Page 41 - Florida Sentinel 6-11-21

Crime
Verbal Altercation Leads To Attempted Homicide Arrest
Motorcycle Driver
On June 6, 2021, at ap- proximately 2:50 a.m. officers responded to a 9-1-1, call for service at Banquet Masters, 13355 49th St. When officers arrived, they learned a vehicle had inten- tionally run over two victims after a verbal altercation.
Pinellas Park Police said the intentional act led to a large fight in the parking lot, with three victims being trans- ported to local hospitals.
Detectives learned an event was taking place at Banquet Masters with several guests. Uninvited individuals arrived and a verbal altercation took place between three subjects and other guests of the party.
The three individuals en- tered a vehicle, and 24-year- old Roberto Dothe is said to have indiscriminately drove into a crowd of atten- dees, striking two victims. After initially hitting the vic- tims, Dothe crashed his car into a parked truck in the parking lot.
Dothe then put the vehicle in reverse and struck the two victims a second time. A large
Shooting Gun
ROBERTO DOTHE
crowd surrounded the car and began to attack the three occu- pants. An attendee of the party, Roque Villalpando, is said to have engaged in a physical altercation with the front passenger, causing se- vere injury to the unidentified man.
The rear passenger in the vehicle, identified as An- thony Benitez, 18, struck Villalpando in the head with a bottle of alcohol, causing se- rious injury.
Anthony Benitez was taken into custody on scene and has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
ANTHONY BENITEZ
Roberto Dothe fled the scene on foot and was later taken into custody in the vicin- ity of the incident and charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
The two unidentified vic- tims struck by Roberto Dothe are a 10-year-old girl and a 37-year-old man.
Both sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries. This investigation is still active and additional charges are pending.
Gunshot Victim Found Dead In Bathroom
TYLER JAY POWERS
The St. Petersburg Police De- partment is currently investi- gating a fatal shooting. The investigation began after a man’s body was found in the bathroom of a convenience store.
According to police, officers were called to the 7/11 Store, 11500 block of 4th St., N.
The victim has been identi- fied as 25-year-old Tyler Jay Powers, of St. Petersburg.
Officers were called to the 7/11 convenience store at 2:31 Monday after police received reports of a possible shooting. When they arrived, they found Powers deceased in the rest- room.
The investigation is ongo- ing.
Police arrested a Pasco County man early Monday. He is accused of shooting at a moving motorcycle.
According to police, a wit- ness called police shortly be- fore 1 a.m. The witness told police that a motorcycle rider had fired a gun while travel- ing eastbound on Memorial Causeway, near Island Way.
Officers located the mo- torcycle and was able to con- duct a traffic stop on the motorcycle shortly thereafter on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard.
The driver was identified as 43-year-old Emanuel Cantero-Soto, of Holiday. He was arrested and charged with discharging a firearm from a vehicle and use of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on
EMANUEL CANTERO-SOTO
those charges. Cantero-Soto, who pos-
sesses a concealed weapons permit, said he had been upset with the vehicle in front of him when he fired the gun. He said he didn’t intend to hurt anyone. No in- juries were reported.
The weapon was a semi- automatic Taurus 9mm, po- lice said.
Charged With
Man Charged With Kidnapping,
Jury Convicts Man Of Trafficking Fentanyl
Aggravated Battery
Resulting In Death
A 45-year-old man was ar- rested Friday on felony charges. He had been arrested previously on charges that in- cluded aggravated assault and grand theft.
According to the Hillsbor- ough County Sheriff’s Office, on June 1, 2021, the victim was visiting the home of Robert Kriska in the 9000 block of Ohio Avenue, in Thonotosassa. At some point, Kriska allegedly accused the victim of stealing property from him. He later contacted friends of the victim and de- manded payment for the vic- tim’s release.
Kriska is said to have struck the victim multiple times using his bare hands and a piece of wood. He also made threatening remarks and pointed his firearm at the vic- tim.
Once Kriska fell asleep for the night, the victim was able to escape during the early morning hours of June on June 2, and called police.
Deputies obtained an arrest war- rant for Kriska for the kidnap- ping and ag- gravated battery
charges.
On June
and, April 18, 2020, ob- served him dis- tributing narcotics through- out Hills-
ROBERT KRISKA
CHRISTOPHER borough DEFILIPPIS County.
3, they also obtained a search warrant for Kriska’s home. Because of Kriska’s extensive violent history, which includes multi- ple SWAT and Crisis Negotia- tion Team callouts, and his past threats to law enforce- ment, HCSO activated multi- ple units to take him into custody, which included SWAT, the Crisis Negotiation Team, Bomb Team, K9, and
undercover units.
Kriska was taken into
custody by the SWAT Team without incident. The Plant City Police Department also assisted with the execution of the search warrant.
Law enforce- ment officers arrested Defil- ippis and found him to be in possession of fentanyl, co- caine, and packaging consis-
A federal jury has found a 43-year-old Brandon man guilty of distributing a drug that resulted in a death and possession with intent to dis- tribute fentanyl.
As a result of the convic- tion and the previous convic- tion, Christopher A. Defilippis is facing a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison. His sentenc- ing hearing is scheduled for September 8, 2021.
Defilippis had been in- dicted on November 17, 2020.
According to evidence presented at trial, between March and April 2020, De- filippis distributed heroin in Hillsborough County. On April 17, 2020, Defilippis distributed fentanyl, which caused a fatal overdose.
Deputies with the Hills- borough County Sheriff’s Of- fice immediately began surveillance on Defilippis
on
tent with distribution.
The Hillsborough County
Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy and determined that the use of the fentanyl had caused the victim’s death. Lab analysis also determined that the fen- tanyl mixtures found near the victim were all very similar to the narcotics seized from De- filippis.
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