Sheriff’s Office Releases Pictures Of Mosque Fire Suspect

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is still searching for the person they say set fire to the New Tampa mosque Masjid Daarus Salaam, and released pictures from surveillance video Tuesday morning.

The video, recorded at approximately 2 a.m. on Feb. 24, captured a male subject entering the property of The Islamic Society of New Tampa on Morris Bridge Rd. just north of Cross Creek Blvd., on foot.

The subject. according to the HCSO, was carrying a large container and rope.  The subject moved to an exterior entry door located on the northeast side of the Mosque, where he fashioned the rope as a trailer to
the large container.

He was then seen attempting to ignite the rope, which was sprayed with an ignitable liquid accelerant and apparently set to act as a fuse. After the rope failed to sustain fire, the subject poured a trail of what appeared to be an ignitable liquid accelerant on the sidewalk and successfully ignited the sidewalk.

The fire, however, failed to effectively ignite the large container.  The subject then moved out of view of the camera. He was able to successfully ignite the large ignitable liquid accelerant container, which in turn caused damage to the Mosque.

The subject then fled toward Morris Bridge Rd. undetected.  Laboratory results confirmed gasoline was present at the fire scene.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the HCSO at 813-247-8200, or anyone with any information regarding the identity and whereabouts of the suspect and who wants to be eligible for a cash reward is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477), report anonymously online at www.crimestopperstb.com or send a mobile tip using the HCSO P3 Tips Mobile application, which is a free download for iPhones, iPads and Droids.

You must call Crime Stoppers first to be eligible for a reward.

 

‘Extra’ Star Mario Lopez Attracts A Crowd Of 1,100 To Wesley Chapel Nissan!

Although I was already 30 when TV star Mario Lopez began his five-year run as AC Slater in the “Saved By the Bell” TV series, I remember that not only was I a fan of the show, but so were my sons, neither of whom had yet reached double digits when the original “Saved By the Bell” series ended in 1994.

Today, Lopez is starting his tenth year as the co-host of the Emmy Award-winning daily syndicated “Extra” TV series. So, what was this Hollywood star doing in Wesley Chapel on April 22?

Lopez spent the day with Wesley Chapel Nissan owner Jay Rosario, including a four-hour appearance at the dealership, which was named the first Motor Trend magazine-certified auto dealership in Florida, meaning that the dealership’s pre-owned side only sells pre-owned vehicles that have been certified (inspected, upgraded and guaranteed) by Motor Trend.

“It’s a big honor,” Wesley Chapel Nissan  public relations manager and Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber Ambassador Troy Stevenson. “We wanted to reach as many people as possible with the news about Motor Trend and Mario Lopez sure delivered.”

In fact, a crowd estimated at 1,100 people by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office — which was on-hand in force for the event and of which Rosario, executive GM Joey Falcon and their staff have been major supporters — came to see Mario, who threw Wesley Chapel Nissan T-shirts, posed for pictures and signed autographs for dozens of excited guests the last couple of hours of the event, which included giving away more than 900 hot dogs. Some of those attendees also got to enjoy gourmet cuisine like filet mignon sliders provided by Vesh Catering in the VIP area inside the dealership.

Rosario, an Orange County Sheriff’s Office reservist who lives in Orlando (where he owns Celebrity Nissan), was one of the first people allowed inside the Pulse Night Club following the mass shooting tragedy there in June of last year. I hope to be able to discuss both the aftermath of that horrible event with him and his support of Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco in a future episode of WCNT-tv and in these pages. — Gary Nager

Unexpected Visitor Drives Into Cloud 9 Photo Studio

When a photo session at Cloud 9 Studios in Wesley Chapel scheduled for 1 p.m. on April 25 was cancelled, owner Jeanine McLeod took her one-year-old son, James, and went out to grab lunch.

The office manager, Mary Gullett, stayed in the studio while assistant Carla Holness photographed her own three children —ages almost 1, 4, and 5 — in the back.

That’s when, all of a sudden, a car came crashing through the front doors of Cloud 9’s building in the Summergate Professional Center behind Sam’s Club off S.R. 56.

“I heard tires screeching and felt the building rattle,” Carla says.

According to a report by the Florida Highway Patrol, 80-year-old Theresa Drummond was attempting to park her car when she pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake.

That sent her 2005 while Ford Taurus over the curb, in between two pillars and halfway through the door into the building at 27340 Cashford Circle.

“What’s crazy is that Jeanine is always there with James and I’m not usually there with my kids,” says Carla. “About half an hour before it happened, the kids were all running around playing, so I’m just so thankful that they were out to lunch and that my kids were in the back.”

Jeanine echoed Carla’s grateful attitude.

“All of us are a little shook up, but I’m just so thankful everyone is okay,’’ Jeanine said. “ My son loves to play at the windows with the curtains, and he’s always up there looking as the cars go by.”

Both ladies are amazed that the car fit exactly through the columns on either side of the front door. “The car had to be lined up perfectly,” says Jeanine. “Any farther to the left or right and she would have hit steel columns.”

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Drummond was not transported to a medical facility. The studio was temporarily boarded up until new doors could be installed.

Family Finds Relief; Killer Back In U.S.

Wade Angel’s five-year hunt to find justice for the tragic loss of his son took another happy turn last month when William Angel’s alleged killer was finally extradited to the U.S.

Christopher Ponce, who is accused of killing 20-year-old William Angel and injuring two others while driving drunk on the wrong side of I-275 in 2002, was finally turned over to American authorities by Spain on April 6.

“It is now 2 a.m. on April 7th,’’ Wade wrote on his blog, FindChrisPonce.com, which he has been updating since 2014. “My wife and I had the pleasure of witnessing Christopher Ponce being escorted into the Orient Rd Jail here in Tampa this evening. We waited at the airport for 5 hours hoping to see him as the U S Marshalls escorted him off the plane. They took him by another route so we had to hurry in order to beat them to the jail and just barely did so. We were able to see him being escorted into the booking area of the jail.”

He excitedly wrote “NO BOND!!!!” on the blog April 8, a day later, when Ponce made his first court appearance. “So gratifying to see him doing the inmate shuffle.”

Wade, who quit working for a time while he pursued every lead he could online — up to 15 hours a day for three years — drove himself to the limit in his efforts to find his son’s alleged killer.

So, Wade’s post on April 9 was surely one of the most satisfying.

“For the first time in years I got a good nights sleep,’’ he wrote. “I actually woke up feeling good and refreshed. It was awesome.”

Ponce was driving the wrong way in the northbound lanes of I-275 near downtown Tampa when he hit William’s 2000 Ford Mustang, also seriously injuring passengers Jay Davis and Robert Newberry.

On May 9, 2013, while awaiting trial for DUI manslaughter, Ponce slipped off an electronic monitoring bracelet he had been wearing and had been on the run ever since.

In 2014, CNN’s “The Hunt,” hosted by John Walsh of “America’s Most Wanted” fame, profiled the case.

That manhunt ended Aug. 9, 2016, when Ponce was captured by local police in a bus station in Almeria, Spain.

At the time, Wade said he was not surprised that Ponce was captured in Spain. He said he had received a tip through the blog shortly after starting it in 2013 that Spain is where Ponce was headed. He started tracking Internet Protocol, or IP, addresses, to see if anyone was checking his site from Spain.

Wade said someone definitely checked his website from Spain, once from a McDonald’s, but mostly on public wifi at bus stations.

“I knew it!,’” Wade said when he heard Ponce had been found. He said Ponce and his family were too narcissistic to resist the chance to see their names in print and wonder what people were saying about them. It was one of the reasons that he started the website.

Wade told the Neighborhood News in August that FindChrisPonce.com would remain up right through the trial.

“The day he is sentenced, that will be my last post,’’ he says.

That last post is closer now than it has ever been.

Editorial: Musings About Jameis Winston, The Rotary’s Duck Derby & WCNT-tv!

Jameis Winston

As I reported in a new commentary segment on WCNT-tv that you can watch now on YouTube and Facebook, I was fortunate to be invited by the University Area Community Development Center (CDC) on N. 22nd St. in the University of South Florida area of Tampa to see Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (photo, right), who literally spent the better part of an entire afternoon hanging out with the families who live near the CDC.

About a month before the NFL draft, Jameis was asked by his barber, who owns the Who’s Nexxt Barber Shop on E. Fletcher Ave., to make an appearance at a family barbecue event at the Center and not only did he attend — along with his mom — he spent the better part of a warm, humid April afternoon posing for pictures and signing one autograph for literally every one of the 200-300 people who attended. In fact, he didn’t sit down to eat a burger until everyone in the crowd had 2-3 minutes of his complete attention.

And, Jameis didn’t just sign and pose, he interacted with as many of the kids and their families as possible — even when more than one attendee asked him to sign a Dallas Cowboys jersey. For example, when the Bucs’ talented young QB signed a pair of cleats, he’d tell the kid wearing the cleats that they, “better get results from these. I want touchdowns or pancake blocks with these. I don’t just put my name on anything and not expect results.” His genuine smile and warmth made everyone who attended the event feel like they were his good friend.

In other words, even though I (and my older son Jared) graduated from Florida and Jameis (and my younger son Jake) graduated from FSU, I am a bigger Jameis Winston fan today than I was when the Bucs took him with the first overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

And, with the addition of former Philadelphia and Washington WR DeSean Jackson before the draft, and top picks O.J. Howard and Justin Evans in the 2017 NFL Draft (which was still ongoing at our press time), it appears that the Bucs are serious about improving the talent around their leader and I don’t blame them.

Jameis is one superstar athlete who shines, even when the camera isn’t on him. I expect bigger things from him and the Bucs this season and even if that somehow doesn’t happen (which I doubt), I know it won’t be because of a lack of effort on the part of this future superstar QB.

And, Speaking Of WCNT-tv…

The big news is that not only we have modified the format for WCNT-tv — which now has had a reach of more than 600,000 people and all 21 episodes released to date have been viewed more than 200,000 times on Facebook and 100,000 times on YouTube — the show is now 100-percent owned by yours truly, which means there is even more we can do to promote your business — in these pages, on our WCNeighborhoodNews.com website and on our WCNT-tv YouTube and Facebook pages.

Because we found that most of the viewers weren’t watching the full episodes when they were released as much as they were the individual segments from each episode, we decided to no longer air full episodes. Instead, our News, Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) Featured Business, Neighborhood Dining News and Entertainment Calendar segments will each be released individually. For our Episode 21, the News and Entertainment segments were released on April 21, while the Dining (about Little Italy’s Family Restaurant & Catering, see ad on pg. 50) and WCCC Featured Business (about the Palms Pharmacy in Tampa Palms) were released on April 28.

With yours truly now setting the prices for WCNT-tv, it’s more affordable than ever for you to advertise in these pages, on our website and for your business to be a WCCC Featured Business on WCNT-tv!

In other words, email ads@wcnt-tv.com or call 910-2575 today to get more info about our new bundle and to get your WCNT-tv segment scheduled!

That’s Just Ducky…

Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon, which will host its second annual Duck Derby on Sunday, May 21, beginning at 1 p.m. This year’s family-friendly Derby will kick off from the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Hall at 4220 Land O’Lakes Blvd. (U.S. Hwy. 41) and will again feature food, fun and those cute rubber duckies racing to win prizes for attendees and raise money to benefit Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco’s K-9 Association.

For more info about the Duck Derby, see the ad on pg. 17, visit the Club any Wed. at noon at Quail Hollow Country Club or visit WCRotary.org/Duck-Derby.