Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 2-7-17

Local
Student Black History Artwork Draws The Attention of Tampa’s African American Leaders
Cause Of Death Released On Naked Man Who Ran Into Busy Street
LES MILLER, JR. Hillsborough County Commissioner
Recently, 5th grade stu- dents at the Village of Excel- lence Charter School (VOE) honored the the achieve- ments of local African Amer- ican leaders by creating “Local Heroes” artwork.
The artwork featured Hillsborough County Com- missioner Les Miller, Jr., Chloe Coney, District Di- rector for U. S. Represen- tative Kathy Castor, former State Senator Arthenia Joyner, and for- mer Hillsborough County Commissioner Rev. Dr. Thomas Scott, pastor of 34th Street Church Of God.
Mrs. Coney and Com- missioner Miller were in attendance at the event.
Dr. Cametra Ed- wards, Principal of The Vil- lage of Excellence Charter School said the students were thrilled when two of the legislators thanked them in person last week. The Village of Excellence Executive Di- rector Dr. Cametra Ed- wards, believes their visit was an inspiration to her stu- dents.
“We are so excited and humbled that our students met two of our local heroes! Their success is such a great example to our students. It shows our children that they can overcome challenges and achieve anything that they set their minds to in life,” Dr. Edwards said.
CHLOE CONEY District Director for U. S. Representative Kathy Castor
The students’ art display was part of Hillsborough County Public School’s Black History Month LEAD Con- test. LEAD represents what the students can learn from the local heroes; Learn, Em- power, Advocate and Dream. The Village of Excellence students competed in the vi- sual arts category featuring the Basquiat style.
The School District se- lected two of VOE’s young artists as semi-finalists. They are Montrail Holmes and Jaylyan Wright. Their art- work will represent the dis- trict at the Florida State Fair! An honor Chloe Coney be- lieves these young students certainly deserve.
Mrs. Coney said, “I told them I was about to cry. It’s just overwhelming and all I can say to them is dream big and do good and we are going to see great things from them!”
She is retiring at the end of the month. She felt the student’s artwork was won- derful tribute to her 40 years of service to the community.
The school operates on the concept of, “It takes a vil- lage to raise a child.”
The Village of Excellence is the only charter school in Hillsborough County that teaches Mandarin Chinese through a partnership with the University of South Florida’s Confucius Institute.
The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office has released the cause of death of the naked man who ran into Dale Mabry High- way in December.
The Medical Examiner has ruled that Nathan Howard Hamilton, 39, died as the result of “intoxi- cation by cocaine.”
According to the Tampa Police Department, around 5:36 a.m., on December 28th, the Tampa Police Depart- ment received a 9-1-1 call about a man demonstrating bizarre behavior. In the next call police received, it was about a naked man on Dale Mabry Highway running across the street.
When officers responded to Dale Mabry Highway near Spruce Street, they learned that the man had nearly beenhitbyacarasheran across the highway. After the
NATHAN HAMILTON
car stopped, the man, later identified as Hamilton, of Tampa, reportedly jumped on the car and began kicking the car and hitting his head on the windshield. He re- mained on the car even after it began to move forward, police said.
An officer arrived at the scene, but was unable to re- strain Hamilton. An at- tempt to use the taser was
unsuccessful as well. After a struggle with several offi- cers, Hamilton was hand- cuffed.
He also had injuries to his head, face, and legs from hitting the car, police said.
A spokesman for the Tampa Police Department said Hamilton appeared to lose consciousness and then continued to act aggres- sively. He was transported by ambulance to a local hos- pital, where he was pro- nounced dead.
During the investigation, police learned that Hamil- ton had a room at the Howard Johnson. Witnesses said they heard screaming and yelling coming from the ro0m before Hamilton ap- peared in front of the motel naked. Police said there is no evidence to support anyone else being in the room with him.
$1.2 Million In Tax Fraud Scam Gets Man 6 Years
Last Thursday, a federal judge sentenced a Tampa man to serve time in federal prison for theft of govern- ment funds and aggravated identity theft. He pleaded guilty on September 28, 2016.
U. S. District Judge Mary Scriven sentenced 37-year-old Adrian Lark to 6 years in federal prison.
According to court docu- ments, on May 21, 2013, Tampa Police responded to the La Quinta Inn on E. Fowler Avenue after the Gen- eral Manager of the motel re- ported a disturbance in a room. When police arrived, they were asked to remove the individuals from the room. When the officers ar- rived at the door, they were met by Lark. Lark had been renting the room since May 2, 2013.
He allowed the officers to enter the room. Upon enter- ing the room, the officers de- tected the odor of marijuana
ADRIAN LARK ...6 year sentence
and Lark gave them consent to search the room.
Officials said during the search, the officers discov- ered a shoebox with note- books inside. The notebooks contained the personal iden- tifying information with the names and social security numbers of other individu- als. They also discovered debit cards with the names of others, along with mailing material associated with the debit cards.
Lark also allowed police
to search his smartphone and tablet. A search of these items revealed that Lark used the devices because they showed his name and email address. The tablet also showed that it has used the internet while at the motel.
The investigating officers contacted the IRS and Lark was interviewed by an agent. Lark told the agent that he had used the tablet to file federal income tax returns, officials said.
An analysis of the mate- rial found in the room was determined to be evidence of tax fraud. The analysis also revealed that Lark was re- sponsible for filing more than 200 fraudulent federal income tax returns.
The IRS estimated that the federal government suf- fered a loss of $470,843. Lark had attempted to get $1.2 million filing the taxes, but some of the returns were rejected.
PAGE 10 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017