Volume 21 Issue 19
Inside: Homemade Pasta At The Wiregrass Mall?
September 14, 2013
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The Direct-Mail News Magazines Serving New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Since 1993! THIS INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY NEWS MAGAZINE IS DIRECTLY MAILED TO: NEW TAMPA: Arbor Greene • Cory Lake Isles • Cross Creek • Easton Park • Grand Hampton • Heritage Isles • Hunter’s Green • Hunter’s Key • K-Bar Ranch • Lake Forest • Live Oak Preserve • Pebble Creek • Richmond Place • Tampa Palms • The Hammocks • West Meadows WESLEY CHAPEL: Aberdeen • Belle Chase • Bridgewater • Brookside • Chapel Pines • Country Walk • Lexington Oaks • Meadow Pointe • New River • Northwood • Pinewalk • Pine Ridge Saddlebrook • Saddleridge Estates • Saddlewood • Seven Oaks • The Lakes at Northwood • The Villages of Wesley Chapel • Watergrass • Wesley Pointe • Westbrook Estates • Williamsburg
Fugitive Dies Following 13-Hour Manhunt, High-Speed Chase & Shootout By Matt Wiley On the day we went to press with this issue, a 13-hour manhunt throughout the Tampa Palms area, high-speed chase and desperate shootout with local law enforcement authorities ended with a man who was wanted for violent sexual batteries on multiple women — as well as several armed home invasions during the early morning hours of September 6 — dead shortly after being taken into custody. Choppers buzzed overhead in the southern section of Tampa Palms and over the University of South Florida (USF) area, as law enforcement officials searched the wooded, conservation areas for 24-year-old Charlie Christopher Bates, a dangerous fugitive facing six Charlie Christopher counts of armed sexual (Chris) Bates battery, eight counts of armed kidnapping and one count of armed home invasion, with more charges possible, if the suspect weren’t already dead. New Tampa schools were kept on modified lockdown throughout the day,
while “scores” of authorities with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) and Tampa Police Department (TPD) descended upon the southern New Tampa area to locate Bates, a tattooed and dreadlocked man, who had eluded them overnight since his crime spree began around 11 p.m. on September 5. According to HCSO sheriff David Gee and TPD chief Jane Castor — both of whom spoke at a morning press conference in the parking lot of the Acropolis Tavernaanchored Oak Ramble Plaza on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (which served as the enforcement authorities’ command post during the search), Bates entered an apartment inside the Cambridge Woods student rental complex, located on N. 42nd St., where eight USF students were watching a football game. Once inside, Bates, who was armed with a gun, bound the four men with duct tape and sexually battered the four women, before fleeing on foot. Two of the women went to Florida Hospital Tampa on BBD, where hospital staffers alerted HCSO about the incident. Gee says that Bates then entered another nearby residence in the Eagle’s Point at Tampa Palms apartment complex, located on N. 46th St. Inside, he ordered the lone
woman to take off her clothes and give him a kiss. When she complied and began to pray for him out loud, he apologized and prayed with her. She ripped pages from a Bible to give to him before he left, after they spoke for more than 20 minutes, HCSO says. After leaving that apartment, Gee says that Bates then went to the Authorities (left) approach the vehicle driven by Oaks apartment complex, also located on N. 42nd St., and entered a Charlie Christopher Bates following the shootout that residence where another party was would later claim Bates’ life. The photo is a screen shot going on involving about 25 people. captured from A BC A ctionN ews.com . Using his firearm, Bates forced everyone into a bedroom, before fleeing again on authorities positioned at several intersections, foot. HCSO reports that Bates also shot at a under the bridge at Cypress Creek on BBD man in the parking lot, although that man (south of Amberly Dr.) and at nearby apartment complexes, monitoring and checking was unharmed. “(Bates) fired shots inside that resi- the trunks of cars exiting each complex. Bates was able to get into the apartment dence,” Gee explained during the morning of another woman, who Gee said was somepress conference. “Deputies were already on scene at the other (home invasion) and heard one Bates might have known at one time, the shots. They gave chase and we (ended where the fugitive shaved his head and left up) looking for that subject all morning in the woman’s car. Authorities were alerted that he had taken the vehicle and were able long.” Deputies searched through the night to locate Bates around 1 p.m. on E. Fowler and into the morning for Bates using chop- Ave. at Gillette Ave. It didn’t take long for Bates to realize pers, dogs and a heavy law enforcement presence throughout the morning, with See “Manhunt” on page 14.
Deacon Blues To Play At Leukemia Society Fund Raiser At The Palms
NEIGHBORHOOD MAGAZINE
Tampa Palms Pill Pusher Put Away, WC Man Arrested For Sea Turtle, New Tampa Girl To Tee Off At Pebble Beach, Lots Of Local Business Features & More!
New Owners Revamp Ciao! Italian Bistro, Our 2013 Dining Survey & Contest, New Tampa Dance Theatre Gets Ready For Fall Season, Plus More Neighborhood Nibbles & Biz Bytes!
Pages 1-42
Pages 43-60
The beautiful young woman in flight in the far right photo is Marlana Lacivita, a fulltime professional “Dance Captain” at Busch Gardens Tampa who is friends with Bernie’s daughter Nicole (who also is a paid performer at Busch Gardens). Unfortunately, Marlana was diagnosed in March 2012 with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but despite her ongoing chemo treatments, she is somehow still doing what she loves — dancing — all while keeping a smile on her face. So, I was happy to help when Bernie asked me to promote a silent auction and fund-raising concert by the Deacon Blues (a
The Deacon Blues Band will perform at a Sept. 28 fund raiser at Peabody’s for Marlana Lacivita (right).
band I sang with for a couple of gigs) in honor of Marlana to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Tampa Bay, at Peabody’s Palms Lounge in the Shoppes of Amberly plaza in Tampa Palms on Saturday, September 28, 7:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. See “Marlana” on page 14.
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the kind of guy he is and always will be. So, I know when Bernie asks me if I can help at all with something, it’s always his way of trying to do the most he possibly can to help someone who not only deserves that help, but who probably also is the type of person who would never ask for any assistance themselves.
Postal Customer
Long-time Hunter’s Green resident Bernie Desrosiers is someone I consider to be a good friend, not only because he helped coach the Wharton High ice hockey team that both of my sons played for a few years ago, but also because Bernie was the first person I met in New Tampa who spent untold amounts of his free time helping others to try to build an actual community in the middle of our suburban sea of seemingly impassive, sometimes apathetic subdivisions.
Although I first met Bernie at one of the first annual “Toilet Bowl” touch football games he organized within Hunter’s Green, it wasn’t long before he asked me if I could help a family in need. Although he works full-time and travels a lot for his job, over the years, Bernie (who also is the keyboard player in the local band called the Deacon Blues; more on them later) has donated untold hours of his time and saved people lots of money by offering his services as a deejay with a professional audio setup for free, as long as the event is for a good cause. It’s just
Dated Material Please Rush!
By Gary Nager & Matt Wiley