From Florida

BRADENTON -- Months ago, Jerry Camp told a jury about a morning when a man in slacks marched up to his house with court papers and said he was taking the Cadillac Escalade in the front yard.

Camp said he was terrified, puzzled why his luxury sport utility vehicle was being seized and unsure whether the man was a genuine Manatee County deputy sheriff. Camp held an unloaded gun over his head in the hope he could buy time until the police arrived.

But the jury could not decide whether Camp was guilty of improperly exhibiting a firearm, a misdemeanor, and the judge declared a mistrial. Camp, 73, then rejected a plea deal, wanting a new jury to decide his case.

On Thursday, when Camp returned to trial, taking the same seat on the stand as he did in January, a panel of five women and one man found consensus. They declared Camp guilty after about two hours of deliberations. Sentencing was deferred.

Central to the prosecution was the state's position that Camp knew there was a real officer in his yard and that Camp angrily and carelessly armed himself with a pistol that morning in January 2006.

"This didn't happen in 1850s' Wild West," Assistant State Attorney Tony Casoria said. Casoria said Camp put lives in danger that day.

But Camp's attorney, Mark Lipinski, presented a vastly different portrait, saying Camp was a frightened man who acted to defend his property.

Lipinski built a case rooted in Camp's reported fear that he was being robbed by a fake officer. The attorney presented newspaper articles about impersonation cases in Southwest Florida, and he spoke about the rise in violent crime in Manatee County.

Camp, his attorney said, did not point the gun at the man in his yard -- Kent Dodd, director of the sheriff's civil unit -- and he did not wave it around. Camp did not verbally threaten the officer.

"What he did may not have been the smartest thing in the world," Lipinski said in court. "But what he did was not criminal."

Dodd, a longtime officer, never met Camp before pulling up to his house, 5200 block 44th St. E. Dodd drove an unmarked, white Ford Crown Victoria sheriff's car.

Armed with court papers to seize Camp's Escalade because of an unpaid 13-year-old debt, Dodd approached the front door and knocked.

There was no answer. He taped the papers to the door. He called for a tow truck.

Camp soon stepped outside and demanded that Dodd prove he was an officer. Dodd was wearing a sheriff's jacket and had a gold badge around his neck. But he refused to show Camp identification.

Citing safety concerns, Dodd said he did not want to reach into his wallet to fish for his ID.

Camp called 911 twice during the dispute.

"If you have doubts about police officers, you phone 911," Lipinski said. "Jerry Camp wanted help. He wanted someone there."

Camp was up on his payments for the vehicle and said he could not understand why anyone was taking his car.

At one point, Dodd gave Camp an option: Pay $10,000 to satisfy a civil court judgment and avoid having the car towed.

Camp, who runs several day care centers, told jurors he thought he was the victim of a fraud.

"I started to get a very funny feeling that this guy was not a deputy sheriff," Camp said in court.

"I thought they were going to take my Escalade and put a bullet in my head besides."

Dodd walked away, turning his back on Camp. When he looked back, Camp stood in his door holding a gun over his head.

Camp said he intentionally unloaded the gun because he did not want a shoot-out. He said he hoped the appearance of the gun would force Dodd to stop the repossession.

But it only escalated the tension.

Dodd took cover and yelled at Camp, telling him to put the gun down. He called for backup.

Casoria, the prosecutor, said the standoff lasted less than a minute.

Camp walked outside with his hands up after a marked patrol car pulled up.

He was arrested at gunpoint on an assault charge, later reduced to improper exhibition of a firearm.

Longtime sheriff's Deputy Ned Foy testified Thursday that it is standard policy to show a photo ID when a person asks a deputy to see it. Foy was a backup deputy at Camp's house

Way To Go, Georgio

FARMINGTON - A West Hartford man was arrested by warrant on a drug possession charge Tuesday after the Enfield company that repossessed his car discovered cocaine and a glass pipe in the vehicle when they took possession of it, police said.

A vehicle owned by Georgio Robles, 37, of 80 Vine Hill Road, West Hartford, was taken by an Enfield repossession company July 27 as it sat in the parking lot of Robles' Farmington employer, police said.
A short time later, Farmington police were notified by Enfield authorities that during a routine inventory check of the contents of the vehicle, employees of the repossession company found two small bags of cocaine and a glass smoking pipe, Lt. William Tyler said.
Robles was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released on $5,000 nonsurety bond and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday

From Florida

STUART — Employees of a car repossession firm were attacked by a truck owner and employees of a local tire store when they attempted to tow the vehicle Tuesday afternoon, according to a Stuart Police report.

Employees of Allen's Recovery were acting on behalf of SunTrust Bank when they showed up at Great American Tire, in the 800 block of Southeast Monterey Road, to tow a 2001 Dodge Ram truck. But when they went to hook up the vehicle to a tow truck, one Great American Tire employee deflated the tires on the Dodge Ram, and another employee parked a second vehicle in front of the tow truck to block the exit, according to arrest reports.

Meanwhile, Stuart resident Terry Allen Brink, 33, allegedly jumped into the tow truck and tried to drive off with it, but he managed to only move about a foot because he was blocked in. His friend, 21-year-old Juvanal Tapia, and an unidentified person allegedly punched an Allen's Recovery employee in the head, according to reports.

The truck owner didn't get involved in the fight and has not been charged in connection to the incident, said Sgt. Marty Jacobson, Stuart Police spokesman.

Brink was charged with felony grand theft auto and Tapia was charged with misdemeanor battery.

From New York

Maybrook - The westbound lanes of Interstate 84 were closed for about an hour yesterday after an SUV being towed behind a flatbed wrecker caught fire on the highway. The flames spread from the first vehicle, an 2002 Mazda Tribute, onto the flatbed, igniting a second SUV, an ’05 Chevy Trailblazer.
State police and fire investigators could not determine yesterday why the Mazda, being towed by its rear, caught fire around 2 p.m., just shy of Exit 5 in Maybrook.
The driver of the flatbed, owned by Martin Towing in Owego, picked up the SUVs from a repossession lot in Patterson. Police said Ryan Short, 27, of Nichols, was headed for the State Line Auto Auction in Waverly. “He drove for 30 miles or so and then it just lit up,” said Trooper Paul Gladman.
Short pulled off the highway onto the shoulder of the road and tried to douse the fire with his extinguisher. The driver of a tractor-trailer pulled over to help, but as the heat intensified, tires and pieces of metal began popping like gun shots.
An eastbound police officer from the Town of Lloyd was first on the scene, making a U-turn to help stop traffic as firefighters from Maybrook and East Coldenham arrived to extinguish the fire. No one was injured.

Another Child Left In Car/Alabama

Authorities say a man hired to repossess a vehicle got more than he bargained for Thursday afternoon when he not only picked up a car but an unexpected passenger.

Officials with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office were called to a convenience store just south of Russellville on U.S. 43 around noon Thursday.

Reports indicate a man hired to repossess a car had picked it up at the store when the driver went inside the business.

What the repo man didn't realize, authorities said, was the woman's small child was in a car seat in the backseat of the car.

Deputies said the repo driver said when he started pulling off, he saw the woman running out of the store and then he noticed the small child in the back seat and immediately pulled back around to the store.

Department officials said the repo man ended up repossessing the car, but did give the woman and her child a ride to their house.

From Pennsylvania

A 74 year old man is facing charges after an attempt to repo his car goes bad. Police were called to Marshall Wilson's home in North Newton Township for a report of shots fired.

Officers say when they arrived, they heard more shots, then Wilson pointed his gun at the officers. He was taken to the Cumberland County Prison.

Florida Man Shoots at Recovery Agent

A Golden Gate Estates man was arrested early Tuesday morning after allegedly shooting at someone who was repossessing his car.

Bradford Intravia, 30, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The incident happened just before 4 a.m. at 1060 Desoto Boulevard South.

Deputies say Waldo Baez, 31, showed up at the home with a tow truck to repossess a car.

As he hooked up the vehicle, Intravia's girlfriend looked out of the window and saw what was going on. She told Intravia who then, according to reports, grabbed a rifle and went outside.

Baez told investigators he was in his truck when he heard something behind him. He turned around and says Intravia had a rifle pointed at him. Baez then reported hearing shots fired.

He says he quickly drove away toward Golden Gate Boulevard.

Authorities say Intravia then got into his girlfriend's car and began to chase Baez.

Deputies were called and met both cars a few blocks away in the area of Golden Gate Boulevard and 6th Street NE.

Deputies say Intravia told them he was trying to get Baez to stop so he could get some keys out of his car.

Intravia was arrested and taken to the Collier County Jail.