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Features
1st Annual Community Impact Awards To Honor Four Achievers
DELANO STEWART, ESQ.
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Wednesday evening, four individuals who have made lasting marks on their community will be honored. The event will take place at the Tampa Park Plaza Community Center, 1495 N. Nebraska Av- enue, at 6 p.m.
State Representative Ed Narain will recognize At- torney Warren Dawson, Ms. Shirley Griffin, Sena- tor James Hargrett, Jr., and Attorney Delano Stew- art. They will become the re- cipients of the 1st Annual Community Impact Awards.
A Tampa native, Attorney Stewart graduated from Morehouse College with a B. A. degree in 1961. He continued
WARREN DAWSON, ESQ.
his education at the University of the Philippines, Long Island University, and Howard Uni- versity School of Law.
After completing his educa- tion, he returned to Tampa and embarked upon his career. He launched his career in 1965.
In addition to other mile- stones in his life, Attorney Warren Hope Dawson he is known for his Civil Rights work in the lawsuit of Manning vs. The School Board.
He served as lead counsel for the lawsuit to desegregate schools in Hillsborough County. The lawsuit spanned 27 years. Attorney Dawson continues to practice law in Tampa.
Senator James Har- grett, Jr., became the first
SEN. JAMES HARGRETT
African American elected as at State Representative from Tampa in 1983. He served in the capacity until 1992. In 1992, Senator Hargrett made history once again when he was elected as the first African American from Tampa elected to serve as a State Sen- ator. He served two terms.
A Tampa native, Senator Hargrett graduated from Morehouse College in 1964.
In addition to the awards ceremony, Representative Narain will provide commu- nity updates on this year’s leg- islative session and there will be food. The Community Im- pact Awards program is free and open to the public.
Anyone wishing to RSVP can do so at events@edfor- florida.com.
Pastor, 4 Others Charged in Cargo Theft Case
Last week, a Tampa Bay Area pastor and four others were taken into custody in Polk County. The arrest took place at the conclusion of “Operation Truck Stop.”
According to police, a joint investigation between the Polk County’s Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Tampa Police Department focused on organ- ized cargo theft.
Four people were arrested in June and July. A sixth per- son has been positively identi- fied and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
During the investigation, Alexander Nealy, identified as a pastor, of Bay City Refuge Worldwide Ministries, Inc., of Tampa, 1602 N. Florida Av- enue was employed as a trac- tor-trailer driver for SalSon Logistics.
Nealy was arrested after police executed a search warrant at a storage facility in Ybor City that belonged to him. During the search, police found 272 boxes of stolen Macy’s merchandise valued at approx-
imately $72,500.
Two other search warrants
at other storage units in Tampa reportedly produced 392 boxes of merchandise belonging to Macy, valued at $135,800 and over $59,000 worth of Bloom- ingdale’s merchandise, for a total of $267,900 in stolen property.
Nealy was charged with felony cargo theft, and was ar- rested on June 25th at his church.
Detectives conducted sur- veillance on the two suspects, and observed them moving cargo from their SalSon trailers to a large shipping container in a fenced lot in Tampa. Macy’s personnel inspected the trailers and found the tamper seals were manipulated, and numer- ous boxes were opened with items removed.
Police arrested Roberto Barahona and Jorge Salazar Brito, of Tampa. Both were arrested for felony cargo theft and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail. A search of Barahona’s apart- ment resulted in the seizure $30,000 worth of stolen mer- chandise.
Detectives in Polk County conducted investigations in- volving Patrick Brown and Jerome McCord, both of Lakeland, and Timothy War- ing, a transient in Lakeland and Tampa.
In March and April 2015, the suspects were involved in “burglarizing” Nealy’s storage units and selling the stolen Macy’s merchandise in Hills- borough and Polk Counties -- detectives later learned that Nealy, McCord, Brown, and Waring worked together to stage and then have Nealy falsely report the burglaries to his storage units.
Nealy reportedly told Hillsborough County Sheriff’s detectives that he purchased the merchandise on Craigslist. Detectives seized stolen mer- chandise from McCord, War- ing, and Brown that led to Nealy’s arrest and the recov- ery of Macy’s merchandise from Nealy.
McCord was arrested and booked into the Polk County Jail on June 5, 2015. He was originally charged with VOP (petit theft), possession of mar- ijuana & meth, possession of paraphernalia. Detectives have added on a dealing in stolen property charge.
Brown was arrested and booked into the Polk County Jail on July 2, 2015, where he remains on no bond. He has been charged with non-pay- ment of child support, and dealing in stolen property.
Waring was previously ar- rested and booked into the Polk County Jail for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia on June 5, 2015, and was re- leased after posting $1,000 bond. Detectives have obtained a warrant for his arrest for dealing in stolen property.
ALEXANDER NEALY ... of Plant City
TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3