Page 40 - Florida Sentinel 8-13-21

Crime
Woman Who Pushed
Tropical Storm Fred Forms In Atlantic;
Baby Stroller Into
Florida Keeping A Watchful Eye On System's
Traffic Charged
Passing Through The Gulf On Saturday
A 28-year-old was arrested and charged with attempted murder. She is accused of pushing a baby stroller into oncoming traffic during rush hour.
The incident took place in Winter Garden in June.
One witness told police that Laronda Pressley “would let go of the stroller without having her hands on it as it rolled into traffic.”
Another witness told police that Laronda looked in his direction laughing as she pushed her stroller with her infant inside in front of his
LARONDA PRESSLEY
moving vehicle.
Police said the baby was
not injured.
Ms. Pressley was ar-
rested and charged with at- tempted murder.
SARASOTA, Fla. — Trop- ical Storm Fred developed just south of Puerto Rico late Tuesday, the National Hurri- cane Center confirmed, heading for the Dominican Republic and Haiti, with forecasters warning that its heavy rains could cause dan- gerous flooding and mud- slides.
Be on the lookout Satur- day. A Tropical Storm could be passing Florida on Satur- day heading towards Talla- hassee. After a quiet month of no named storms in the re- gion, Fred became the sixth of the Atlantic hurricane sea-
Crime
son as expected late Tuesday and tropical storm warnings were already in effect for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
“The most important
thing today is preparation,” said Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. “I am not going to minimize the poten- tial impact of this event ... we expect a lot of rain.”
Deputy Injured By Homemade Bomb
Man Arrested For Running Over Woman In Bank Drive-Thru
A Polk County deputy was injured by a homemade explo- sive device while investigating a disturbance. The incident took place Sunday in Dundee.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy was investigating a dis- turbance at the Economy Motor Lodge in Dundee, when he was injured after a home- made explosive device was set off. The device was concealed on the body of 39-year-old Marco Antonio Tolentino, of Dundee. The device fired a 12-gauge shotgun buckshot round after it was triggered.
The single round struck the deputy’s hand and struck To- lentino in his hand and shoulder. The deputy was transported to the hospital with a serious injury to his hand. Tolentino was also transported and is being treated for non-life-threaten- ing injuries. Both are in stable condition.
Deputies responded to a disturbance call for service at approximately 9:30 p.m. Upon arrival on scene, the deputies were directed to a woman who was sitting on a bench at the neighboring motel, the Monti- cello Motel.
The woman had walked to the neighboring motel prior to the arrival of law enforcement.
Another deputy arrived on scene as a backup. Marco Antonio Tolentino, appar-
MARCO TOLENTINO
ently unre- lated to the distur- bance call, ap- proached the scene on a bicy- cle. The deputy began in- teracting with To- lentino,
A 37-year-old St. Peters- burg man was arrested for a crime that took place in Sep- tember of last year. He is ac- cused of running over a woman under a blanket and leaving the scene.
The incident took place in the drive-thru of the Wells Fargo Bank, 125 5th Street S, in St. Petersburg, around 9:15 p. m. on September 8, 2020. David Gregory Bell was ar- rested last Thursday.
Police said Bell was driv- ing a 1982 blue GMC pickup truck into the drive-thru lane of the Wells Fargo and had a passenger with him, 24-year- old Stephany Marie Wiles.
Bell entered the drive- thru lane going the wrong way, officers said. He contin- ued driving and ran over Cindy Sue Carpenter, who was lying on the ground, cov- ered by a blanket when she was run over, officers said. Carpenter, who police said
who was being evasive about who he was and said he did not have identification.
During the interaction, the deputy asked the suspect if he had anything illegal on him. At that time, the suspect lifted his shirt exposing a metal pipe which was concealed on the suspect’s person; stating the item was for protection.
A portion of “the pipe” was concealed in the suspect’s right pocket and also extended up- wards to the abdomen under- neath the shirt. The suspect reached for the pipe and the deputy stopped him; telling him that he would retrieve the item.
At this point, the deputy was unsure what the item was, but believed it was some sort of weapon based on the interac- tion. The deputy reached for the item, at which time the suspect also again reached for the item, and also was trying to pull away from him.
DAVID BELL
was trying to stay warm and out of the rain, was killed.
Officers confirmed the li- cense plate of the truck through bank surveillance video and later located Bell and Wiles. Bell admitted to officers that he had driven through the bank drive-thru that night, but did not admit to hitting Carpenter, police said.
Officers said Wiles had made a 911 call to report a person “having a medical
STEPHANY WILES
episode at the bank.” Officers said cell phone records show the phone call was made from an intersection right next to the bank at the time of the crash.
Bell is facing a charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving death. Wiles is fac- ing a charge of accessory after the fact.
In addition, a woman who was a passenger in the vehicle has been arrested on a charge of accessory after the fact.
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