BY MATT WILEY
A Wesley Chapel man has been released after being arrested for beating his son with a belt in the parking lot of the Taco Bell located at S.R.
54 and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. According to the Pasco County Sheriffâs Office, an altercation broke out just after 11 a.m. on August 16 in the parking lot of the Taco Bell, located at 24830 S.R. 54, between Brian Keith Blum, 43, of Quail Hollow, and his 17-year-old son.
By Matt Wiley |Â September 3
Thanks to a photo taken from surveillance footage, a man wanted for multiple ATM robberies during the Labor Day weekend is in custody and could be held responsible for additional, similar crimes, authorities say.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriffâs Office (HCSO), Charles Griffin, 34, of the Hidden Palms apartment complex, located just south of Tampa Palms on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., was arrested on September 3 in connection with at least three separate ATM robberies, each of which occurred within a day of the previous.
The HCSO report states that at around 2 a.m. on September 3, Griffin, who was armed with a silver handgun, approached and attempted to rob a customer using the Bank of America ATM machine at 250 E. Bearss Ave. Hours earlier (on September 2 at around 1:35), Griffin had demanded money from a person at the same ATM, where his photo was caught using surveillance footage from the ATM machine. He drove off in a grey Dodge Journey SUV, which deputies spotted later that day, ultimately leading to his arrest. Griffin also has been charged in the ATM robbery of a customer at the Chase Bank at 2802 E. Fletcher Ave.
By Matt Wiley
The 2014 Pasco County local elections may still be just less than a year away, but the race for the Pasco County Commission District 2 seat (which includes all of Wesley Chapel) already is heating up, as current Dist. 2 Comm. Pat Mulieri (R- New Port Richey) will not be seeking reelection.
By Matt Wiley |Â August 28
A Tampa Palms man has been arrested with a car full of narcotics following a single-vehicle crash on S.R. 54, just east of Wesley Chapel, in Land Oâ Lakes.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) report, just before 10 a.m. on August 28, Jeremy Earle Grove, 23, of 16228 Saint Michelle Ct. (in the Promenade at Tampa Palms apartment complex), was discovered with several packages containing prescription drugs and controlled substances after flipping his Toyota Scion on S.R. 54, east of Hailey Ln., in Land Oâ Lakes.
Witnesses described Groveâs driving leading up to the crash as erratic, stating that he was driving at a high rate of speed, cutting off other vehicles, following too closely and was unable to stay in his lane, before veering off the road and flipping his vehicle.
By Matt Wiley | August 23
An after-hours burglary has left the Cellmasters, Inc., T-Mobile store in New Tampa, as well as the T-Mobile store in Wesley Chapel, short thousands of dollars in stolen phones.
According to the Tampa Police Department (TPD), at around 6:45 a.m. on August 23, two caucasian or âfair-skinnedâ male suspects, clad in long sleeves, gloves and ski-masks, broke into Cellmasters, located at 19024 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in the Publix-anchored New Tampa Center shopping plaza.
TPD reports that the suspects entered through the back door, setting off the storeâs alarm system. Once the alarm started to go off, the suspects walked over to a display case and began shoving phones and phone cases into a bag, before leaving through the same back door.