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Homeless Man Had Machine Guns And Fake IDs, Police Say

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 12, 2008

TAMPA - A homeless man who worked odd jobs for a weapons business kept a secret stash of firearms and fake identification, officials say.

What Timothy Tad Smith, 36, planned to do with the eight machine guns and short-barreled rifle was not clear. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, working with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, arrested Smith on Thursday after searching a storage unit he had rented, an affidavit states.

"We're looking into where he got the firearms, what he was doing with them, whether he was buying, selling or trading. He wasn't licensed to do any of those things," said Special Agent Paul Canup, an ATF spokesman in Tampa.

Smith, who has no known address, was held at Orient Road Jail on Friday without bail. He is facing nine felony weapon-possession charges and five felony charges related to the possession and manufacture of counterfeit identification.
Canup said agents are discussing whether to pursue federal charges against Smith.

In the affidavit, Smith told the agents he had converted the machine guns from semi-automatic to fully automatic firing capability.

It is illegal for a person to possess a fully-automatic firearm without special government permits.

An affidavit lists Smith's employer as Florida Ammo Traders at 6001 Johns Road, Suite 638, in Tampa. The business owner, Vic Grechniw, said Friday that Smith was not on the payroll but did menial tasks, such as cleaning rifle slings.

"He kind of hung around and did odd jobs for us. We fed him," Grechniw said.

The weapons in the storage unit did not belong to Florida Ammo Traders, Grechniw said.

"We're shocked. We're shaking our heads," he said. "We don't know what this was about."

An affidavit states that Smith granted the deputies and agents permission to search his unit at Extra Space Center Self-Storage, 6717 Benjamin Road, on Wednesday. The storage facility is roughly a quarter-mile from the firearms business.

In addition to the weapons, authorities found a counterfeit Texas driver's license, a counterfeit Social Security card and a computer with several identification-card templates inside the storage unit, an affidavit states.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show Smith has not been arrested previously on felony charges in this state. He received probation in 1996 for misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, reckless driving and other traffic-related charges.

Jay Levy, a manager for the storage facility, said Smith had rented one of the storefront units facing Benjamin Road. He declined to discuss additional details.

Grechniw said he heard the manager had called authorities after becoming suspicious that Smith was living at the unit. Canup said the sheriff's office received a complaint of "suspicious activity" at the facility, discovered the guns and called the ATF.

Other storefront units on the property house Bebe's Auto Repair Service and a window-tinting business. The unit Smith rented, indicated by other tenants, has a peephole in the metal door.

Ricardo Serrano, who owns Bebe's, said Smith had been renting the unit before Serrano opened in January. The man kept to himself, he said.

Serrano was alarmed when authorities asked him to close up shop and go home during their search. "It was a little strange," he said. "Me, I try to stay away from guns."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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