Two-county police chase starts in Tampa Palms, ends in St. Petersburg

Teamwork between the Tampa and St. Petersburg police departments, and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office, continued to yield results as a stolen car chase that started in New Tampa resulted in the arrest of seven in St. Petersburg Monday morning.

The TPD, SPPD and  PCSO have been working more closely together since forming a regional Auto Theft Task Force on Aug. 14, designed to attack the growing number of auto thefts with cooperation beyond each county’s borders.

According to TPD, at approximately 3:39 a.m., Nov. 2, Sgt. O. Rosa was at Tampa Palms Blvd. and Bruce B. Downs Blvd. when he discovered the car ahead of him at a traffic light had been reported stolen.

Rosa initiated a pursuit, which was then joined by other officers until they were able to pull back and let a Tampa police helicopter take over, tracking the stolen car all the way to 15th Avenue S. and 7th Street S. in St. Petersburg.

Several of the suspects in the car jumped out and ran into the house, which was quickly surrounded by Tampa and St. Petersburg police officers.

Seven people were detained and transported to the St. Pete Police Department for interviews.

There were no injuries or crashes reported in the pursuit.

 

 

Tampa Premium Outlets launches (w/ photo gallery)

Ribboncut2For those who have been anxiously awaiting the opening of the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO) for many years now, Wesley Chapel resident Lisa Bastone may have summed it up best.

“It’s about time,” she said.

Bastone was one of hundreds who showed up at the TPO (located at 2398 Grand Cypress Dr., at the interchange of I-75 and S.R. 56) hours before it officially opened at 10 a.m. on Thursday morning, just to look around and bask in the shiny newness of the upscale outlet mall before the big weekend crowds arrive.

“It’s an event, you can’t miss things like this,” Bastone said. “This is going to make this area explode.”

The 441,000-square-foot mall, already home to more than 100 retailers, kicked off its opening with the Distinguished Men of Brass band,  local dignitaries and fireworks as Stephen Yalof, chief executive officer of Simon Premium Outlets, Danielle DeVita, senior vice president of development for Simon and Pasco County Commissioner Ted Schrader all simultaneously cut the ribbon to officially open the mall to shoppers.

The mall is rolling out with grand opening festivities all weekend.

Here is the schedule:

Main Stage Entertainment
Lagoon Court
Friday, October 30, 1 – 9 p.m.
1 & 4:45 p.m.    Caribbean Crew
2:15 p.m., 6 & 8:30 p.m.    DJ Rekka
3:30 p.m. & 7:15 p.m.    Nalisio & The Fellas

Saturday, October 31, Noon – 6:30 p.m.
Noon & 3:30 p.m.    City Sound Quartet
1:15 & 4:45 p.m.    Marlon Boone
2:15 & 5:45 p.m.    C’Nergy

Grand Opening Fireworks
Lagoon Court near Main Entrance
Friday, 9 p.m.
Celebrate the Grand Opening of Tampa Premium Outlets with a spectacular Fireworks Show!

Strolling Entertainment
Thursday – Saturday, Noon – 6 p.m.
Enjoy entertainment while you shop including stilt walkers, face painters, a magician and more.

Visit The VIP Shopper Club
Coral Court by Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH
Thursday – Sunday, Noon – 5 p.m.
VIP Shopper Club Members have exclusive access to the VIP Shopper Club lounge during the Grand Opening Weekend. Enjoy photos with your friends, chair massages, beauty touch-ups, and more. Not a member? Join for free outside the lounge or by visiting premiumoutlets.com/vip.

Meet Bethenny Frankel
VIP Shopper Club Lounge
Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m.
1 p.m.    Fashion Essentials for the Perfect Wardrobe
1:30 & 4 p.m.    Autograph Session with Bethenny*
3:30 p.m.    Essential Accessories to Elevate Your Outfit

*Bethenny will mingle with fans as time and space permits in the VIP Shopper Club Lounge. Autographs only please.

Halloween Happenings
Haunted Pirate Ship
Minnow Court near Forever 21
Friday & Saturday, Noon – 8 p.m.
Fit for a pirate, dead or alive! This Haunted Ship will transport guests to a haunted world of hidden treasures and shipwrecked sails.

Halloween Crafts
Friday & Saturday, Noon – 6 p.m.
Fun for the kids with interactive craft stations.

 Headless Ghosts
Friday & Saturday, Throughout the Day
These spooky ghosts will make you lose your mind when they lose their heads! Watch as these interactive ghosts entertain the audience and drop their heads before your eyes.

Grand Opening Prize-An-Hour Giveaways
Near Main Stage
Register every hour at the registration table near the Main Stage from 11 a.m. – 4:55 p.m. Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30th for a chance to win a fabulous prize package. Must be present to win. Drawings will take place at the Main Stage at the top of each hour. Winner will have 30 minutes to claim their prize. See entry form for complete rules and regulations.

Shoppers are encouraged to visit the Tampa Premium Outlets website by visiting www.premiumoutlets.com/tampa
and social media platforms including Facebook at @tampapremiumoutlets and Twitter at @TampaPO.  Share your favorite moments using hashtag #TampaPremiumOutlets.

 

 

Former Wharton LB awarded $2-million

wharton-sliderThe family of former Wharton linebacker Sean McNamee and the Hillsborough County School Board agreed Tuesday afternoon to a $2-million settlement — believed to be the largest in district history — involving a 2013 accident that left him in a medically-induced coma for nine days as doctors worked to repair damage to his brain.

The McNamees will receive $300,000 from the county, the largest they can receive due to a sovereign immunity law that protects the state. The family’s attorney, Steve Yerrid, will petition the state legislature for another $1.7-million, and as part of the settlement, the school board will support the claims bill.

Both parties had attended a court ordered mediation on Sept. 14 and agreed to a settlement value of $2-million, provided the school board voted in agreement.

McNamee, a 6-foot-2 junior at the time, was injured prior to a Wharton practice on Oct. 9, 2013. He was playing catch with teammates when he fell to the ground and struck his head on the corner of an unattended paint machine that had been used to line the field for that week’s game. Because practice hadn’t begun, McNamee was not wearing a helmet.

The injury fractured his skull, and a trainer who tended to McNamee called his mother Jody to come pick him up. Somehow, he was still able to slip away from school and drive himself four miles home.

McNamee was taken to the hospital where doctors had to perform emergency surgery and reduce swelling and remove blood from his brain. Doctors called in his family and told them to say their goodbyes because they were unsure he would survive. He was placed in a medically-induced coma for nine days before pulling through.

Also in the agreement, the county agreed to implement new guidelines, called “The McNamee Protocols,” in dealing with the proper training and instruction in how head injuries are handled, addressing the fact that despite the fact McNamee was looked at by a trainer, he managed to drive home and that EMS was not called.

The county school board also agreed to purchase liability insurance coverage with minimum limits of $1-million as part of the settlement.

Pollo Tropical on the way?

PolloTropicalPasco County’s planning staff is scheduled to meet next week with project engineers looking into building a Pollo Tropical restaurant at the Cypress Creek Town Center Development of Regional Impact (DRI, across from the new Tampa Premium Outlets mall) at the Northeast corner of State Road 56 and Wesley Chapel Boulevard.

The permit pre-submittal meeting is scheduled for Nov. 2. “Right now, it is just conceptual,” said project engineer Zach Thornton.

The permit proposal is looking at a 3,600-square-foot restaurant and a drive-through lane”. A pre-application conference was already held Feb. 18 regarding the site plan but, according to the meeting request form, changes have been made since that meeting.

The Pollo Tropical chain was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Kendall in Miami-Dade County, and is best known for its flame-grilled chicken.  It has more than 180 locations and more than 3,000 employees mostly across the southern United States.

Wesley Chapel man killed in crash

fhp-150x1501Robert Michael Rudman, 33, of Wesley Chapel was killed early Friday morning  when his 2006 Honda Civic collided head-on with a semitrailer truck on SR-50 (Cortezx Blvd.) west of Richloam Clay Sink Road in Hernando County.

Rudman was traveling westbound shortly after midnight when, for unknown reasons, he crossed into the wrong lane and into the path of 50-year-old Jose Antonio Moux Rivera of Orlando. The two vehicles collided into each other, proving fatal for Rudman who died at the scene of the crash. Rivera suffered serious injuries and was transported to Dade City Hospital..