Page 32 - Florida Sentinel 12-27-19

Crime
Porch Pirate
Four Children Found In House Of Murder-Suicide
Arrested On
The Lakeland Police Depart- ment is currently investigating a shooting that claimed the lives of three adults. When officers arrived at the scene, they dis- covered the bodies of three adults.
They also discovered four children under the age of 10 in the home. The children were not injured.
According to police, the shooting took place around 5:30 p.m., on Tuesday, December 24th. Officers responded to a residence on Atlanta Avenue in reference to shots being fired.
Once the officers entered the home, they also found four children. The children were safely removed from the home.
Police said Leighton Josephs, 30, was armed with a
Christmas Eve
SCENE OF MURDER-SUICIDE
Tampa Police arrested a 54- year-old man on Christmas Eve. He is facing felony theft charges in connection with stealing pack- ages from homes.
According to police, after re- ceiving reports of several thefts, in the 3800 block of Barcelona Street, officers began looking for a silver Nissan sedan. Tampa Po- lice Air Service spotted the vehi- cle and relayed the information to officers on the street, who were able to conduct a traffic stop.
Richard James Gohn was found to have multiple stolen packages in his car at the time of the traffic stop. He was arrested and transported to booking on felony theft charges and felony
handgun when he entered the home. It is believed that Josephs shot a 27-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman inside the home. He then shot himself. Detectives believe that
all three people knew each other.
Police are not identifying the names of the victims or those of the children. The inves- tigation is continuing.
RICHARD JAMES GOHN
DWLS. Post-Miranda he admit- ted to committing similar thefts Tuesday and last week as well. Detectives are attempting to lo- cate all of the victims and return their packages.
Police Investigate Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting
Amazon Driver Charged With Theft
The Plant City Police De- partment is investigating an of- ficer-involved fatal shooting. The Plant City Police Depart- ment responded to the Cynthia Gardens Apartments in refer- ence to 9-1-1 call, where the caller requested an ambulance response for a person they be- lieved to have shot himself.
Upon arrival to the scene, an officer observed a white male subject walking away from a ve- hicle with the door ajar and asked the male to stop and iden- tify himself. In doing so, it was immediately observed by the of- ficer that the subject was hold- ing an unknown object in his hand. The officer asked the sub- ject to identify what he was holding. The subject began to back away from the officer, still continuing to ignore the offi- cer’s commands to identify what he was holding.
After several moments, the
subject eventually responded that he was holding a gun. At this point, the officer fearing for his personal safety due to the subject’s statement, drew his service weapon on the subject.
The officer ordered the sub- ject to drop the gun and the subject refused to follow the order. The subject put the gun to his chest and fired a single round. While placing the gun to his chest, the subject was in very close proximity to another officer also on scene as backup. Fearing for the personal safety of the backup officer, the pri- mary officer fired two rounds from his service weapon at the subject. At this time, it is un- known if any rounds fired by the officer struck the subject.
After the scene was secured, Plant City Fire Rescue was dis- patched to the scene. On scene, officers administered first aid to the subject, to include the use of
an AED, however the attempts were unsuccessful and the sub- ject succumbed to his self- in- flicted wound at the scene.
No officers were injured during this incident and one of- ficer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investiga- tion.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Office of the State Attorney, 13th Judicial Circuit responded to the incident scene to conduct independent investigations. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit, re- sponded to collect forensic evi- dence.
The subject’s name will not be released at this time, pend- ing notification of next of kin.
This investigation is ongo- ing and anyone with informa- tion is asked to contact the Plant City Police Department.
Detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested an Amazon driver and charged him with theft. The arrest took place on December 19th.
According to police a home- owner in a subdivision near Dav- enport reported that a package had been delivered to his home. But the driver who delivered it, took it with him.
The homeowner showed po- lice a video where the driver de- livered the package, took a delivery confirmation photo, and then took the package with him.
Detectives went to the Ama- zon Logistics Center to obtain the name and personal information of the driver. However, none of the employees would cooperate unless the detectives served a subpoena at their main office in Delaware.
The detectives used the video to obtain the license plate num-
JOSE CAMPOS
ber on the vehicle. They traced it back to a woman in Kissimmee who told them her boyfriend, 27- year-old Jose Campos, used her vehicle to deliver for Ama- zon.
Police located Campos, who admitted to taking the package. He was charged with burglary and theft.
PAGE 22-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2019