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Questions Continue In Apollo Beach-St. Pete Rape Case

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By JOSH POLTILOVE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 27, 2008

TAMPA - All day long, Shawn Haverfield said, he hears about Rigoberto Moron Martinez, who investigators say unleashed a reign of terror in the Tampa Bay area, raping women and robbing people.

All day long, Haverfield said, he hears about how Martinez had been jailed on a misdemeanor charge and released in Hillsborough County on Aug. 5 - prior to the rapes of two employees at The Docks, Haverfield's Apollo Beach restaurant. Immigration officials say Martinez, a Mexican national, is an illegal immigrant.

Several people have pointed fingers in recent days, questioning who or what is responsible for Martinez's release.

"The entire incident itself is very frustrating - whether it's a breakdown at the local level, the state level or the federal level," Haverfield said.

U.S. Rep Ginny Brown-Waite on Sunday called for a review of the interaction "or lack thereof" between Hillsborough law enforcement and immigration officials in connection with Martinez's arrest. Sheriff David Gee on Monday said Brown-Waite's comments were politically motivated and that his agency had contacted immigration officials.

Investigators said that Martinez, 20, was responsible in the Aug. 15 attack at The Docks restaurant as well as two attacks in July in Hillsborough County and a sexual attack Aug. 3 at a St. Petersburg restaurant.

Jose Walle, 13, of Wimauma, and Vicente Reyes-Carbajal, 20, of Ruskin, also were involved in some of the incidents, investigators said.

Before the Aug. 15 assaults, Martinez was jailed in Hillsborough County and released Aug. 6. He posted bail on a misdemeanor charge of failing to appear on a domestic-related charge, and immigration officials, who had been contacted, didn't place a hold on him, sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said.

"Tens of thousands of defendants each year make bond and leave our jails," Callaway wrote in an e-mail to The Tampa Tribune. "Deputies cannot arbitrarily detain anyone without cause, be it a warrant, an ICE hold, judge's order, etc. Just because someone thinks someone is guilty or that someone is a suspect but not yet charged, there are laws and rules in our country we follow."

St. Petersburg police say they also contacted immigration officials.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said Tuesday that immigration officials are continuing to investigate what happened Aug. 5.

Even if immigration officials had received the notification, ICE spokesman Ivan Ortiz said Monday, Martinez would not have met the qualifications for a high-priority case. Someone charged with aggravated crime such as rape, a person with a prior felony conviction, or a threat to national security would be considered a top priority, he said.

Callaway confirmed Tuesday that St. Petersburg police had notified deputies prior to the Aug. 5 arrest about Martinez's potential link to the St. Petersburg attacks. Knowing Martinez was a rape suspect in the Aug. 3 attacks didn't change anything procedurally at the jail, though, because he had not been charged with the crime, Callaway said.

One reason for the Aug. 5 arrest was to obtain a DNA sample from Martinez to compare with DNA evidence collected after the St. Petersburg rape, St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt said Friday.

Experts say studies and data going back more than a century in the United States consistently show that immigrants, documented and undocumented, are far less likely to commit violent crimes than native-born citizens.

Sheriff's officials say many undocumented immigrants appear in Hillsborough County's jail system each year.

About 80,000 people made their way through Hillsborough County's jail booking and juvenile assessment center between July 31, 2007 and July 31, 2008, Col. David Parrish said. The jail flagged about 12,000 as potential illegal immigrants and sent that information to immigration officials, he said.

Immigration officials placed holds on about 700 people.

At The Docks, 6520 N. U.S. 41, more than $21,000 has been raised so far for the two employees investigators say were attacked by Martinez and two other people.

The employees are overwhelmed by the response, Haverfield said.

He said "they're just dealing with it one day at a time and trying to get back to normal."

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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