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Tony Marrero - Day Cops, Hillsborough Sheriff, Tampa Police Department Reporter
Tony Marrero

Day Cops, Hillsborough Sheriff, Tampa Police Department Reporter

A Baltimore native, I've lived in the Tampa Bay area since 1998 and have been a reporter here for nearly that long. I joined the Times in 2009 and have covered beats ranging from from education to criminal courts. I now cover breaking news and general assignment stories in the Tampa bureau, which means I never know exactly what will come my way on any given day. I like that variety and enjoy digging to tell readers more about the big stories of the day.

  1. Motorcyclist killed in hit-run ‘wanted nothing more than to be father’
    Yesterday• Hillsborough
    Life changed for Chad Cagley with the birth of daughter Aaliyah, now 3. Cagley was killed Monday when a drunk driver slammed into the back of his motorcycle on Interstate 75, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
    The drunk driver who ran into Chad Cagley was caught after a witness followed him, troopers said.
  2. Tampa police investigating homicide in north Tampa
    Yesterday• Breaking News
    Stay with tampabay.com for the latest news and updates.
    A seriously injured man found near Fowler Avenue and 22nd Street died at a hospital, police said.
  3. Sarasota woman killed in SUV crash on I-75 in Riverview
    Sep. 19• Breaking News
    Stay with tampabay.com for the latest news and updates.
    The vehicle overturned a number of times and came to rest in trees beside the highway, troopers said.
  4. ‘How’d I get him in the back?’ New details in shooting of unarmed teen.
    Sep. 19• Hillsborough
    A Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy responding to a domestic violence call shot an unarmed 17-year-old along Skipper Road in north Tampa on March 26. The deputy thought the teen was pulling a gun. The teen was paralyzed and the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office has ruled that the deputy will not face charges.
    A Hillsborough deputy was cleared because he thought the boy, 17, had a gun. Records show how it happened.
  5. Couple made up after he shot her lover. Now, homicide hits home again.
    Sep. 17• Hillsborough
    Ralph Lewis Wald and wife Johnna Lynn Flores leave the Orient Road Jail on May 30, 2013, after Wald was acquitted in the fatal shooting of his wife's lover.
    An unidentified woman is found dead at their Brandon house. At the same time, the medical examiner confirms the wife has died.
  6. Tampa man arrested after hit-and-run crash that killed motorcyclist on I-75
    Sep. 16• Hillsborough
    Frank Joseph Fischer, 35, was arrested early Monday after he plowed into the back of a motorcyclist on Interstate 75 in Gibsonton, then kept driving, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The motorcyclist, a 23-year-old Riverview man whose name was not immediately released, died at the scene. [Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office]
    Frank Joseph Fischer, 35, was charged with DUI manslaughter and leaving the scene after driving his pickup into the back of the motorcycle, troopers said.
  7. Police identify man shot dead at Temple Terrace apartment
    Sep. 13• Breaking News
    Temple Terrace police are looking for the driver of this green Kia Soul, seen at the Boardwalk at the Morris Bridge apartment complex around the time that two people were shot. Anyone with information was asked to call Temple Terrace police at (813) 989-7110.
    Two men are being sought for questioning in the death of Tyler Drejon Ford, 21, who was found Tuesday at the Boardwalk at Morris Bridge Apartments.
  8. Man accused in Valrico carjack-murder appears in court for first time after suicide attempt
    Sep. 10• Crime
    James Hanson, Jr. sits in a wheelchair during his arraignment Tuesday in a Tampa courtroom. Charged in last month's Valrico bank robbery and subsequent carjacking murder of 68-year-old Mathew Korattiyil, Hanson is recovering from a jailhouse suicide attempt last month that left him hospitalized for three weeks.
    A three-week hospital stay has clearly taken its toll on James Hanson, Jr.
  9. Valrico carjacking, murder suspect returns to jail after suicide attempt
    Sep. 9• Hillsborough
    James Hanson Jr., the suspect in last month's Valrico bank robbery and subsequent carjacking and murder of 68-year-old Mathew Korattiyil, is seen at a pre-trial detention hearing on Aug. 9. Hanson was transferred back to the Hillsborough County jail after a three-week stay in Tampa General Hospital, where he was treated for injuries from a suicide attempt. [ALLIE GOULDING | Times]
    James Hanson, Jr. was placed on life support at Tampa General Hospital after he tried to take his life last month.
  10. Driver pleads guilty in fiery Selmon Expressway crash that killed family of three
    Sep. 7• Hillsborough
    Amber Nicole Perera, 29, pleaded guilty Friday to charges that carry a maximum sentence of more than 91 years in connection with a fiery August 2017 crash that killed a family of three.
    Prosecutors say Amber Perera was intoxicated when she caused the chain-reaction crash. The victims were a Tampa couple and their daughter, 8.