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Slain Polk Shopkeepers Mourned

BILLY TOWNSEND / The Tampa Tribune

Polk Sheriff Grady Judd watches a procession carrying the coffins of Pravinkumar and Dashrath Patel outside Heath Funeral Chapel in Lakeland during Wednesday's funeral. The men were killed in a robbery at a convenience store Friday night.

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By BILLY TOWNSEND, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 13, 2007

Updated: 12/12/2007 11:55 pm

Photo Gallery From The Funeral

LAKELAND - Before and after a traditional Hindu funeral service at Heath Funeral Chapel, men in simple white dress shirts and dark pants stood quietly alongside women in flowing pastel saris.

As the coffins bearing Dashrath Patel, 50, and Pravinkumar Patel, 33, emerged from the chapel, the 200 or so mourners surrounded them and began to chant. The procession led to the hearse that would take the men to be cremated.

Many of them came Wednesday to bid goodbye to two men they never knew, who died in a way that has become too familiar.

"This is five times in the last five years that I've been to this funeral home," said Dinesh Gandhi, who came to Lakeland from Pasco County.

Eight Polk convenience store owners or employees have been fatally shot during robberies at their stores since 2000. A ninth victim was wounded but survived. At least six of the victims were of Indian descent.

The most recent victims, Pravinkumar Patel and Dashrath Patel, were killed Friday night by an assailant who attempted to rob the BP store and gas station where they were working, at Interstate 4 and County Road 557.

The two men were changing numbers on a gas price sign outside the store when a man ran up and shot them in the head at close range. Autopsy reports indicate that the gun barrel was pressed against their heads when they were killed. Surveillance video shows the men had their hands raised as the killer approached.

The clerk inside escaped harm because the killer was unable to break in to the locked store.

"I want to ask him why," said Polk Sheriff Grady Judd, who attended the service. "Why did you run over to the sign and kill two innocent men, who were just working?"

Before anyone can ask the killer anything, he must be caught. Deputies acknowledge that's going to be difficult, given the remote store's close proximity to Interstate 4 in an isolated area. The killer could have come from anywhere and fled anywhere, Judd said.

"We need the community's help," Judd said.

Detectives on Wednesday released surveillance camera images of a man they want to question. He was a customer at the BP store about 21 minutes prior to the killings, Judd said.

The man is not a suspect in the case, Judd said, but detectives hope he could be a witness.

The store video shows a black man driving a dark Chevrolet Avalanche pickup into the parking lot and then walking into the store. He is bald, wears a dark T-shirt with a light-colored logo on the front, and has tattoos on the back of his neck. He walks through the store and is seen at the check-out counter.

In addition, video of a white Mitsubishi also was released. The car is seen driving through the parking lot after the crime occurred.

"We need someone to come forward and tell us what they may have seen or heard," Judd said. "We will not leave one stone unturned in this investigation. Something simple that didn't appear suspicious at the time may give us what we need in this investigation."

A $20,000 reward is offered for information that leads to an arrest in the killings of the Patels, who were not related.

Anyone with information about the shootings is asked to call Detective Ivan Navarro at (863) 287-8313 or Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS (8477).

The men were recent immigrants from Gujarat state in India, where most of their relatives live, mourners said. Their closest family members were not able to attend Wednesday's funeral services, but men and women from the Tampa Bay area's Indian community came to mourn.

A number of mourners wondered angrily why Polk County has become such a dangerous place for Indian shop owners. Pasco resident Gandhi said that for cultural and religious reasons, many store owners don't believe in owning guns and are not armed inside their stores.

"We're very religious, very quiet people," he said.

Rakesh Patel, a Lakeland pharmacist, said word is out among Indian businessmen that Polk is a dangerous place to own a store. He said, "If I were to buy a business, I wouldn't buy it in Polk County."

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at wtownsend@tampatrib.com or (863) 284-1409.

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