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Stay Safe Street Tip #37
Sex Offender Lists & "What If"
Good morning Folks. I
hope that all are well and staying safe. FYI, I am now an Official Double
Retiree (United States Army and Federated Department Stores). Gee, I will really
miss working in a major corporation surrounded by a thousand of my closest
friends worrying about somebody who owes a store $10.00 and is past due. Yeah --
right! I am now devoting full time to my business and loving it. This is great
because I now have the flexibility to take care of my clients and accommodate
their schedules. Flexibility -- you have to love it! Been kind of a nasty few
weeks for local and national news. Unfortunately, we may be able to learn from
these situations. However, time for a little good news. I spoke with Mark
Martenfeld of Knight Shooting Sports this morning and Friday and Saturday hours
are being increased. The schedule as of August 1 is Monday through Thursday 10AM
to 8PM, Friday and ! Saturday 10AM to 10PM and Sunday 10AM to 5PM. Let's hear it
for more range time! One other piece of news. Jon Gutmacher, author of 'Florida
Firearms-Law, Use & Ownership' is going to do a book signing and meet the author
appearance at Knight Shooting Sports from 1PM to 4PM August 10. He is an
interesting guy and a shooter. He will be doing the Tactical Course that
morning. Hope to see you there. Norm
St. Petersburg Times July 20, 2002 "27-year-old arrested
in girl's kidnap death"
Five year old Samantha Runnion was playing in broad daylight with
a friend about 50 yards from her front door. A scumbag snatched her from the
side of her friend, drove off with her and then raped and killed her. Her body
was then displayed in a "ritualistic manner" and left where she could
be found. The Orange County Sheriff's Department has taken a scumbag named Alejandro
Avila, 27, into custody. Avila had previously been charged twice in the past
two years with molesting two girls but not convicted. According to one of the
newspaper reports that I read, there were about 100,000 sexual offenders in
that general area. My daughter in law and our two grandchildren are visiting
so I did a little research. There are 10 sexual offenders and or sexual predators
that are in our zip code. Four of those are within a 1/4 mile of where Dawn
and the kids are staying. This type information to include mug shots, criminal
justice status and crime(s) committed may be foun! d on the web at 'Florida
Sexual Offender Registries'. After you access the file, simply locate your county
and enter your zip code. You may then hit view for details of the scumbag that
you are seeing. I then checked Pinellas County. Hold onto your hats sportsfans.
There are 99 pages of perhaps 10 per page in our nice little Pinellas County!
You may also use the 'Sexual Offender Registries' engine to research the rest
of the country. Watch your children -- maybe one of these dirtbags is if you
are not! By the way, that SCUMBAG Avila has now been charged in the heinous
murder.
St. Petersburg Times July 21, 2002 "Woman slain in
parking lot"
Unfortunately this occurred much closer to home. Jane and I just
had breakfast at the Country Harvest located on Missouri Avenue in Clearwater
a few weeks ago. Our waitress was named Pam. She was really very nice, polite
and friendly. Her ex-husband, Mike Saraceno, visited the restaurant on Saturday
and became involved in a verbal altercation with her inside the restaurant.
The scumbag left apparently stating that he was going to Boston. Pam followed
him into the parking lot to retrieve some photos. The scumbag then shot her
in the head at approximately 4PM and left her dying in the parking lot. He then
surrendered to police and is now charged with murder. There is no doubt that
domestic breakups and disputes are very dangerous events. Several of my security
surveys and numerous students use my services due to their utter fear of the
other party. Let's look at this from a bystanders viewpoint. You are inside
the restaurant and overhear the heated argument. ! What do you do? You are in
the parking lot and see the husband pointing a handgun at the ex-wife. What
do you do? These are valid questions but there are really no clear-cut answers.
In the restaurant that is relatively easy. You observe and then call the police
if needed in your opinion. Physical intervention is possible but probably not
smart. This is one of those situations that if you do intervene inside, the
scumbag may have started shooting inside. You are simply not aware of the assailant's
capabilities. My recommended course of action is to simply call the police and
report a domestic disturbance. Outside in the parking lot is a little trickier.
If you walk into that mess, he probably already had the gun in his hand; a bonafide
deadly force situation. I definitely recommend taking cover immediately.
Cover is a military term that means you will have protection from direct fire
weapons such as handguns. Concealment simply means that you will have protection
from ! observation. If you are armed you may decide to intervene by so advising
that you have a gun and attempt to alter his criminal behavior. However, there
are definite risks. Your action may save her life but may also precipitate a
gun battle that may hurt or kill others to include your family and friends as
well as yourself to death or great bodily injury. Please remember that
whatever you do, you do at your own risk and liability. In closing, do the right
thing whatever that is!
St. Petersburg Times July 16, 2002 "Man shoots ex-boss,
kills himself"
An ex-employee, Ronald Rosenblatt, returned to his former place
of employment at Bob's Classic Inc. in Largo at about 1:30PM. He was apparently
upset because the owner had him arrested the previous month for altering a paycheck
from less than a $100 to several thousand dollars. The owner, Robert Simpson,
noticed that the scumbag had a gun. He took off running through the building
in an effort to escape. He warned an employee that the ex-employee had a gun
and the employee hit the deck. The scumbag fired about six shots hitting the
owner once in the buttocks and damaging several vehicles in the parking lot.
He then drove his motorcycle to his home on South Myrtle Avenue in Clearwater
and shot himself in the head. If you had been the employee, what would you have
done? This is a wham-bam type situation. You're working and then your boss runs
past you advising that there is a man with a gun. Probably exactly what the
employee did. Hit the deck and get out of t! he line of fire. It is apparent
that the shooter was only after the boss. Anything that the employee did would
have been basically too little too late and needlessly exposed him to harm.
There was no time for the employee to arm himself with a handgun or other weapon.
There is an old saw -- you don't bring a hammer to a gunfight! Be a good witness
and stay out of the way! Remember, use your head for more than a hat rack!
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and
to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all."
STAY SAFE AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!
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