NewsHound
07-03-2008, 09:57 PM
Crime On Pinellas Trail Climbing Sharply
ST. PETERSBURG - As he has done for years, Bryan Hilbert was riding his bicycle on the Pinellas Trail one afternoon in March when he was approached by two men riding bicycles.
At first he was asked whether he was straight, meaning if he was interested in drugs, and the 45-year-old landlord said he was not.
Then one rode his bicycle in front of Hilbert's blue Nishiki mountain bike, forcing Hilbert to slow and stop. The other was behind Hilbert when he felt a blow to the head so strong he was knocked unconscious.
"I was beat really bad," Hilbert said today. "I must have been fighting each time I woke up, and that's why they kept beating me."
In the end, Hilbert lost his bike, $800 in cash he had just collected in rent, an iTouch music player, credit cards and a backpack. His shoulder and nose were broken in the assault, and the bone around his eye was fractured.
Crime on the trail is going up.
St. Petersburg has witnessed more than a 100 percent increase in the number of incidents on the section of the trail that runs through the city. From January through the end of June last year, there were six incidents, but for the same period this year that number has climbed to 14, statistics show.
The city has seen so many robberies this year on a stretch of the trail from 40th to 49th streets that administrators have increased patrols in the area, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt. Of the 14 incidents on the section of the trail that goes through St. Petersburg, 12 have been robberies – one of them involving Hilbert.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which patrols sections of the trail in the mid- and northern parts of the county, has also seen an uptick in violent crime, albeit a slight one. From January through June of last year, there was only one robbery, but during the same period this year, there were two robberies, and an incident in which a woman was attacked, according to department statistics.
"It's become a scarier place," said Hilbert, who is still undergoing physical therapy three times a week for the injuries to his shoulder.
Hilbert was attacked on the part of the trail that bisects 40th Street.
Stephanie Rockfield, a 19-year-old sales associate, was attacked last month on the stretch between 43rd and 49th streets, in an assault eerily similar to Hilbert's.
According to Rockfield and a police report, she was riding her bicycle to the YMCA when she was approached by two young men riding bicycles. They stopped in front of her, forcing her to stop, when one of them punched her in the face, knocking her off her bicycle. Then she was struck on the back of the head.
The culprits took her I-Pod, her cell phone, all her identification, and her credit and debit cards, she said. Though she suffered minor head trauma and a bad bruise under an eye, she rode her bicycle home and called police.
"It was pretty scary, I have never been hit like that before," she said. "I definitely won't be going on the trail by myself."
She also drives her car to the Y now.
Rockfield said she was attacked on what was her first bicycle ride to St. Petersburg's south side, but trail users in the northern part of the county aren't immune from attack either.
One day in May, a 23-year-old woman rollerblading in Palm Harbor was attacked by a 36-year-old registered sex offender riding a bicycle. He knocked her down, jumped on her, punched her and choked her, but she fought back and, after several minutes, he stood up, apologized and ran, sheriff's authorities say.
In St. Petersburg, slightly more than half of the incidents have involved teenagers stealing bicycles from other teens, and they appear to be doing so while students are riding to school or just after their lunch break, Proffittsaid.
"All the suspects are between the ages of 13 and 18," said Proffitt, "and we don't believe it's one group or the same two or three suspects in every case. We don't see a connection between the robberies."
None of the suspects in any of the robberies has been apprehended, Proffitt said.
Hilbert, for one, says he is "really upset" that detectives haven't done more to catch the men who attacked him.
Still, once he's done with therapy and buys another bicycle, Hilbert will return to the trail. Even with the crime, he said, it's safer riding his bicycle there than trying to navigate it through traffic on the open road.
Source (http://suncoastpinellas.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/03/crime-pinellas-trail-climbing-sharply/?news)
ST. PETERSBURG - As he has done for years, Bryan Hilbert was riding his bicycle on the Pinellas Trail one afternoon in March when he was approached by two men riding bicycles.
At first he was asked whether he was straight, meaning if he was interested in drugs, and the 45-year-old landlord said he was not.
Then one rode his bicycle in front of Hilbert's blue Nishiki mountain bike, forcing Hilbert to slow and stop. The other was behind Hilbert when he felt a blow to the head so strong he was knocked unconscious.
"I was beat really bad," Hilbert said today. "I must have been fighting each time I woke up, and that's why they kept beating me."
In the end, Hilbert lost his bike, $800 in cash he had just collected in rent, an iTouch music player, credit cards and a backpack. His shoulder and nose were broken in the assault, and the bone around his eye was fractured.
Crime on the trail is going up.
St. Petersburg has witnessed more than a 100 percent increase in the number of incidents on the section of the trail that runs through the city. From January through the end of June last year, there were six incidents, but for the same period this year that number has climbed to 14, statistics show.
The city has seen so many robberies this year on a stretch of the trail from 40th to 49th streets that administrators have increased patrols in the area, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt. Of the 14 incidents on the section of the trail that goes through St. Petersburg, 12 have been robberies – one of them involving Hilbert.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which patrols sections of the trail in the mid- and northern parts of the county, has also seen an uptick in violent crime, albeit a slight one. From January through June of last year, there was only one robbery, but during the same period this year, there were two robberies, and an incident in which a woman was attacked, according to department statistics.
"It's become a scarier place," said Hilbert, who is still undergoing physical therapy three times a week for the injuries to his shoulder.
Hilbert was attacked on the part of the trail that bisects 40th Street.
Stephanie Rockfield, a 19-year-old sales associate, was attacked last month on the stretch between 43rd and 49th streets, in an assault eerily similar to Hilbert's.
According to Rockfield and a police report, she was riding her bicycle to the YMCA when she was approached by two young men riding bicycles. They stopped in front of her, forcing her to stop, when one of them punched her in the face, knocking her off her bicycle. Then she was struck on the back of the head.
The culprits took her I-Pod, her cell phone, all her identification, and her credit and debit cards, she said. Though she suffered minor head trauma and a bad bruise under an eye, she rode her bicycle home and called police.
"It was pretty scary, I have never been hit like that before," she said. "I definitely won't be going on the trail by myself."
She also drives her car to the Y now.
Rockfield said she was attacked on what was her first bicycle ride to St. Petersburg's south side, but trail users in the northern part of the county aren't immune from attack either.
One day in May, a 23-year-old woman rollerblading in Palm Harbor was attacked by a 36-year-old registered sex offender riding a bicycle. He knocked her down, jumped on her, punched her and choked her, but she fought back and, after several minutes, he stood up, apologized and ran, sheriff's authorities say.
In St. Petersburg, slightly more than half of the incidents have involved teenagers stealing bicycles from other teens, and they appear to be doing so while students are riding to school or just after their lunch break, Proffittsaid.
"All the suspects are between the ages of 13 and 18," said Proffitt, "and we don't believe it's one group or the same two or three suspects in every case. We don't see a connection between the robberies."
None of the suspects in any of the robberies has been apprehended, Proffitt said.
Hilbert, for one, says he is "really upset" that detectives haven't done more to catch the men who attacked him.
Still, once he's done with therapy and buys another bicycle, Hilbert will return to the trail. Even with the crime, he said, it's safer riding his bicycle there than trying to navigate it through traffic on the open road.
Source (http://suncoastpinellas.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/03/crime-pinellas-trail-climbing-sharply/?news)