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Danger Is Creeping Into South Tampa

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By BUZZ KELLY

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 27, 2008

She is tall and slender, with a waterfall of blond hair descending almost to the daisy tattoo at the bottom of her spine, and on a recent evening she met terror in South Tampa.

By day, she works in a downtown law office. By night she's lead singer in a rock and roll band. She was on her way home after an early gig opening for another band; it was a bit after 10 p.m., and she had turned onto South Himes Avenue from El Prado when she saw three youths at the side of the street throw something at her - rocks, bottles, she didn't know - and, startled, swerved her vintage blue Mustang into the landscaped median. The tires blew out, she over-corrected and screeched into the parking lot of the YMCA.

Shaken, she got out to look at her tires - two of them deflated, the rims bent - then she saw the three youths crossing the street, coming after her. One of them shouted, "We're gonna rape you, b****." She jumped back in her Mustang, locked the doors, called her husband - who was following only minutes behind her - then called 911.
South Tampa has the fastest police response time in the city, usually less than 10 minutes, but her husband got there first. Tires squealing as he turned into the YMCA lot, he saw the three youths running away across the field to the north of the building, but his focus was on his wife and how she was, so he couldn't give a description of the youths or an idea of where they went.

She couldn't describe them either - it had all happened so fast - only that they were white, seemed to be teens and they had really scared her. The cops made a report, but with no descriptions or directions, there wasn't much they could do. It was just a happening, and thank goodness nobody was hurt.

Telling me about it later, she said, "This is South Tampa, a safe neighborhood ... things like that aren't supposed to happen here!"

Sadly, the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office and the Tampa Police department say otherwise. Gang activity has infiltrated every part of the city and county; no place is safe. But I wonder, as does my friend: Were those three gang members? Or were they just three teens hanging out after dark with nothing better to do than terrorize the innocent? And if it's the latter, how did those teens grow up that way, to do things like that, and what is going on with their parents?

Whatever the answers are, it's increasingly clear we need more protection. The weekly crime reports are rising - vandalism, robberies, car thefts, home invasions. This once idyllic part of Tampa is changing. We need marked cars cruising the streets, patrolling, watching, checking. I'll say this: If South Tampa is becoming Baghdad, and if my taxes have to go up so Humvees can guard us, I'll pay it. So will my blond friend.

Buzz Kelly is a Tampa native, former advertising executive and freelance writer.

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