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St. Pete Police Chief Honors 10-Year-Old Crimefighter

Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN

Thursday morning, St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon recognized 10-year-old Madison Fernandez with a special award for her vigilance in November.

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 20, 2007

Updated: 12/20/2007 01:54 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - If she wants it, 10-year-old Madison A. Fernandez has a future as a crime watch coordinator.

Thursday morning, St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon recognized the Bay Vista Fundamental Elementary School fifth-grade student with a special award for her vigilance in November.

Harmon surprised Madison in her classroom with the presentation.

About 11:30 a.m. Nov. 18, the fifth-grader saw a man enter a garage on Coffee Pot Riviera Street Northeast, take out a bicycle and then ride off on it, said St. Petersburg Police Department spokesman Bill Proffitt.

She then gave police a detailed description, but patrol officers couldn't find him. Two days later, he returned to the neighborhood.

Madison, playing in the front yard with a friend, spotted him again looking at the same garage.

"We knew he was going to steal again," Madison said Thursday after the presentation. "We ran to the house screaming we saw the guy."

She also said she was "kinda scared" seeing the man again.

She told her mother, who in turn notified the neighbor, and police were called, Proffitt said. The neighbor followed the man until police arrived. He was arrested and charged with loitering and prowling, Proffitt said.

Madison again provided a witness statement to police. She identified the man as the same one who had taken the bicycle, Proffitt said. She even noticed he was wearing the same boots he had on when he took the bicycle, Proffitt said.

One officer remarked that her descriptions were better than some given by adults, Proffitt said.

The man told police he took the bicycle and had burglarized two homes. He was identified as Roshawn Cromartie, 27, and was charged with two counts of residential burglary. He is suspected of others throughout downtown and in the city's old northeast neighborhoods, Proffitt said.

The $600 bicycle was not recovered.

"Madison's actions are to be commended in that she did not place herself in danger but rather she promptly reported her observations to her mother and the police were then notified," Proffitt explains in a written statement.

Her mother, Barbara, said Madison is a highly observant child. She was proud of what her daughter did.

"She knows when you see something, you do the right thing. She did some good for out community," Barbara Fernandez said Thursday.

It's been quite a week for Madison. During the weekend she scored a perfect 10 on the vault in a gymnastics competition in Miami.

In addition to the certificate, Madison was made an honorary St. Petersburg Police Department detective and given a department patch. But she really didn't think she needed a reward to do what she did.

"Even if you don't get a prize or anything, you know in your heart you did the right thing," she said.

Reporter Neil Johnson contributed to this report. Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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