Times staff
Sunday, September 12, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG
No injuries in crash of small airplane
A small plane crashed as it was taking off around 3:30 p.m. Sunday from the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. Neither of the private aircraft's occupants was injured. Deputy airport director Thomas Jewsbury said the pilot and co-pilot, identified as Jeffrey Bailey, 44, and John Tucker, 28, walked away unharmed. Pinellas sheriff's deputies said the Piaggio plane sustained "very minor damage."
St. Petersburg
Police officer kills two dogs
Police launched an internal investigation after an officer looking into a call about a suspicious person shot and killed two dogs Sunday night. Officer Slobodan Juric was sent to the 4600 block of Sixth Avenue N after 8 p.m., a police statement said. There, he saw a group of neighbors and asked if they had encountered anyone suspicious. During the conversation, police said, two dogs on leashes began to attack another dog that was not on a leash. After the dog owners tried unsuccessfully to separate the dogs, Juric shot two dogs, a Rottweiler and a Chesapeake Bay retriever, and killed them. He fired his service pistol four times, police said.
CLEARWATER
More than 15 felons rounded up
A roundup of wanted felons has resulted in more than a dozen arrests, Clearwater police spokeswoman Elizabeth Watts said. Operation Fall Sweep, which began at 1 p.m. Friday, was a joint effort between the Clearwater Police Department's community liaison officers, its new anticrime units and probation officers from the state Department of Corrections. Together, they targeted known drug offenders and checked up on parolees and probationers. After nearly eight hours, they arrested more than 15 people, Watts said.
DUNEDIN
Swimmer hurt in watercraft incident
A swimming teenager was injured by a Jet Ski when a friend lost control of the personal watercraft Sunday afternoon off Caladesi Island. James C. Alexander, 17, of Palm Harbor was operating a 1995 Kawasaki Jet Ski when he ran into a friend swimming a short distance away, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. "He told deputies that he gave the watercraft some gas, tried to steer, misjudged his angle and lost control, striking his friend," according to a Sheriff's Office statement. The friend, Joshua M. Gamble, 17, of Palm Harbor suffered arm and head injuries and was knocked unconscious. Alexander and another friend brought Gamble to shore and called 911. Deputies described Gamble's injuries as non-life-threatening, but he was still airlifted to Bayfront Medical Center.
NEW PORT RICHEY
Clues sought in woman's stabbing
Pasco County detectives are looking for clues in the stabbing of an Odessa woman Saturday night. A Community Hospital nurse said the woman had been brought into the New Port Richey emergency room by an acquaintance, Sheriff's Office spokesman Doug Tobin said. Katy Ann Mariner, 23, was stabbed at the acquaintance's house by an unknown assailant. The acquaintance took Mariner to the hospital. She had one stab wound to her back that punctured her left lung.