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Teen Arrested In Tarpon Springs Home Invasion Is Suspect In Attack On Dogs

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 26, 2007

TARPON SPRINGS - A 16-year-old Tarpon Springs boy has been charged in one home invasion and has emerged as a suspect in two other crimes – another home invasion in which a 92-year-old man was toppled from his wheelchair, and a burglary in which a dachshund's throat was slit, police and victims say.

  David Lee Flanders

David Lee Flanders of 743 Bayshore Drive was arrested at his home this morning, police said. He was charged with violating juvenile probation and one count of armed home invasion.

The home invasion charge stems from a robbery Sunday at 621 N. Florida Ave. Flanders also is a suspect – but has not been charged – in a home invasion on the same day involving the 92-year-old man.

He also is a suspect in a burglary at 601 S. Florida Ave. that occurred the same day, and in which two dachshunds were attacked, police and the homeowners in that case say. He hasn't been charged in that incident, either.

Flanders is the second person arrested in the home invasion at 621 N. Florida Ave. Jake V. Ward, 20, of New Port Richey, is in custody in Hernando County. He also is a suspect in the two other crimes.

Police say the victim at 621 N. Florida Ave. was awakened by two male intruders, one of whom was armed with a handgun and threatened to shoot him. The victim recognized both intruders, and one of them, Ward, used to be the victim's roommate, police have said.

It was unknown what, if anything, they took, said Lt. Barbara Templeton of the Tarpon Springs Police Department.

The same morning, two people entered the home of a 92-year-old man who has impaired vision and uses a wheelchair. The pair toppled the man from his wheelchair, demanded money and threatened him with a handgun, police said. In this home invasion, the intruders took a large amount of cash as well as personal checks, police said.

The intruders also disabled the man's telephones to keep him from calling police, authorities said. It took him several hours to right himself and reach a neighbor's home to get help.

Though it, too, occurred in the early morning hours Sunday, the burglary at 601 S. Florida Ave. wasn't discovered until later that day, the victims in this case say. Two dachshunds that had been in the backyard came inside bloodied, said Callie Meta, a wife and mother who lives at the home.

The speculation at the time was that the dogs had been attacked by another animal, but then a veterinarian told the Meta family the animals had suffered from lacerations inflicted by a sharp object, Meta said. One of the two dachshunds died, she said.

Nothing was found missing until later Sunday, Meta said. That's when she discovered jewelry and a 32-inch flat-screen TV missing from her bedroom, she said.

She said she and her husband think that after the family took the wounded dachshunds to the veterinarian's office early Sunday, the suspects made their way inside and stole the belongings. Meta was on her way to the police department late this afternoon because detectives had recovered a television and some jewelry in their investigation, and the Metas were going to see if they were theirs, she said.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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