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Propane Gas Sparked Fire

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TBO.com

Published: February 24, 2009

Investigators have determined that a house that exploded in Dunedin on Feb. 11 did so because of propane gas, but they are still at a loss as to how the gas was ignited, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said Monday.

Injured in the blaze at 1524 Michigan Blvd. was Duane Cole, who was living in the home alone. Cole was taken to Tampa General Hospital after the fire, but family members have told the hospital not to release information about his condition.

An American Eskimo dog named Jingles was also hurt and died Saturday after suffering a blood clot.

The explosion leveled the house, and a nearby home sustained minor damage to a window. The explosion was heard up to a mile away.

Cole's stepson, Brandon Harring, has told the media he and his mother moved out of the house two or three months ago when his parents separated.

Harring, 17, said he was at Dunedin High School when someone sent him a text message and he raced to the scene. He said Cole is a construction worker.

Documents Give Rhodes' DUI Data

WTVT morning anchor Russell Rhodes had a blood-alcohol content more than twice the level at which the state presumes intoxication when he was arrested on Jan. 16, according to new court documents.

His blood-alcohol level was 0.179 and 0.178, according to discovery documents released by the state attorney's office on Monday. Florida law presumes impairment at 0.08.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office report, Rhodes was arrested after trying to run from an off-duty deputy who had seen him driving a BMW recklessly in the parking garage at Channelside on Jan. 16.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of drunken driving and resisting an officer without violence.

Teen Upgraded To Fair Condition

The teenager involved in a crash that killed a Hernando County sheriff's captain has improved, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Andrew Frank Morris of Weeki Wachee was upgraded to fair condition Monday at St. Joseph's Hospital, Sgt. Steve Gaskins said. He had been listed in critical condition on Friday.

The 16-year-old drove a 2002 Mitsubishi Montero head-on into Capt. Scott Bierwiler's unmarked 1999 Ford Crown Victoria cruiser on Powell Road in Brooksville about 5:45 a.m. Thursday, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

No details have been released about why Morris, a student at Nature Coast Technical High School, was on the road that early. Bierwiler, a 22-year veteran of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, was on his way to work.

The crash remains under investigation, said Gaskins, noting that the full review will take about 90 days.

Meanwhile, friends and family are remembering Bierwiler. The public is invited to this week's services, a sheriff's office spokesman said.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. today at St. Theresa's Catholic Church, 1107 Commercial Way, Spring Hill.

The funeral Mass is 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Theresa's. Interment will immediately follow at Florida Hills Cemetery, 14354 Spring Hill Drive, Spring Hill.

Man Arrested In Bank Robbery

TAMPA - A news viewer called in a tip that led to the arrest of a robbery suspect this weekend.

The viewer called Crime Stoppers, helping alert investigators that Cornelius Sevell Gray Jr. was involved in the robbery of a woman at a Bank of America, Tampa police say.

Gray, 20, of Tampa, was arrested Saturday and charged with armed robbery. He has been released on $25,000 bail.

According to police, the victim was with her two children when she was robbed at gunpoint Feb. 12.

Police said they also seized a silver 2003 Mitsubishi Diamante that Gray used in the robbery.

A staff report

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