Page 55 - Florida Sentinel 1-14-22

Crime
Guns Recovered, Four Arrested During Traffic Stop
Convicted Felon Who
Tampa Police have ar- rested two adults and two ju- veniles and charged all four with resisting arrest without violence. The arrests took place Tuesday morning.
According to police, dur- ing the early morning hours, Officers were proactively pa- trolling Robles Park when they observed a vehicle driv- ing in the neighborhood without a front driver’s side headlight. Officers attempted a traffic stop, but the driver of the vehicle immediately fled at a high rate of speed. Air Service was up and able to get a visual on the vehicle.
The driver drove to the 6000 block of Broadway Ave., going north and south on several of the side streets. The driver then drove through the intersection of E. 26th Avenue and N. 66th Street. At that time, it ap- peared several guns were tossed out of the vehicle.
Two of the guns were lo- cated and recovered. The driver then continued on to 3201 N. 49th Street, where the occupants exited the ve- hicle and ran into an apart-
Deaths Gets 15 Years
JAIDEN MITCHELL
ment.
The Officers surrounded
the apartment, along with K9, announcing themselves and ordered the suspects to exit. All four suspects exited the apartment and were taken into custody. Police found inside the vehicle an- other firearm, additional magazines and ammo.
Two juveniles were taken into custody. A 17-year-old was charged with resisting arrest without violence. The second juvenile, identified as Isaiah Howard, was charged with felony fleeing to elude, and resisting arrest without violence. Jaqavi- ous Wells, 18, was charged with resisting arrest without
JAQAVIOUS WELLS
violence, and 18-year-old Jaiden Mitchell was charged with resisting ar- rests. The investigation is continuing.
Truck Driver Fatally Wounds Robbery Suspect
Hillsborough County Sher- iff’s Office detectives are in- vestigating an incident that began as a robbery and ended with a shooting. The incident took place on January 4th, shortly after 11 p.m.
Police said the incident took place on U. S. 92 and County Road 579, in Seffner. Deputies were dispatched to the location in reference to a robbery and shooting that had taken place at the location. When deputies arrived, they met with a truck driver. The unidentified victim told deputies that he was attempt- ing to repair his broken down vehicle when he was ap- proached by a man. The de- manded various items of value. The victim answered his demands and the man walked away. A short time later, the suspect returned and de- manded the victim’s cell phone.
The victim told police that the suspect had what appeared to be a gun in his hand. At that point, the victim was in fear of his life. The victim then armed himself and fired a shot at the suspect. The suspect died at the scene.
Police said the shooting ap- pears to be a case of self-de- fense. Everyone involved in the incident is accounted for and the investigation is con- tinuing.
A 36-year-old Tampa man has been sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in fed- eral prison. Derrick Hutchins pleaded guilty to the distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
According to court docu- ments, on April 26, 2020, Hutchins distributed fen- tanyl to an individual, caus- ing a fatal overdose in the victim’s home.
On May 21, 2020, Hutchins again distributed fentanyl, this time to a law enforcement confidential source. Detectives with the Hillsborough County Sher- iff’s Office then arrested
DERRICK HUTCHINS
Hutchins on state traffick- ing charges.
Hutchins later bonded out of jail, and on July 1, 2020, again distributed fen- tanyl, causing another fatal overdose.
Trafficked Fentanyl Causing
Woman Pleads Guilty To Bank Fraud
A 52-year-old Temple Terrace woman has pleaded guilty to bank fraud. A sen- tencing date for Bridgitte Keim has not yet been scheduled.
According to the plea agreement, between April and May 2021, Keim exe- cuted a scheme to defraud a federally insured financial institution (“Bank 1”) and the U. S. Small Business Admin- istration (“SBA”) by submit- ting false and fraudulent loan applications and supporting documentation for federally guaranteed Payment Protec- tion Program (“PPP”) loans that were designed to assist businesses suffering adverse economic effects from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In furtherance of her bank fraud scheme, Keim recruited family members to provide their personal infor- mation in exchange for free “COVID money.” Keim pre- pared and submitted false and fraudulent PPP loan ap- plications to Bank 1 on behalf of her relatives in the names of fictitious businesses, knowing that her relatives did not have existing busi- nesses, did not have employ- ees, had no business income, and no payroll expenses as required by the SBA to qual- ify for PPP loans. To further deceive Bank 1, Keim cre-
ated email addresses in the names of her relatives and communicated with bank employees by impersonating her relatives to convince loan officers that they were com- municating with the actual prospective borrowers.
Additionally, Keim sent text messages, which con- tained the fictitious business names, false financial infor- mation, and the email ad- dresses she created, to her relatives so that her relatives could answer questions from loan officers about the loan applications.
Specifically, on March 21, 2021, Keim submitted to Bank 1 a PPP loan applica- tion in the name of a relative she had recruited. The appli- cation contained a fictitious business name, fictitious number of employees, falsi- fied business income, and fraudulently represented that the PPP loan funds would be used for payroll. Based on these false state- ments, Bank 1 approved and funded a $20,833 PPP loan in the name of Keim’s rela- tive. Keim subsequently di- verted $7,500 in loan proceeds to her personal bank account.
The intended losses asso- ciated with Keim’s bank fraud scheme are at least $588,693.14.
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