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Follow the fun of Gasparilla in real time!
What's a die-hard Gasparilla fan to do when they can't make it to the big party? Follow it on Twitter or Facebook, of course! We'll be pulling together the best tweets, pictures and videos as the Jose Gasparilla sails up the channel and pirates invade downtown Tampa on Saturday. Check back early and often. And get in on the action by including @TB_Times in your Twitter updates. We'll use the best in our live all-day coverage. [Note: Due to a little glitchiness on the part of Storify, some of these tweets looks old, but they were captured mostly on Saturday as Gasparilla unfolded.]
Woman accused of throwing girlfriend's pet hamster 'Boobie' from third-floor balcony
DELRAY BEACH -- A Boynton Beach woman was arrested on Wednesday after she got into a fight with her girlfriend in her Delray Beach home, and threw the woman's pet hamster from a third-floor balcony, the Miami Herald reports.
Breana Shakari Smith, 19, is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $3,000 bond. She is facing charges for battery and animal cruelty.
Smith was arrested Wednesday morning shortly after a Delray Beach Police officer was dispatched to the 600 block of Auburn Avenue to reports of a domestic fight at 10:37 a.m.
When the officer arrived, 19-year-old Krystina Shanice Sears said she had a fight with her girlfriend, Smith, and that Smith had thrown Sears' pet hamster "Boobie" from the balcony of her third-floor apartment, according to the probable cause affidavit. ... Read more
Assistant in 'Toxic Tush' case attacked on talk show
South Florida’s “Toxic Tush” case took another bizarre turn Wednesday night when the person accused of helping inject concoctions of “Fix-a-Flat” and Super Glue into women’s derrieres was attacked during a taping of a talk show by an audience member.
About 9:30 p.m., as Corey Eubank appeared on the Spanish-language television show hosted by Cristina Saralegui in the program’s Doral studio, he was attacked by the mother of one of the victims, Eubank told the Miami Herald afterward.
Said Eubank’s defense lawyer, Jim Lewis, “The victim’s family jumped out of the front row and the victim jumped out and started attacking my client.”
Police were called, and questioned at least one person, Lewis said. ... Read more
Cigarette craving, and stupidity, lands woman in jail
An Osceola County woman, Joan Mayo, called emergency services six times and is still in jail for misusing 911.
"What's going on there ma'am?" the 911 operator asked.
"None of your business! Just send me a sergeant. It's none of your business! Why the hell are you so stupid?" Mayo replied.
Each time Mayo got connected to the 911 center in St. Cloud on Tuesday, she screamed profanities at dispatchers and berated them, according to wftv.com.
The police arrived on the scene, and determined she had no apparent reason to call the authorities; but her neighbors said there was a reason for her call. "She just wanted cigarettes. That's all she wanted. She wanted cigarettes," said her neighbor, Lillian Morales.
The final straw came when she dialed 911 a sixth time, while police were on the scene dealing with the situation.
Bartow pastor is caught in sex sting, deputies say
A Bartow pastor was among four men arrested Wednesday in a sex sting at Peace River Park, the Lakeland Ledger reports.
The men solicited sex from undercover male detectives, and in some cases, exposed themselves in the park on State Road 640 near Bartow, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
The suspects included Matthew Preston Clark, 33, of 1230 S. McAdoo Ave. in Bartow. Deputies said he told them he is married and serves as senior pastor of Blessed Assurance Temple in Bartow.
Not-so-silly string gets Lightning Bug fired
TAMPA — In a case of viral video and cloak-and-dagger intrigue, ThunderBug has been fired.
The final offense? Inappropriate use of Silly String.
The Tampa Bay Lightning mascot sprayed a Boston Bruins fan at a Jan. 17 hockey game. The fan took offense and pushed ThunderBug down. Thousands saw it on YouTube.
The team did not condone ThunderBug's actions.
Porn actor pleads guilty in New Port Richey murder
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Jason Andrews, the pornographic actor accused of killing tattoo parlor owner Dennis "Scooter" Abrahamsen in 2010, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder. Andrews, 28, agreed to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Read more at tampabay.com
Gun-toting woman, 64, holds car theft suspect at bay
DAYTONA BEACH -- Note to potential car thieves: Be careful where you run after you ditch the car.
A 22-year-old left the vehicle he is suspected of stealing and ran into a back yard to get away from police Tuesday morning. But that's when he came face to face with a gun-toting 64-year-old woman, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.
"I was not going to let him go," said Karen Granville, who lives on Redwood Street. "I just held my gun in my right hand until the police arrested him."
Granville helped authorities catch Roderick Willis after he led them on a short chase. He was suspected of driving a stolen vehicle, authorities said.
Man accused of shooting video up woman's skirt in Walmart
MOUNT DORA — A man was arrested on Monday for trying to take a video up the skirt of a woman renting a movie at Walmart, police told the Orlando Sentinel.
A woman was standing in front of a Redbox movie dispenser when she heard another customer say, "Hey, what are you doing?" She looked around and saw Lorenzo Ramirez, 24, who "acted coy," according to a police report, "like nothing had happened, holding a black smart phone…"
Ramirez scurried away and got into his car. Using security footage and the car's license plate, law enforcement tracked him down at his home in Tavares. He was ultimately arrested on charges of video voyeurism.
At the Lake County Jail, he told a Mount Dora police officer that he had recently acquired an iPhone and was just checking it out.
"He advised that he was not planning on taking the video, nor has he done this in the past. He stated he just did something stupid," the arrest report said.
Red-spitting cobra, other critters seized from Boca Raton apartment
Here’s what lurked in a Boca Raton apartment: a red-spitting cobra, a puff adder, a uracoan rattlesnake, two false cobras and a small alligator.
State wildlife officers have seized the reptiles from their owner, Tyler Nolan, of Pacific Boulevard, and cited him for a variety of violations, including possession of venomous reptiles without a permit, the Miami Herald reports. The snakes were turned over to a facility licensed to keep them and the alligator was released into the wild.
A report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission states that an investigator had received information that Nolan had the reptiles without a permit. The investigator went to the apartment building at 5653 Pacific Blvd. and met Nolan in the parking lot. Nolan allowed him to inspect his animals, claiming he was in the process of obtaining licenses for them. ... Read more
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