Mom Charged After Infant Drowns in Bathtub

A 22-year-old mom left her infant in a bathtub with the water running, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Mom Charged After Infant Drowns in Bathtub

A 22-year-old mom left her infant in a bathtub with the water running, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

A North Tampa woman has been arrested and charged with aggrevated manslaughter of a child after she left her 7-month-old infant inside a bathtub with the water running for at least 15 minutes, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. The child drowned in the tub. Deputies say that Sierra McMillan, 22, of 14512 Seaford Circle placed her baby in the bathtub and turned on the water on April 28. When the doorbell rang, she left the baby in the tub with the water running, answered the door and spent time speaking with a solicitor. The solictor later told deputies that he heard a baby crying in the apartment and after a few minutes, the child stopped crying, according to a media release from the sheriff’s office. That same …

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Hillsborough’s 10 Most Wanted: How New Tampa Can Help Catch Them

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has an online tool residents can use to keep up with the area’s most-wanted fugitives.

The Internet is fast becoming the new “post office” for law enforcement agencies that want to make sure photos of their most wanted fugitives make it into circulation. Instead of just hanging posters on post office walls, law enforcement agencies these days are creating webpages to get the word out to area residents. Some are even using social media outlets like Facebook as tools in the fight against crime. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has its own online “post office” wall. Dubbed “Find-a-Fugitive,” the webpage features the photos and some background information on the county’s Top 10 most wanted. It also shares photos of deadbeat parents and “dangerous drivers.” Cristal Bermudez Nunez, sheriff’s office spokeswoman, said the …

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2,500 Guns Incinerated After Swap

The guns were collected by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office during Operation Gun Swap in February.

Wondering what happened to all those guns the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office bought from residents back in February? Here’s the answer: “The nation’s largest single day gun swap came to a fiery finish at a steel mill, where the rifles, shotguns, and handguns were incinerated in a 3,200-degree furnace,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a media release. “The melted metal that was once weapons will become rebar and coat hangers.” February’s Operation Gun Swap drew residents from all over the county who wanted to trade in their unwanted firearms for vouchers worth $75 each. All told, the sheriff’s office paid out more than $200,000 for the guns. Funding came from the Shimberg Foundation and the sheriff’s office forfeiture fund, said Capt. …

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Amber Alert Update: Hakken Children Might Be on a Boat

The young brothers were abducted from their grandmother’s Carrollwood area home April 3. Authorities now believe their father has taken them out to into open waters.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has updated its Amber Alert for Cole and Chase Hakken, two young boys abducted from their grandmother’s Carrollwood area home on April 3. Authorities now have reason to believe their accused abductor, their father Joshua Hakken, 35, may be traveling with the children on a 1972, 25-foot Morgan sailboat. The boat has the registration number of FL3717BK and has a blue hull. The boat in question is named “Salty” and has a picture of a paw near the hull on both sides, according to a FDLE media release. The stern also has “St. Petersburg” written on it in white letters. The vessel has a blue Bimini top and when its sail is unfurled it is white with blue trim. Read all stories related to the abduction The…

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Vintage Bride

12:42 pm on Monday, April 8, 2013

I love ya, sweetie. Good advice to any one who may see them ;)   more ›

Crime By The Numbers in Hillsborough

Crime in Hillsborough County was down overall in 2012 versus 2011, but that doesn’t mean all areas showed improvement.

Crime By The Numbers in Hillsborough

Crime in Hillsborough County was down overall in 2012 versus 2011, but that doesn’t mean all areas showed improvement.

Last week’s release of Uniform Crime Report statistics by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement heralded good news for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. Overall, the report showed, crime has fallen in Hillsborough County by 53.2 percent between 2007 and 2012. A comparison of the stats, however, shows that year-over-year improvements are not present in all the categories tracked in the Uniform Crime Report. Hillsborough County showed gains in two areas between 2011 and 2012. They are: Here’s a look at the other categories of crime tracked in the Uniform Crime Report and the number of cases for 2012 versus 2011.   To see how Hillsborough County has fared through the years from 1985 to 2012, just view the PDF included in this …

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Hillsborough Crime Down 53.2% Since 2007

For the sixth year in a row, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is reporting an overall drop in crime.

The statistics are in and it looks like Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies are sending the message loud and clear to bad guys that they’re just not welcome here. The sheriff’s office reports that crime is down countywide for the sixth straight year in a row. Crime, in fact, fell 7.2 percent in 2012 versus the numbers from 2011, the sheriff’s office announced in a media release issued Feb. 22. “With a population in unincorporated Hillsborough County of 848,660 residents, the number of victims of crimes was also reduced from 21,617 in 2011 to 20,072 the year 2012,” the release said. “That equals 23.6 victims of crime per 1,000 residents down from 25.9 the year before.” As it turns out, the violent crime rate for 2012 is the lowest on …

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Payday Coming for New Tampa Gun Swappers

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is setting up shop Saturday to finalize its buyback of guns during last weekend’s Operation Gun Swap.

Payday is almost here for New Tampa area residents who brought their guns to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office’s Operation Gun Swap last Saturday, Feb. 2. Deputies plan to return to the five collection locations in the county Feb. 9 and Feb. 10 to give those who received vouchers $75 per gun in trade for their troubles. All told, the one-day operation resulted in 2,808 firearms collected, according to the sheriff’s office’s website. Two unarmed rocket launchers were also turned in. At $75 a pop, that amounts to a payout of $210,600. It’s unclear if the sheriff’s office is paying for the rocket launchers. The gun buyback was funded by a donation from the Shimberg Foundation and money from the sheriff’s office’s forfeiture fund, said …

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OMG PD: Prisoner Nabbed at Chuck E. Cheese's; Racial Slurs at McDonald's

We compile the odd, unusual ‘oh my gosh’ police items from throughout the Tampa Bay region.

A man in a wheelchair just trying to shop at a Sarasota Walgreens overnight Tuesday was punched and robbed outside the store by a couple who are now being sought by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. A man and a woman approached the 45-year-old victim as he came out of store just after midnight Tuesday and attempted to buy his prescriptions, but he had only purchased over-the-counter allergy medicine, according to the sheriff's office. When the victim attempted to get into his car, the male suspect tried to grab the man’s satchel from around his neck, authorities said. When he couldn’t pull the satchel away, the suspect hit the victim multiple times in the face before fleeing. The suspects, seen in surveillance footage, are still wanted…

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