Clearwater Criminal Defense Law Blog

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...

HCSO deputies arrested a Valrico man last week on suspicion of initiating a fatal car accident while intoxicated last November.Andrew John Wallace Jr. was allegedly piloting his 2003 Nissan 350Z on Brandon Parkway just past midnight in late November when police say he lost control at a curve in the road at Pauls Drive. According to the police report generated at the time, Wallace's vehicle careened into a concrete median and subsequently struck a tree on the passenger's side.Riding with Wallace that night was Ivan Ordonez, who was seated in the passenger's seat. Police say Wallace likely did...

Pasco County deputies say a man who claims to have difficulty handling rejection reacted negatively to unrequited love last week, leading to the stabbing death of his roommate.Warren Joseph Birkbeck was arrested last Wednesday after authorities say he stabbed roommate Denise Cook several times early that morning. The pair were living as roommates with a third unrelated individual at the home in Holiday. The third roommate is not alleged to have been involved in the situation.Authorities say the trouble began around three o'clock in the morning when Birkbeck heard Cook speaking with a male...

Already serving a sentence for allegedly engaging in a similar scheme, a Tampa man received almost a decade more to serve in federal prison last week for a new conviction on charges of investment fraud.Anthony J. Klatch Jr. stood before U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore last Monday to apologize for orchestrating a scheme prosecutors say was intended to bilk unsuspecting investors. They say it was successful too, netting Klatch over half a million dollars before his arrest.According to federal prosecutors Klatch was on supervised release from a 2011 fraud conviction when he started a...

A Palm Harbor oncologist was sentenced to almost six years in federal prison after being convicted of fraudulent charges to Medicare for unapproved overseas cancer medications.Dr. Diana Anda Norbergs will remain free while her case is appealed. According to federal prosecutors, Norbergs ordered cancer drugs from the United Kingdom and Canada that were cheaper than the FDA-approved American brands, then charged Medicare for the amount she would have paid for those drugs had she purchased the approved American versions.Though the drugs she purchased did not bear the FDA stamp of approval,...