Pasco Warrants Sweep Showcases ‘Overwhelming Force of Presence’

They sought suspects at residences throughout Pasco County. They visited motels on the U.S. 19 corridor. They lit Holiday up at night.

Over 36 hours, law enforcement officers arrested a total of 244 people in what’s being called the largest warrants sweep conducted in the county.

The multi-agency sweep, dubbed “Operation Law and Order,” flooded parts of Pasco with nearly 110 law enforcement officers from noon to midnight, Tuesday through Thursday of this week.

“Our citizens saw an overwhelming force of presence out there, and they deserve that,” said Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco.

The sweep included law enforcement involvement from the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Postal Service and the New Port Richey, Dade City, Port Richey and Zephyrhills police departments, among other agencies.

Law enforcement personnel attempted to serve 1,053 warrants. A total of 302 warrants were served, including 130 felony warrants and 172 misdemeanors.

Of the 244 total arrests, 68 were on probable cause.

The arrests were made in the county, but some were of warrants from other jurisdictions that listed their subjects’ residences as being in Pasco.

There were warrants issued for drug crimes. Officers found marijuana, methamphetamine and prescription pills.

The most violent of the crimes people were served warrants for were aggravated assaults, batteries and domestic violence offenses, said Sgt. Dan Olds, head of the sheriff’s office’s warrants unit.

At the point of the sweep, Pasco had accumulated 22,000 outstanding arrest warrants, the oldest on file dating back to 1972, Olds said. He did not know if that one was worked.
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Man Charged With 22 Counts of Fraudulent Use of Personal Identification

A 29-year-old man is accused of using personal information of deceased people to file taxes in their names. Gary T. did this at least two dozen times and claims to have received a few thousand dollars in tax return money from the scam, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

This crime is somewhat common, authorities say. But Gary might be a piece to a larger case:

He is suspected of being part of an organized fraud ring filing fraudulent tax returns in the Tampa Bay area, a report states. The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office has been working with the U.S. Secret Service, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Tampa Police Department for three months on a task force investigating these rings, the report states.

Pasco authorities referred all questions about Gary and the fraud rings to the Secret Service, which declined to comment.

“It is ongoing,” Special Agent in Charge John Joyce said of the case. “It is very active. I can’t comment on it at all.”
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Sheriff Calls for ‘unified’ Pasco County

The central-east-west rift in Pasco County may have historical roots, but it’s time to set them aside, said Sheriff Chris Nocco.

Addressing members of the Land O’ Lakes Rotary Club on Monday, Sept. 12, Nocco said law enforcement agencies and residents throughout the county need to work together to tackle crime.

“Criminals don’t know any boundaries,” he said. “Criminals don’t care what ZIP code or area code you’re in.”

With that in mind, Nocco’s agency has been working with others throughout the county to share intelligence about crime on a regular basis. The county’s SWAT team also recently combined with New Port Richey’s to provide better overall coverage, Nocco said.

Through Intelligence Led Policing, the agency is also concentrating its efforts on more strategic coverage of crime hot spots in the county. The idea is to root out career criminals and to deploy forces where they are critically needed.

“Six percent of the criminals commit 60 percent of the crimes,” Nocco told Rotary members.
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Pasco County Looks to Add More Cops

As county commissioners signaled they will approve Sheriff Chris Nocco’s request for more deputies, they learned the bill for law enforcement could get much higher in the coming years.

Nocco is asking for 23 new staffers, most of whom would combat prescription drug abuse. Besides two new teams of deputies, he also wants three crime analysts and eight nurses to deal with inmate addiction issues at the county jail.

Several commissioners said on Tuesday they were open to his request.

“It is an epidemic that is affecting all aspects, all walks of life in Pasco County,” said Commissioner Ted Schrader. “This is quickly getting out of control. They’re obviously short-staffed in that regard. I’m inclined to give him what he’s asking for.”

Those new employees would cost $1.6 million and would be paid for with savings from pension costs. The Legislature this spring required all state employees to begin contributing 3 percent of their salary toward their retirement, saving the Sheriff’s Office $4.7 million.

But besides continuing to pay salaries for the new deputies, commissioners will face additional law enforcement costs a year from now, when the county begins paying for 24 other deputies that were hired a couple of years ago with a grant from federal stimulus money.

The county has been socking money away for the past three years to pay the first year’s $2.4 million cost. But commissioners will have to find money to pay those deputies starting the following year.

“Does anybody on the board think that the financial conditions are going to be greatly improved next year?” said county budget chief Mike Nurrenbrock.
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Sheriff: Drug Dealers Bragging About Stash on Video

In home video released Monday by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, authorities say a drug dealer and his cohorts are showing off their stash of illegal prescription pills.

“That’s what we get rid of a day,” said one the men in the video as he showed piles of pills spread out on a floor.

The footage goes back to a 2009 case and was confiscated by the Sheriff’s office after the suspects were arrested.

One of the suspects bragged that he was a fugitive, wanted by the FBI and DEA.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco says these are the type of people that are destroying our community.  “You can see in this video, he could care less about the families he’s destroying. He doesn’t care about the children in school that are taking these pills. For him it’s about money and glory.”

“Look at that. Skittles, taste the rainbow,” said one of the suspects, as he showed off a pile of colorful pills.
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Pasco Cops Look for Copper Thiefs

Pasco deputies are seeking two men suspected of stealing copper wire from two Withlachoochee River Electric Cooperative substations.

Deputies say they already have the getaway driver involved in at least one of the thefts, on Aug. 4. Marylynn Maldonado, 23, was charged with criminal mischief, grand theft and dealing in stolen property because she allegedly drove Joshua Lee Petty and Donald Rebston to the substation at 17029 East Road, near the Hernando County line.

The men stole about 200 feet of copper wire, valued at about $1,196, deputies said. The theft caused thousands in damage and will directly affect co-op members’ electric bills, said Withlacoochee spokesman David Lambert.

Authorities believe the trio also hit another WREC substation at 16540 Old Dixie Highway on Aug. 16, stealing a large spool of wire worth about $800 and causing thousands of dollars in additional damage.

Lambert said the East Road substation had been hit by thieves last August. They stole copper ground wire, which protected the plant against lightning. It was subsequently struck by a bolt that caused thousand of dollars in damage.

Copper thefts are common, though people don’t understand how dangerous it is, Lambert said. People have been electrocuted and severely injured trying to steal copper.

If you’re charged with a theft crime in Pasco County, don’t waste time contacting a Pasco County defense lawyer at Musca Law.

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Crime Tracker: Pasco Auto Thefts Up

The KEPR Crime Tracker identified a spike in stolen cars in Pasco. The number has nearly doubled from last year to this year.

It may look like your everyday neighborhood, but a neighborhood in east Pasco has had the most car thefts in the city so far this year.

“I’m not surprised because in the Tri-Cities it happens all the time,” said Terry Martinez.

Terry Martinez has lived in Pasco her whole life. She says a friend just had his car stolen a few weeks ago. Her brother was also a victim of theft. His car was later found at a chop shop.

“He reported it and they found it in Yakima that was months later and it was junky and stuff,” said Martinez.
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Cop Suspended for DUI Suspect’s Deadly Escape

A Tampa Bay area sheriff’s deputy has accepted a five-day suspension for allowing a DUI suspect to escape from her patrol car and drive off, eventually killing a motorcyclist.

A report released Tuesday recommends that Pasco County Deputy Ashley G. be suspended for violating prisoner custody and transport regulations.

The report said the 23-year-old Ashley left a window of her patrol car down while Brittany M. was in custody in the back seat after a May 10 traffic stop. Deputies say the 21-year-old Brittany got one hand free of her cuffs and escaped, speeding off in her pickup truck and injuring Ashley when the deputy tried to stop her.

Deputies say Brittany blew through a red light at an intersection and killed a man riding a motorcycle. She is now charged with his murder.

Facing DUI charges in Pasco? If so, contact a Pasco County DUI defense attorney at Musca Law today for a free legal consultation.

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Authorities Search for 3 Siblings Accused in Crime Spree

Authorities were searching for three siblings on Friday they said were on a “violent mission” after allegedly shooting at a Florida police car and robbing a south Georgia bank.

A U.S. magistrate judge on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Ryan D., 21, Dylan S., 26, and Lee Grace D., 29, in connection with the August 2 robbery of a bank in Valdosta, Georgia.

“Understand that these fugitives are on a violent mission and must be stopped by any means possible before they harm another innocent person or a law enforcement officer,” a Florida sheriff and police chief said in a joint statement.

In Georgia, one of the suspects carried an AK-47 assault rifle as they entered the bank dressed in black and wearing masks, a statement from the FBI in Atlanta said.

Shots were fired at the ceiling, and everyone in the bank was ordered to get down. The three suspects escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash, the FBI said.

They were last seen in a white, four-door 2006 Subaru Impreza, with the New York license tag FBE 5900, the FBI said.

The siblings are also suspected of shooting at a Zephyrhills, Florida police officer’s patrol vehicle earlier that same day.

The officer was in pursuit of a white, four-door car for speeding when suspects inside the car shot at the officer and disabled the patrol vehicle. The officer was not hurt.

The FBI said the siblings should be considered armed and dangerous.

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Hudson Pizzeria Latest Smash-and-Grab Victim

Another west Pasco business was hit Wednesday by “smash and grab” criminals: Mama Mia Pizzeria at 14038 Hicks Road. The door was shattered at 1:10 a.m. Petty cash was stolen.

Nineteen west side businesses have been burglarized with the same method since July 1.

“This is a crime spree,” said Sgt. Chris Beaman of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. He said the county has had these types of crimes in the past — criminals smash a window or door and grab whatever they can — but not this many.

“We need the public’s help” to identify suspects, Beaman said.

Surveillance videos can be viewed at youtube.com/pascosheriff.

Three juvenile suspects were recently arrested in a dozen such burglaries, and authorities say two suspects are still at large: James Keith Hudson, 45, and Michael C. O’Neill, 26.

More suspects are likely, authorities said. Beaman asked anyone with information about the crimes to call Detective William Wood toll-free at 1-800-854-2862, ext. 7277. Anonymous calls can be left on the tips line at 1-800-706-2488.

At Musca Law, we don’t support robberies or the like, but we do understand many mistakes are made when making arrest and charging people with crimes. If you’d like to fight any allegations law enforcement has made against you in Pasco County, contact our Pasco defense lawyer today for a free legal consultation.

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