss and owner of a local machine shop Christopher Dykes.Police say they were called to the machine shop in late August when an employee could not gain access to the building and was unable to find the 54-year-old Dykes. Upon forcing open...

St. Petersburg police say a domestic dispute turned deadly last Thursday when a woman allegedly gunned down her boyfriend at their shared residence.According to authorities, Megan Lewis and her live-in boyfriend Craig Cutson became embroiled in an argument on Thursday around 9 P.M. The nature of the argument was not made clear by the police, but the result was astoundingly clear - Cutson sustained a wound from an unknown caliber of firearm.First responders arrived at the residence shortly after the alleged shooting, and paramedics transported the 52-year-old Cutson to Bayfront Health St....

A Tampa resident has been picked up by authorities for the fourth time in under a year on suspicion of drunken driving.Hillsborough County deputies say Juan Gabriel Velasco-Arcos was witnessed by other drivers piloting his 2005 Chevrolet pick-up truck the wrong way along Fletcher Avenue at Nebraska Avenue in the pre-dawn hours of September 3. According to deputies, Velasco-Arcos drove about a mile in the wrong direction before crossing the median and continuing in the proper direction on the opposite lanes. Velasco-Arcos caught the notice of a passing deputy who subsequently stopped him and...

A Davenport man already on the run from the law was arrested last week after police say he killed one family member and severely injured another.According to authorities, Pedro Vega Jr. was hiding out at his aunt's house to avoid capture for aggravated battery of his estranged wife. Polk County deputies indicate that they were called to the residence shortly after midnight on Wednesday to respond to an armed break in at the home of Amanda Stokes, Vega's estranged wife and the alleged victim of his aggravated assault. The deputies' report indicates that Vega entered the home carrying a rifle,...

A local coin dealer is being charged with a raft of grand theft counts as police say he defrauded over two dozen customers out of a combined total of almost a quarter million dollars.Pinellas County investigators allege the 55-year-old Seth Felipe Lutz stole from at least 31 customers since 2015 at his storefront in Seminole. The investigation was launched after the Pinellas County Consumer Protection and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office began to receive complaints that Lutz was shipping partial orders on pre-paid gold and silver bullion coin orders. They say others complained that they...

Pasco County deputies say a love triangle turned deadly last week after a Port Richey man allegedly battered his girlfriend and stabbed to death another man with whom she had been having a sexual relationship.According to authorities, Brendan Michael Sigismondi and an unnamed female were in a relationship and had been cohabiting for about two months when Sigismondi discovered that she was in a sexual relationship with Thomas Christopher Blow.Police say the 32-year-old Sigismondi told his girlfriend that he expressed to her that he would kill the 36-year-old Blow before he grasped her hair...

Authorities in Polk county say they have apprehended the man who killed a Tampa man last month after an argument.According to Tampa police, Julius R. Carter and Dejonta Felder were arguing in the street in the Florence Villa neighborhood on July 3 when Felder produced a firearm and shot Carter several times. Carter sustained several gunshot wounds to the upper body and managed to stumble into a nearby yard before expiring.At the time of the shooting authorities indicated that they had a suspect in mind. However, they declined to name the suspect publicly. An arrest warrant was ultimately...

Clearwater police accuse a 26-year-old woman of critically injuring another driver while allegedly piloting her own vehicle while intoxicated.Lina Marie Paige-Pettress was arrested early last Thursday after authorities say she caused an injury accident on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. It is unclear when the accident occurred, but traffic across the bridge was diverted for several hours to a boat ramp on the Hillsborough portion of the causeway until mid-morning.Responding officers say that one of the vehicles involved in the early-morning crash was overturned, sending at least one occupant...

Police say an argument between a man and his girlfriend led to murder and a standoff with police last week at a home they shared in Pinellas Park.According to authorities, Thomas Lee Owens II and Nellie Collins began arguing last Tuesday evening after Owens retrieved a handgun he owned. They say his sister Tracy Starks attempted to calm the 52-year-old in the living room of their home, but her efforts were in vain. Owens allegedly shot and mortally wounded the 59-year-old Collins, then leveled the pistol at his 49-year-old sister and threatened to do the same to her.Starks told police that...