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Tampa man crashes into parked cars, gate at the Islamic Society of Tampa Mosque

 
Shaun H. Urwiler, 42, was arrested July 16 for intentionally driving his pick-up truck into two parked vehicles before smashing through the locked gate of the Islamic Society of Tampa Mosque, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. [Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office]
Shaun H. Urwiler, 42, was arrested July 16 for intentionally driving his pick-up truck into two parked vehicles before smashing through the locked gate of the Islamic Society of Tampa Mosque, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. [Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office]
Published June 28, 2017

A Tampa man intentionally drove his pick-up truck into two parked vehicles before smashing through the locked gate of the Islamic Society of Tampa Mosque, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Shaun H. Urwiler, 42, was released from county jail Monday after he was arrested June 15 on criminal mischief charges, one involving a place of worship, and violation of a domestic violence injunction with minor children.

Urwiler told detectives he was sorry for what he did and was "just trying to throw a few donuts and wreak a little havoc," a search warrant said.

Witnesses told deputies Urwiler drove his Ford F-350 onto the mosque's property on Sligh Avenue and parked under an overhang for about 10 minutes before moving to a parking lot in the north corner of the property. Urwiler then drove his truck into the rear of an unoccupied Toyota Camry, causing about $5,000 worth of damage, deputies said.

He also drove over a small tree and into the front of a Ford van, causing about $500 worth of damage, deputies said. Urwiler then fled the scene, tearing through the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay's locked gate, south down Orient Road and into the parking lot at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, deputies said.

Deputies located the pick-up truck the following day in his driveway on Walton Way in Tampa, but when Urwiler answered a detective's knock on the door he immediately slammed it shut and ran out of the house into a lanai, according to a search warrant.

For about an hour Urwiler was erratic, agitated and screamed at detectives, the warrant said.

Urwiler told detectives that he wears a GPS tracking device around his ankle for a domestic violence injunction that orders him to stay at least one mile away from the petitioner, deputies said. On June 6, Urwiler parked his pick-up truck across the street from the petitioner's Brandon hair salon, according to his arrest report.

Urwiler works as a self-employed landscaper and was deployed to Iraq in 2003 as an Army specialist.