Our network

Crime

McDonald's robber caught blocks from restaurant

Tampa, Florida -- A man who robbed a South Tampa McDonald's Sunday night didn't get very far after police caught him running from the scene a few blocks away.

Tampa Police says around 10:10 p.m. the man, later identified as Mario Allen, held up the manager of the McDonald's restaurant in the 4400 block of Kennedy Boulevard at gunpoint and demanded money from the safe. He then fled on foot.

Officers responded to the scene quickly and Allen was spotted running from the area of the McDonald's near Lois Avenue and W. Kennedy Boulevard.

"Bank Bag Bandit" sentenced to 27 years in prison

Tampa, Florida -- A Palm Harbor man, also known as the "Bank Bag Bandit" who committed five armed bank robberies in three counties, was sentenced Monday to 27 years in federal prison in connection with the crimes.

As part of sentence, the United States Attorney's Office says David Dwindell was ordered to forfeit over $13,700, which is traceable to proceeds of the offense and to pay over $38,000 in restitution which is the amount stolen from the banks.

Massage parlor owner, suspected of human trafficking, evicted

Tampa, Florida -- The owner of the Ocean Spa Massage parlor, recently shut down for offering sex acts for money and suspected of human trafficking, has been booted from the property.

Tampa Police say the building's owner evicted the owner of the massage parlor for violating the terms of the business lease.

Tampa spa raided for prostitution; building owner unaware

Tampa, Florida -- Tampa Police raided the Ocean Spa Massage on Thursday after they say an undercover operation found prostitution and possible human trafficking.

"Human trafficking is the modern-day form of slavery," Chief Jane Castor said at a news conference in front of the Henderson Boulevard building.

It was enough to get a mention on an Orlando TV station, where it sure caught the attention of the building's owner who lives in Dixie County.

"My wife says, 'that's our address', and it was," said Jack Pell in a phone interview Friday.

Massage parlor shut down for possible human trafficking

Tampa, Florida - The sign over the Ocean Spa Massage parlor on South Tampa does not accurately describe the services being offered inside, according to Tampa police.

They raided the facility as part of an investigation into possible human trafficking and women offering sex for cash.

"We got the original complaint in October- an anonymous complaint- and we began our investigation at that point, and it culminated today with a court authorized search warrant," said Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor.

6 arrested on over 335 counts of child porn possession

Tampa, Florida -- After a two-and-a-half month investigation, six men were arrested on over 335 counts of child porn possession.

The Internet Predator Unit (IPU) of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office conducted the initiative to arrest individuals who engaged in the illegal receipt, possession, production and distribution of child pornographic material.

As a result, the IPU successfully conducted 10 investigations involving individuals in Hillsborough County. A total of 67 computer items and 63 electronic items were seized.

Detectives see spike in new credit card machine skimmers

Tampa, Florida -- Tampa Police say for several years they've seen skimmers on credit card machines, but recently, detectives have seen a spike in key logging devices on computers on business credit card machines.

Detectives say these logging devices look similar to a flash drive that captures all customer credit card information, and many business owners don't even notice they've been breached as criminals insert the device without them knowing.