Page 43 - Florida Sentinel 12-3-21

Crime
Man Charged With Murder In Fatal Shooting
Bank Robber Caught Minutes After Crime
AMANI JACKSON
Detectives have arrested the suspect in a fatal shooting and charged him with mur- der. The incident took place at the intersection of Pal- metto Street and Vine Avenue Saturday afternoon.
According to the Clearwa- ter Police Department, the calls about the shooting of an adult man came in around 12:30 p. m. When police ar- rived at the scene, they dis- covered that 22-year-old Alex Walker was suffering from gunshot wounds.
ALEX WALKER
Walker was transported to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, where he was pronounced dead an hour later.
Information gathered dur- ing the investigation led po- lice to 20-year-old Amani Jackson as a suspect in the shooting.
Anyone with additional information about the shoot- ing should call Clearwater Police at (727) 562-4242. No further infor- mation was available.
Police arrested a serial bank robber within minutes of committing the crime. The incident took place on Tues- day in Clearwater.
Clearwater Police and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Of- fice worked together to arrest 55-year-old David Marc Ratcliff shortly after he robbed the Wells Fargo bank at 639 S. Fort Harrison Ave.
Around 10:44 a.m., the suspect walked into the bank and robbed it. He ran from the bank, but a witness saw him get into a red Dodge Magnum and drive away from the area.
An alert Clearwater Police detective spotted the vehicle a few minutes later as the suspect was getting gas on Clearwater-Largo Road.
When a sheriff’s deputy
DAVID MARC RATCLIFF
tried to conduct a traffic stop shortly thereafter at West Bay Drive, the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed. But police did not initiate a pursuit. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Of- fice helicopter was deployed and tracked the vehicle to Belleair Beach, where the suspect abandoned the car and tried to steal a truck on Harbor Drive.
The truck owner fought with the suspect, and the sus- pect ran from the scene, but was caught by a sheriff’s of- fice K-9 shortly thereafter.
Ratcliff was taken into custody 26 minutes after the robbery. He was also taken to Morton Plant Hospital for treatment before being taken to the Pinellas County Jail.
Ratcliff is no stranger to bank robberies. He was re- leased from federal prison after being convicted of six counts of armed bank robbery in the late 1990s. He was dubbed the “I-4 bandit” and was suspected of as many as 19 bank robberies along and near the Interstate 4 cor- ridor two decades ago.
More recently, he was a suspect in bank robberies this month in Temple Terrace and St. Petersburg.
Police Officer Arrested For Battery On Inmate
6 Arrested In Undercover Child Predator Sting
A Pinellas County Police Sergeant has been arrested and charged with battery on an inmate. The incident oc- curred at the Pinellas County Jail, 14400 49th Street North on Novem- ber 19, 2021.
According to detectives, 41-year-old Terrell John- son was arrested by St. Petersburg Police Depart- ment and booked into the Pinellas County Jail on November 18, 2021. Detec- tives say while being held in a temporary housing unit, Johnson began his ini- tial medical screening, but became disruptive and uncooperative with staff. The deputy assigned to John- son’s housing unit handcuffed him and placed him into a single cell to de-es- calate the situation.
While in the single cell, Johnson began to kick the cell door. Detectives say Sergeant Patrick Knight, 51, and Corporal Jamer- son Jessie were in the hall- way outside of the cell and heard Johnson kicking the door from inside the cell.
An undercover operation conducted by the Hillsbor- ough County Sheriff’s Office has resulted in the arrest of six men for online solicitation of a minor. The investigation ran from November 18-20, 2021. Investigators targeted suspects who use the internet and social media to prey on adolescent children.
Undercover detectives cre- ated fictitious profiles posing as 14 and 15-year-old females and males. Each of the six in- dividuals arrested communi- cated their desires to have sex with who they thought was an underage individual, and they also traveled to meet the ficti- tious teenager to carry out the acts.
Among the arrestees, Casimiro Vidal Rael, 37, drove from Palmetto, FL, to Riverview, FL, to pick up a 14- year-old girl and travel with her to his residence for the purpose of sex.
CASIMIRO VIDAL RAEL
Gabriel Guerrero Gon- zalez, 29, traveled from Dav- enport, FL, to Riverview, FL, intending to meet a 15-year- old girl at her home to carry out sexual offenses.
Robin Varghese, 38, who was arrested for traveling to have sex with a 15-year-old girl, identified himself as a pastor upon arrest.
Others arrested were:
Timothy Louro, Eduardo Iglesias Amaya, and Michael Jimenez.
SGT. PATRICK KNIGHT
When Sergeant Knight and Corporal Jessie en- tered the cell, Sergeant Knight pushed, slapped, punched and grabbed John- son’s hair without provoca- tion or justification.
During the course of the investigation, it was discov- ered that Sergeant Knight’s written report and verbal account of what tran- spired showed inconsistencies. Corporal Jessie initially made state- ments consistent with Sergeant Knight’s account of the incident.
However, a couple hours later, Corporal Jessie re- canted his initial statement
TERRELL JOHNSON
and advised Sergeant Knight was wrong and that he struck Johnson, with no lawful base for his actions. An internal affairs investigation was immediately initiated.
Knight was charged with battery and official miscon- duct.
After being notified of the internal investigation, Ser- geant Knight resigned from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office on November 22, 2021.
On November 29, 2021, Knight was arrested and charged with one count of battery and one count of offi- cial misconduct. The investi- gation is continuing.
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