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Slaying Arrest Made

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TBO.com

Published: January 23, 2009

Monty Albright

BROOKSVILLE - Police say 35-year-old Monty Gregg Albright robbed and strangled a man this week.

Albright was arrested at 10:20 p.m. Wednesday and charged with first-degree homicide.

Police say Albright went to 27 Cherry St. on Monday and tied up 58-year-old Steven Van Slyke, a local property appraiser. Albright got Van Slyke's bank card and identification number, took the victim's vehicle to a bank machine and withdrew cash, then returned and strangled Van Slyke, police say.

Albright tried cleaning up the scene and hiding Van Slyke's body under a bed, police say.

Van Slyke's body was found Tuesday by a friend and business partner. Van Slyke's gold Volvo was reported missing and was later found at an undisclosed location.

Additional charges are pending, according to police, who say Albright acted alone.

Albright and Van Slyke had known each other about three weeks and "had an undetermined type relationship," Brooksville police Chief George Turner wrote in an e-mail to the Tribune.

Sergeant Justified In Fatal Shooting

A St. Petersburg police sergeant did not violate department policy when he fatally shot a former Cuban soldier armed with a gun and machete in November, the sergeants' supervisors ruled this afternoon.

The decision comes one month after prosecutors also ruled Sgt. Karl Lounge's shooting of Roberto Garcia-Lara on Nov. 16 was justified.

On that Sunday evening, Garcia-Lara drew authorities' attention when he discharged his .45-caliber Desert Eagle handgun inside his bedroom at 6528 12th St. N., documents from the state attorney's office show.

According to the report, after officers arrived at the house, Garcia-Lara stepped out of the doorway and turned toward Lounge, leveling his gun at the officer, with a machete in the other hand.

Lounge fired three times, striking Garcia-Lara once in the abdomen and once in the pelvis.

An autopsy revealed Garcia-Lara had in his system diazepam, nordiazepam and the antidepressant amitriptyline, the documents state. In addition, Garcia-Lara had a blood-alcohol level of 0.190 percent. A driver is presumed intoxicated with a level of 0.08 or above.

Dog Missing After Robbery

TAMPA - Lauren Lewis can't help but think of her dog, Kaiser, out in the cold.

"I'm hoping somebody has him inside their house," she said Thursday morning.

Kaiser, a 4-year-old male Basenji, escaped from Lewis' house on Lambright Street in Seminole Heights during a burglary Tuesday. The thief took a 40-inch Toshiba television and a plasma television and left the doors open.

Lewis said she and her husband, Mikel, bought the 40-inch television for a Super Bowl gathering. On Tuesday afternoon, a neighbor called police to report the house doors were open.

Kaiser is black, tan and white, and has long legs and a curly tail. He is implanted with a microchip, Lewis said. Basenjis don't bark, but he does howl.

Friends have seen Kaiser in the 7100 block of North Florida Avenue. The Lewises are offering a reward for Kaiser's safe return. If you've seen Kaiser, call at (813) 323-0988.

Weapons Charge Brings 37 Months

TAMPA - A man who figured prominently last year in the investigation into the 1997 disappearance of Sabrina Aisenberg was sentenced Thursday to 37 months in federal prison on a weapons charge.

Scott Overbeck, 44, pleaded guilty in October to being a felon in possession of an explosive device.

Overbeck has said he didn't plan to hurt anyone with the improvised explosive device investigators found in his bedroom.

Public defender David Secular said Overbeck "has struggled with substance abuse difficulties throughout his life that he's never gotten appropriate treatment for." He said Overbeck hopes to use his prison sentence to get treatment.

The Aisenberg investigation was in the news last summer amid reports Overbeck had claimed he purchased a 12-foot boat from Sabrina's mother, Marlene, and speculated the boat once carried the body of the 5-month-old child, who disappeared from her Valrico home and has not been found.

A staff report

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