Category: News

West Meadows Mom Shares The Story Of Her Son’s Tragic Passing

brandonmom — West Meadows mom Laura Sun Engelberger lost her son to drug use earlier this year.

Although we never met until about a month ago, Laura Sun Engelberger and I have a lot in common. We’ve both raised our families here in New Tampa, we’re both divorced and we both were blessed with two amazing sons.

But, the reason Laura and I met at her home in West Meadows a few weeks ago isn’t a happy one. Laura’s older son, Brandon Sun, tragically passed away a few months ago, five months before his 17th birthday. Laura still doesn’t know exactly what transpired the day he died, but she waited to talk about what happened until after she got back the autopsy and toxicology report ten weeks after he passed (on June 22), which said her son died from an “accidental drowning,” even though she already knew he also took two “tabs” of LSD that night.

“And, unfortunately, I have since learned that this wasn’t the first time Brandon took LSD,” she said. “It’s a nightmare that I never thought I would go through with either of my kids, but certainly not this sweet, wonderful honor student with everything to live for.”

Laura says she knows teenagers can be sullen and moody, especially when the family is going through a divorce, and she admits that Brandon’s personality had started to change when she and her now-ex-husband first separated two years ago. “Brandon definitely seemed angry,” she says, but she added that during the weeks before he passed away, Brandon had seemed more like his old self, “and his grades (he was at Freedom High in Tampa Palms) never suffered.”

Laura admits that, especially when she was raising Brandon and his brother Austin herself during the separation period, “I was and I guess I still am that over-protective mom. I wouldn’t let Brandon have a car unless he had a job, I made him sign a contract to have a cell phone in eighth grade and I thought I always made sure I knew where he was and who he was with.”

She also admits that she had concerns about some of Brandon’s friends, but is quick to say she doesn’t blame the four boys who were with him the night he passed away.

“I’ve told the other boys I forgive them,” Laura says. “Now, I’m just hoping that by telling our story, maybe another family might not have to go through what we have.”

So, What Actually Happened?

Laura told me that Brandon and four of his friends had driven to the rest area located near the north end (in St. Petersburg) of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge that night to drop acid together.

“Five boys left together, supposedly to go to one of the other boys’ houses, on a Monday night, but only four came home,” she told me through tears. “They left the campground without him around 10:30 the next morning and didn’t tell anyone what happened until I started calling and texting his friends looking for him at 3:45.”

The problem, she said, was that the boys all said the same thing — while being interviewed by the police later on Tuesday — that they all took the LSD together that night, but they honestly didn’t know and couldn’t remember if Brandon went walking off by himself or what happened to him at all.

“But, they were so afraid of getting in trouble themselves that they decided to leave and not say anything,” she recalls. “If they would’ve called 9-1-1 as soon as they realized they couldn’t find him, maybe my son would still be alive today. I don’t know. All I know is that his body was literally “caught” by a high school kid near the (North Skyway Fishing) Pier while he was fishing two days later.”

That’s the lesson Laura hopes other parents will tell their teenagers after reading this story.

“There is a ‘Good Samaritan 911’ law here in Florida (see page 39) that would have protected those children from any possible prosecution if they would have called the police,” she said. “But, young people are so afraid of ‘getting in trouble’ that they will do everything they can to avoid talking to the police or even their parents, especially when they’ve been taking drugs.”

As Laura spoke, the case reminded me all too much of a similar one about a decade ago, when former Wharton High student Sara Rinaldi, whose mother used to work for me, died several hours after her eyes rolled back in her head following a night of partying due to an apparently lethal mix of drugs because her friends were too afraid to call an ambulance.

Laura says that her son did not jump off the Skyway Bridge, as his body showed no signs of that kind of trauma. I also was surprised to learn that neither she nor her ex-husband had to identify their son’s body in person.

“Brandon’s body was identified from a photograph, not in person,” she says. “There was an official autopsy and toxicology report that we didn’t get until ten weeks later.”

She adds, “Some people have asked me how I could not have identified him, didn’t I need that closure? The closure is that my son is gone. Knowing exactly how he died isn’t going to change that.”

She cautioned, however, that if you’re the parent of a teenager, don’t just assume you know if your child is doing drugs or not.

“Every high school in this area has kids who are doing drugs and they usually get them from other kids at school,” she says. “Don’t think you’re not going to be touched by this just because you come from a ‘good family.’ We were that good family, but it still happened to us. Of course, everyone has been through some sort of tragedy. Mine is no better or worse than anyone else’s. Grief is all the same.”

So, then why is Laura sharing her story now? “I guess I’m hoping that other parents will tell their kids that when faced with a choice that can change someone’s life, they should do the right thing and not be more afraid of getting in trouble,” she says. “If you know something, you have to snitch, you have to tell. Would you rather have a friend be angry with you or have to live with a decision you made for the rest of your life?”

Laura adds that parents also should put GPS trackers in their kids’ phones and in their cars, “because, based on what I’ve now seen in my son’s phone, none of these kids are going where they say they’re going.”

And, speaking of Brandon’s phone, she says that it’s obvious that kids are “doing their research” about the different types of drugs — what they can expect if they take them and even where to buy them.

“There’s pictures of not only Brandon, but other kids — some of whom I don’t even know — taking drugs in pictures on his phone,” she says. “When I saw the messages about buying and selling and taking drugs and all of these pictures, I literally threw up.”

And, the other thing she wants to stress is that Brandon and his friends — some of whom go to Wharton, Wiregrass Ranch, Sunlake and Steinbrenner — are not what anyone would consider to be “druggies.”

“These are all smart kids who do great in school, from good families,” she says. “I hope people who read this story will take it to heart and start finding out what’s really going on with their children.”

As I was leaving Laura’s home, her friend Jen, who was with her the day she found out Brandon had passed, told me, “Brandon was the one who was supposed to make it big out of all these kids. Smart, talented and loved. No one could believe this happened to him.”

Laura also says she appreciates the amazing outpouring of support she has received from the community — at the candlelight vigil at Freedom a couple of days after Brandon died, at his memorial service on June 28 (both of which had as many as 500 people in attendance) and in the months since then. “It makes you feel good, as a mother, to hear so many people say so many wonderful things about your child. I just wish it wasn’t for this reason.”

SB 278: Preventing Deaths from Drug-related Overdoses

(Known) as the “911 Good Samaritan Act; (the statute provides) that a person acting in good faith who seeks medical assistance for an individual experiencing a drug-related overdose may not be charged, prosecuted, or penalized for specified offenses in certain circumstances; providing that a person who experiences a drug-related overdose and needs medical assistance may not be charged, prosecuted, or penalized for specified offenses in certain circumstances; providing that the protections from prosecution for specified offenses are not grounds for suppression of evidence in other prosecutions; amending mitigating circumstances under which a departure from the lowest permissible criminal sentence is reasonably justified to include circumstances in which a defendant was making a good faith effort to obtain or provide medical assistance for an individual experiencing a drug-related overdose, etc.

Businesses Feel Pinch Of BBD Widening

bbd-acrop — A rolling wall of dirt that obscures some businesses and discourages drivers from pulling in, say local business owners.

BBD ‘Segment A’ Construction Wearing Down Businesses, As Well As Drivers

Traffic is jammed, as a section of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. just north of Bearss Ave. resembles a dusty obstacle course with barriers and tall mounds of rock and dirt everywhere. Despite a steady flow of cars, it’s a slow Friday afternoon amidst the cuts of beef and fish at the Land & Sea Market in the Oak Ramble Plaza shopping center.

Carlos Otero has managed Land & Sea for 16 years, and says that in the last few months, business has fallen as the road outside his shop remains under construction. He’s not alone, as neighboring business owners in the area have expressed frustration at the pace of the widening of BBD Segment A – from Bearss Ave. to Palm Springs Blvd. in Tampa Palms – from a divided four- and six-lane road to a divided eight-lane road.

bbd-aaa — Carlos Otero manages Land & Sea Market in the Oak Ramble Shopping Center, and is worried about the effects on BBD construction in the coming months, which are usually busy.

“The workers are not fast,’’ says Otero, who estimates his business is down 50 percent the past two months. “You come in every day, and it is the same. It doesn’t seem like there is any progress. And, people who come in, they say the same thing.”

Acropolis Greek Taverna general manager Tarek Armoush agrees.

“It’s definitely frustrating,’’ says Armoush, who helped open the New Tampa Acropolis location in the same Oak Ramble Plaza in 2007. “The biggest frustration is that I don’t feel like they have put the construction in (high gear). I see days where there is one worker out there, maybe two. It just seems they could speed this up.”

Segment A, which spans 3.5 miles and has a pricetag of about $60-million, is the third of a four-segment project that will ultimately, finally transform New Tampa’s congested main artery from four and six lanes into eight, all the way from Bearss Ave. to County Line Rd.

Segment A construction includes a 5-6 ft. sidewalk on the west wide of BBD, and a 10-ft.-wide multi-use path on the east side. Also, the southbound side of the small bridge that crosses over Cypress Creek (between the Landmark at Grayson Park apartments and Amberly Dr. in Tampa Palms) has been widened, and a new four-lane bridge on the northbound side of BBD has been constructed.

bbd-aa Hillsborough’s Public Works Dept.’s project manager David Vogel says that while he understands your frustration, the perception that work is not being conducted as quickly as possible is wrong. Much of the work is done underground, he says — with utilities, electrical and water — and is not visible to the everyday passerby.

“There’s actually a lot going on,’’ he says, adding that Segment A — which was delayed from a spring 2017 finish to an August 2017 finish because of an elevation issue in one of the critical areas of construction — is smoothly moving forward.

That doesn’t mean the effects aren’t being felt, however. Businesses have about another year of construction in that area to look forward to, and Otero and others wonder how they will weather another year of roadwork.

Even successful businesses like Acropolis, Land & Sea and Mr. Dunderbak’s, also located in the Oak Ramble center, have seen changes in their bottom lines.

“We were down last month,’’ according to Mr. Dunderbak’s owner J.B. Ellis, “and we haven’t been down…ever.”

That’s significant for a business that has been at its current location since 2009, when it moved from the University Mall on Fowler Ave. The percentage loss may have been miniscule compared to what Mr. Dunderbak’s brings in yearly, but Ellis is concerned about a possible trend. A one-month loss is one thing, but multiply that by 11 or 12 months and it would leave a much bigger mark.

“The first half, I thought they did a great job,’’ Ellis says. “I watched them build that bridge in no time. I was thoroughly impressed. But, it doesn’t feel like much is being done these days.”

Ellis says there are still roads in and out of the Oak Ramble center, but they have changed to accommodate construction. You can’t turn left out of Oak Ramble, and if you turn right, it’s a one-mile drive up to Amberly Dr. before you can make a U-turn. Ellis says the entire area is one big car accident waiting to happen.

Changing travel patterns, the plethora of construction equipment and barriers and the congestion caused by it all is a deterrent to many customers who might otherwise stop. Currently, there is a winding 10-foot mound of rocks and dirt roadside obscuring Acropolis (see photo below) and other businesses up and down BBD from drivers. “Another year of this? Seriously?,’’ asks Ellis.

Rose O’Berry owns A Special Rose Florist n the other side of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. Like Carlos Otero, she says walk-in business is down 50 percent as construction makes it a hassle for customers to access their businesses.

Across from BBD, Chevron gas station manager Danny Piguave said the construction has had a “lot of effect” on business.

Chevron was a Shell station before a massive overhaul that included new pumps and a redesigned store. However, for the last year, the gas station’s entrance has been a dirt road with barricades and sometimes feels like ground zero for all the construction, Piguave says.

“Somedays, it looks like there’s no way in,’’ he adds. And, summer rains often reduced the entrance to a muddy patch. “Who wants to drive over that?”

When the gas station was upgraded, Aguave said the expectation was that there would be an 18-20 percent increase in business. But, that number isn’t being close to being realized at the moment.

“It’s another year of this I’m worried about,’’ he says.

Rose O’Berry, whose A Special Rose florist shop is attached to the Chevron, says her walk-in business is down 50 percent. She does most of her sales through the internet these days. “We have to, there’s no choice,’’ she says.

O’Berry also says that customers are complaining, as getting out and then back into traffic is a chore many are just unwilling to endure. “I just sat in traffic for half-an-hour just leaving Tampa Palms,’’ one recently told her.

“It feels like they just keep digging right in front of us, like they have dug up the same area three times’’ O’Berry says. “It’s been like this almost a year now.”

Vogel says he doesn’t recall if that’s the case, but doesn’t doubt O’Berry. “That may be true,’’ he says. “You do utilities, then you do drainage work, then you have to dig back in for another utility. The underground work always looks like there’s no progress being made.” But, there is. While Vogel sympathizes with local businesses and drivers, he says there is no way to widen a road without creating a disturbance.

“We do everything we can to mitigate the effects, but can’t we eliminate them,’’ he says. “All we can ask is that they be patient, it will get better. Eventually, it will be easier for people to access their businesses.”

bruce b. downs blvd. bruce b. downs blvd. widening businesses

BBD Widening Enters Final Phase

Local residents have been waiting more than 20 years for the main thoroughfare through New Tampa to be widened from a four- and six-lane divided roadway to an eight-lane divided roadway to relieve the area’s infamous traffic congestion. And, while it may be premature to say there’s a light at the end of the, well, Boulevard, local residents are a step closer to Bruce B. Downs (BBD) finally being “Bruce B. Done.”

Work on the last of the four segments of BBD widening finally began on Oct. 18, and is expected to conclude by the end of summer 2018. Prince Construction LLC’s finalization of Segment D, a 1.44-mile-long stretch between just south of Pebble Creek Dr. and County Line Rd., should conclude the long and sometimes arduous process of the major project that runs from just north of Bearss Ave. to the Pasco County line.

According to the county’s website, Segment D is a $24-milion project that is funded through the Public Works Transportation Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and was awarded $5 million from the Transportation Regional Incentive Program (TRIP) by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The segment will include a landscaped median, drainage improvements, pedestrian safety features, sidewalks, a multi-use path and an upgraded traffic signal system.

Segment A, which is still the most congested area of BBD and extends from Bearss Ave. to Palm Springs Blvd. in Tampa Palms (see previous page), is a $54-million project that should be finished around August 2017.

Segments B and C, which bracket the work that was done around the same time I-75 was widened, were considered the most difficult of the segments geographically, but they were finally completed earlier this year.

bbd-n The same night that work began on Segment D, the county held a pre-construction meeting in the Paul R. Wharton High auditorium about widening BBD. If you think New Tampa is tired of talking about the traffic on BBD, consider this: the county set up three stands showing the area of construction, but the meeting was attended by only a dozen or residents.

One of the more vocal participants wasn’t even a resident, but rather a bus driver for Wharton who expressed a number of concerns about the traffic flow in the morning and afternoon during construction. Cheryl Puelo, who lives in Thonotosassa but has driven a school bus for Wharton almost since the school opened, said long lines in the morning at the Oak Preserve Blvd. entrance are already an issue that construction needs to be careful not to exacerbate.

Hillsborough Public Works Department project manager David Vogel said that every effort will be made so as not to interfere with the three primary driveways in use at Wharton during peak times.

“We told the principal of the high school (Brad Woods) we will do everything we can to coordinate,’’ Vogel said. “We can’t completely eliminate any impacts, but we will try to limit them, with things like night and weekend work.”

Others in attendance wondered how the road work would affect the already congested areas in front of both Walmart and Wharton, and asked about additional traffic lights to help drivers pulling out from businesses along BBD.

One piece of good news – the left turn lane in front of the Walmart that causes so many issues with drivers suddenly swerving right to exit it will finally be corrected.

“The biggest (problem) is the amount of traffic in the corridor,’’ Vogel said. “There is drainage and power lines (that need to be repositioned and considered), and the staging and coordination for something like that is always a challenge. Power lines have to be moved. And traffic has to be shifted to get a 66-inch pipeline in there.”

And So It Begins…

As a result, Vogel warns that for the first year or so, travelers won’t see many changes happening in terms of the actual road. He estimates that the first 400 days (of the 685 estimated to complete the project) will be underground work. Travelers will first notice temporary pavement put in as traffic is shifted over to allow crews to dig and position the utilities and power and water lines.

“It’s an urban project, so you have utilities and things like that,’’ Vogel said. “The part people have the hardest time with is the underground work. You’re digging holes, you’re putting in pipe, water and sewer and all that stuff. No one sees any progress. All they see is they are digging here and, a month later, they are digging here again.”

Vogel said in many ways, the final segment will be the easiest. In Segment A, a bridge and four retention ponds needed to be built. Segments B and C also involved a bridge and working around construction at the busy BBD exits off I-75. By comparison, Segment D has far fewer challenges.

And, while it won’t mean drivers won’t become frustrated as the widening unfolds, Vogel said locals will start to see significant improvements by the end of next summer.

“There’s just a little bit of pain involved until you can get the cure,’’ he said.

bruce b. downs blvd. widening walmart Wharton

Importance Of Cybersecurity Stressed At PHSC

cybersecurity-1 — Keynote speaker Sri Sridharan, the managing director of USF FCC, told the audience that cybertheft of consumers’ financial information and money has become so common that it is usually unreported by the media and not investigated by law enforcement.

As people spend more of their time working, shopping and socializing online, they’re risking real-life consequences to their financial, professional and even personal well being. That’s the message that a group of experts delivered on Oct. 11 during a recent cybersecurity symposium at the Pasco Hernando State College (PHSC) Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch in Wesley Chapel.

Speakers presented information about protecting yourself from identity theft and social media risks, as well as about internet-based crimes such as human trafficking. The event was co-hosted with the Florida Center for Cybersecurity (FCC) at the University of South Florida (USF) and is part of PHSC’s Community Awareness Series.

Keynote speaker Sri Sridharan, the managing director of USF FCC, told the audience that cybertheft of consumers’ financial information and money has become so common that it is usually unreported by the media and not investigated by law enforcement.

“Just because you don’t hear about it doesn’t mean the problem isn’t there,” Sridharan said, adding that identity thieves target public Wi-Fi networks such as those made available by coffee shops, restaurants and stores to intercept personal information from people using those networks.

Another trend, called ransomware, allows hackers to encrypt information on a computer or data network, preventing users from accessing their files. Users regain access by paying money to the hackers. Sridharan said one way people can avoid identity theft is taking personal responsibility for online behavior.

“Cybersecurity is a serious problem and people have to practice good cybersecurity ‘hygiene’ to protect their personal information,” he said.

Using complex passwords that are unique to each login, shopping at well-known commercial websites, not using unknown USB drives or memory cards you’ve found laying around and becoming savvy about malicious links in emails and websites are some of Sridharan’s suggestions for maintaining your online security.

Dumpster diving (going through people’s garbage looking for discarded documents with personal information on them), shoulder surfing (peering over someone’s shoulder to steal a password or PIN) and skimming (a small device that scans your credit card when it’s inserted at the gas station, ATM or other automatic money machine) may sound like extreme sporting activities but they’re actually some of the common techniques used by identity thieves according to Jeff House, associate director of PHSC network services, who also spoke during the symposium.

“The main thing is being aware that the technologies we take for granted can easily cause us to lose our identities,” House said.

He recommends shredding sensitive documents before discarding them, positioning yourself away from the prying eyes of people around you when working online or using bank cards in public and taking a good look at point of sale terminals at registers and gas pumps to see if they appear to have been altered with information-stealing skimmers.

Social Security Protection

Staking out your Social Security account online long before claiming your benefits was the advice from Daryl Rosenthal, a public affairs specialist from the Social Security Administration. He says going online to SocialSecurity.gov and creating your account (called “my Social Security account”) allows you to review your earnings history for accuracy, learn about benefits and keep someone else from accessing your account and stealing your benefits. Rosenthal said it’s not easy for someone else to access your account, but it can happen if they acquire enough personal information about you. “To get an account, you have to enter information you know about yourself beyond your Social Security number,” he said.

Rosenthal also advises that people shouldn’t routinely carry their Social Security cards with them, and that they should resist providing their Social Security number to businesses that request it.

The internet has become a virtual playground and shopping center and Corporal Alan Wilkett of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) says there’s a dark side to that activity, with human trafficking taking place online. He says the practice of human trafficking involves economic slavery, body organ harvesting and the sex trade.

“The auctions of people are taking place online and it’s one of the most diabolical things around,” Cpl. Wilkett said. “Most of the adults I talk to have no idea this is going on.” According to Cpl. Wilkett, the best way to combat human trafficking is increasing public awareness of the problem and a willingness to get involved.

Bullying is the topic for PHSC’s next Community Awareness Series event, which will take place Wednesday, November 16, 2 p.m.-3 p.m. It will be held in the Building B conference room of the Porter Campus, located at 2727 Mansfield Blvd. For more information, you can visit PHSC.edu or call 527-6629.

RADDSports Begins Negotiations With Pasco For Indoor Facility In Wiregrass

raddrender — A computer rendering shows RADDSPORTS’ plans for an indoor sports facility surrounded by a park with fields for outdoor sports like soccer and baseball.

Pasco County has been here before. Can county leaders close the deal this time?

After past failures at luring an athletic complex to the Wesley Chapel area, the county is set to begin negotiations with RADDSPORTS after the Sarasota company was chosen to lead the way to a new indoor sports complex in the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI).

RADDSPORTS was one of four companies to submit bids to build and operate the proposed complex, and was one of two finalists, along with Sports Facilities Management of Clearwater, to appear and give a presentation before a special selection committee on Sept. 30.

RADDSPORTS beat out Sports Facilities Management, and its Request for Proposal (RFP) was on the consent agenda at the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting on Oct. 11, where it was accepted.

Pasco County staffers have begun the negotiating process with RADDSPORTS and the Porter family, which has donated 120 acres of the land for the Wiregrass Ranch indoor sports complex project.

“It’s exciting to see this move forward,’’ said Pasco commissioner Mike Moore of District 2, which includes the Wiregrass Ranch area. “I think this will be a great project.”

If a deal cannot be finalized with RADDSPORTS, the county could turn back to Sports Facilities Management.

RADDSPORTS is led by Richard Blalock, who was formerly a popular parks and recreation director credited for turning Newberry, FL into a sports tourism hotbed.

RADDSPORTS is partnering with Mainsail Development Group, Inc., which develops resorts and hotels. RADDSPORTS is proposing a $14-million, approximately 100,000-sq.-ft. indoor sports facility with eight basketball courts, plus a 100+ room hotel, an open-air amphitheater with event lawn, sports turf fields for soccer and other sports, trails and playgrounds.

The cost of the hotel would be $15 million, but the deal Pasco County has with the Porter family prohibits a hotel on the site and will need to be negotiated. A 92-room Fairfield Inn & Suites is being built on land sold by the Porters just south of the proposed facility off S.R. 56.

The outdoor amphitheater shell will accommodate 500 to 1,500 attendees for a variety of events such as concerts, festivals and theater performances. RADDSPORTS’ plan projects 36 events per each year’s nine-month season.

A second phase of the project will include baseball, soccer and other outdoor sports fields.

The company also proposed 700kw solar panels for the roof of the facility, which it says will produce 1,075 MwH of power annually, enough to offset current energy prices by $140,000 each year.

Sadly, the county has been here before. There have been three failed attempts since 2001 to build some sort of athletic complex, with proposed tennis, baseball and outdoor complexes somewhere in Wesley Chapel all falling short when none of the deals could be completed.

“I’m optimistic this time,’’ says tourism director Ed Caum, the program manager of Visit Pasco. “I was here for the last two and watched them go by the wayside, but I think there are more players at the table this time. And, we have great support from the (Wesley Chapel) Chamber of Commerce, which is really, really, really helpful.”

The last project to fail was a proposed baseball complex in the same area of Wiregrass Ranch in 2014, when a group led by former Major League Baseball star Gary Sheffield failed to secure financing for the project.

Since then, the county hired Johnson Consulting, which steered the conversation to an indoor facility that could serve not only Wesley Chapel, but would be a draw throughout the entire state, particularly central Florida.

“Here’s the beauty of an indoor facility,” Caum says. “The bottom line is hoteliers in the area have asked the sports commission and tourism folks to find a way to get people into rooms in July, August and September when it’s too hot to do outdoor sports. Indoors, there’s no rain, no lightning, no heat stroke. The stars have aligned. I think it’s the perfect fit for central Florida. All of central Florida is going to benefit from a facility like that.”