Volume 17 Issue 14
WESLEY CHAPEL Inside:
Wesley Chapel Business News!
July 10, 2009
NEWS
See pages 10-15!
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BBD/54 Intersection Is The 2nd Worst In Pasco County! By Michael Smith Although residents often complain about all of the ongoing highway construction in our area that makes driving a nightmare, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) says that sometimes the completion of those projects can actually make problems worse. Late last month, the PCSO released its quarterly accident report for the first part of 2009, which lists the top 12 intersections in the county where accidents caused by aggressive driving have occurred, and, thanks at least in part to the completion of the widening of S.R. 54 between U.S. 41 and S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel, the intersection at S.R. 54 and Collier Parkway in Land O’Lakes now tops the list — with the intersection of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. and S.R. 54 in Wesley
Chapel close behind in second place. PCSO spokesman Kevin Doll says that the new, wider stretch of S.R. 54, along with the proliferation of new communities and businesses all along that stretch of roadway, have contributed significantly to the number of accidents resulting from high-speed, aggressive driving. “Wherever you have more traffic and higher speeds, you’re going to have more aggressive drivers and more accidents,” Doll says. That’s why PCSO officers joined forces with the Florida Highway Patrol and the New Port Richey Police Department on June 30 for a special one-day campaign, dubbed “Operation Collier Crunch,” to target aggressive drivers within a five-mile radius of the county’s most problematic intersection. Over the course of that campaign,
between 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., 19 officers from the three agencies saturated the area and issued a total of 184 citations for a variety of charges, along with 46 warning tickets. “That’s why we [create] these lists,” Doll says, “so we can focus our efforts on the areas where we get the most complaints and where the most accidents occur.” Doll says that there is no specific behavior that qualifies as aggressive driving; rather, it is a combination of behaviors that draws an officer’s attention — and results in citations. “Usually, it’s speeding, along with tailgating and multiple lane changes,” he says. “But really, it could be whatever the officer considers to be unsafe
movements [based on the conditions].” There also is no specific charge for aggressive driving, but it is noted on the citation that is issued to the driver, Doll says, and can be taken into consideration by the judge in the case, espeSee “Intersection” on page 6.
Killer-For-Hire Pleads Guilty, Is Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison
NEIGHBORHOOD MAGAZINE!
Family Receives $1 Million Jury Award, Slim Down For Summer With Metabolic Research Center, Local Students Visit Washington, D.C. & More!
Get Top-Quality Care For Your Pet At Cross Creek Animal Medical Centre, A Tasty Selection Of Neighborhood Nibbles & Much More!
See pages 3-20!
See pages 21-32!
ECRWSS
LOCAL NEWS, BUSINESS & SPORTS UPDATES
Pierre-Charles, who was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service last October. Earlier this year, Pierre-Charles was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. During that trial, Pattmon testified that Pierre-Charles had initially offered him $2,500 to “get rid of” Henry because he was afraid Henry would give him up to police, but later agreed to kill him for $1,000 in cash, a gold necklace and 14 grams of crack cocaine. Pattmon was originally charged with first-degree murder, and could also have been sentenced to life in prison, but he made a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty of the lesser charge. Jenkins, now 23, is scheduled for trial later this year.
Postal Customer
Also Inside This Issue!
for questioning, Henry contacted a local newspaper to say that he was not involved in the shooting of the two teens, but was quoted as saying he Commie “knew a little” Pattmon about the case. On Aug. 13, 2006, he also was found dead after having been shot multiple times. There were no further leads in either case until last summer, when PCSO investigators announced that a witness had come forward and implicated two other men in the death of the teens, Luc Pierre-Charles, a former classmate of Pieper’s at WCH, and Tyree Jenkins of Zephyrhills. Jenkins was arrested the same day the announcement was made, but it took a months-long manhunt to locate
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Another man connected to the 2006 murders of a pair of Wesley Chapel High students has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. On June 18, Commie Lateel Pattmon, 27, of Tampa, pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for killing 20-year-old Jeremy Henry, who was found shot to death a week after being named as a “person of interest” in the double murders of Derek
Pieper and Raymond Veluz, who were 17 and 18 years old, respectively. Their bodies were found on July 28, 2006, on a dirt road in the Trilby area north of Dade City after police say the WCH students became involved in a feud between rival drug dealers. Shortly after the two teens were killed, investigators with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) announced that they were interested in talking to Henry about the case. Although he was never brought in
Dated Material Please Rush!
By Michael Smith
For Advertising Information Call 813-910-2575 • Volume 17, Issue 14 • July 10, 2009 • www.WCNeighborhoodNews.com
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