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3 Skateboarders Arrested

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By MIKE WELLS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 7, 2008

TAMPA - Three men were jailed Wednesday night after police warned them about skateboarding on city property and then being spotted by a security guard doing it again, according to arrest reports.

One of the men denied he and his friends got back on their boards after being warned and said he will fight the charge in court.

Police said Leon Wilfredo Lopez, 24, Jed Wesley Foster, 22, and Oliver Quinn Giles, 18, were warned at 10:30 p.m. about riding skateboards in the Fort Brooke parking garage at 107 N. Franklin St. and that moments later a security guard saw them skating in a garage at 207 E. Kennedy Blvd.

Lopez said about 10 people were skating in the first garage when police arrived. He was there with Giles and two 17-year-old friends.

The group ran when an officer approached and ignored his commands to stop, police said.

Lopez said Foster was caught first.

Lopez, Giles and their two younger friends had gone to the second parking garage when his cell phone rang. It was an officer telling him and his friends to return to the first garage, he said.

The arrest reports do not mention a cell phone call.

The friends returned to the first garage, but not before one of the juveniles stashed his skateboard under a stairwell in the second garage, Lopez said.

The officer issued them all trespass warnings and they were released, Lopez said.

They returned to the second garage to retrieve the hidden skateboard when a security officer stopped them, Lopez said.

The guard told police they were skateboarding in the garage, but Lopez said otherwise.

"I'm pleading not guilty because I was not skating in the second garage," he said.

Each of the suspects was charged with unlawful skateboarding and obstructing an officer, both misdemeanors. Police said Foster gave a false name to an officer when he was arrested and he also was charged with providing a false name.

Foster was released early today after posting $1,250 bail.

Giles was released after posting $750 bail, records show.

Lopez was released from jail this morning after posting $750 bail. His wife picked him up and took him home so he could get dress for work, he said.

Lopez said his two 17-year-old friends were taken by police to the Juvenile Assessment Center. None of the adults' arrest reports mention these minors.

The University of South Florida graduate said he is worried the arrest will affect his job in account management with a uniform company.

"I'm not really in a position to get arrested," Lopez said. "I have a professional job."

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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