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Deputies Investigate Lakeland Murder

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune
and JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 13, 2008

Updated: 01/13/2008 06:34 pm

LAKELAND - Detectives on Sunday arrested four teenagers and a 21-year-old man in the fatal beating of a Lakeland bar owner that erupted after a fight over a football game, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

Richard Oaks

Richard Oaks, 49, who owns the Par 33 Lounge at 4106 Lakeland Hills Blvd., was found dead by his wife shortly after 4 a.m. Sunday in their master bedroom, the sheriff's office said.

Investigators interviewing witnesses and those involved determined that a fight between Oaks and another man precipitated the beating and that the other man's daughter and her friends had organized the attack.

Charles Bonfiglio, 21, of Lakeland; Bonfiglio's 17-year-old brother, Cody Scarpa of Lithia; and Brock Winkler, 17, of Lakeland, all are charged with felony first-degree murder and felony burglary, the sheriff's office said.

Their friends Alexia Pierce, 17, and Tiffanie Hemness, 19, both of Lakeland, are charged with felony accessory to burglary, a charge related to illegally entering someone's home with the intent to commit a crime, the sheriff's office said.

Investigators gave this account of what occurred:

Oaks got into a dispute at the bar on Saturday with a neighbor, Alan Pierce, and struck Pierce in the head with a beer bottle.

While at Lakeland Regional Medical Center receiving 13 stitches for his wound, Alan Pierce phoned his daughter, Alexia, who was hanging out at home with Bonfiglio, Scarpa and Hemness.

Alexia Pierce and the others went to the hospital to visit Alan Pierce. They ran into another friend, Winkler, who was visiting someone else. They became "enraged" about what had happened to Alan Pierce and "vowed to do something about it," the sheriff's office said.

Meanwhile, friends drove Oaks home because he had been drinking. Sometime after midnight, while the girls remained outside, Bonfiglio, Scarpa and Winkler ran into Oaks' home and fatally beat him with their fists and an umbrella, the sheriff's office said.

As adults, Bonfiglio and Hemness will be booked into the Polk County Jail. The others will be transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center, officials said.

Investigators said Alan Pierce was not an accessory to the beating and will not charged.

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