Page 19 - Florida Sentinel 8-22-17

Crime
Man Charged In
Three Former Juvenile Justice Employees Arrested
Attempted Kidnapping
The Hillsborough County
Sheriff’s Office has arrested a
52-year-old man in connec-
tion with an attempted kid-
napping of a teenager. The
incident took place on August 10th.
Juan Pablo Bonilla
was arrested at his residence on August 18th and trans- ported to the Hillsborough County Jail.
According to police, a 16- year-old girl was walking southbound on Himes around 4 p.m. when she no- ticed an older model faded red SUV following her. The vehicle had all four windows rolled down and a Hispanic male was driving. The man asked her in broken English if she wanted a ride and the girl did not reply, but kept walking.
The girl told police the suspect drove away and turned down side streets. He eventually parked at the in- tersection of Himes and Min- nehaha Street, where he got out of the truck and ap- proached her from behind.
While laughing, the man attempted to grab the girl, but she ran until she reached the Bank of America at the intersection of Himes and Hillsborough Avenue. At that
JUAN PABLO BONILLA
point, she made contact with a security guard and asked for assistance.
The vehicle was last seen traveling westbound on Hillsborough Avenue. The suspect was described as being in his 30s with a medium build. He was wear- ing sun glasses and had bad teeth. He also had paint stains on his khaki pants and was wearing a cap and long- sleeved white shirt.
The girl is a student at Hillsborough High School and told police she had missed her school bus and decided to take another one.
As a result of their contin- uing investigation, Bonilla was identified as the suspect who attempted to kidnap the teenager.
NORMA WYNN
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested three former Department of Juvenile Jus- tice employees last Thurs- day. They were staff members at G45 Highlands Youth Academy.
According to police, in April 2013, a riot broke out at the Highlands Youth Academy, a non-secure resi- dential commitment pro- gram in Polk County. A total of 61 people were arrested and charged.
Two years later, another investigation took place per- taining to the number of es- capes by the residents that were never reported.
In November 2015, po- lice received tips of wrong- doings going on at the facility. The complaints in- cluded sexual activity be- tween staff and residents, battery on staff members. The report led to another in- vestigation by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
As a result of that inves- tigation, Ms. Deidre Bau- com was arrested in May 2016. A case worker, Ms. Baucom allegedly con- fessed to having sexual con- tact with juvenile residents. She ultimately reached a plea deal with the state and left the State of Florida. The investigation continued and has resulted in the arrest of three other former staff members.
Ms. Norma Wynn, 56, of Sebring, is the former Fa- cility Administrator of the G45 Highlands Youth Acad- emy. She has been charged with 3 counts of destroying or tampering with evidence; 2 counts of failure to report child abuse or neglect; 3 counts of using public records to commit felony; 1 count of tampering in felony proceeding; 2 counts of will- ful neglect of a juvenile of- fender; and 1 count of
JOSE SANCHEZ
providing false information to a law enforcement officer. Jose Sanchez, 63, of Sebring, is a former Assis- tant Administrator of the G4S Highlands Youth Acad- emy, retired. He was charged with 2 counts of de- stroying or tampering with evidence; 2 counts of failure to report child abuse or neg- lect; 2 counts of using public records to commit felony; and 2 counts of willful neg-
lect of a juvenile offender. Johnny Hart, 40, of Okaloosa County, is a for-
JOHNNY HART
mer Assistant Administrator of the G4S Highlands Youth Academy. He was arrested at the Okaloosa Youth Devel- opment Center in Crestview, FL, where he is a Facility Ad- ministrator.
He was charged and booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. 1 count of de- stroying or tampering with evidence; 1 count of child abuse; 2 counts of using public records to commit felony; and 2 counts willful neglect of a juvenile of- fender.
Of Teenager
Police Search For Armed Robbery Suspect
The Tampa Police Depart- ment is currently investigat- ing an armed robbery that took place on August 8th, around 4:17 a.m. The robbery took place at the Walgreens Pharmacy, 2115 E. Hillsbor- ough Avenue.
According to police, the man ran into the store and approached the Pharmacist armed with a black semi-au- tomatic handgun. He ordered her to open the locked cabi- nets containing various nar-
cotics. Once he received the drugs, he fled the scene.
He is described as being a Black man, 5’9”, and weigh- ing 170 pounds. He has black facial hair, and was wearing a dark grey hoodie with blue liner in hood, with Batman on the front.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Tampa Police or Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay, Inc. at 1-800- 873-TIPS or www.crimestop- perstb.com.
UNCLE SANDY
Respect for ourselves 10, 19, 30 34 guides our morals, 3, 18, 41 43 respect for others guides 15, 38, 47, 50 our manners. 7, 49, 58, 61.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 19