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Commissioner Stops Fight

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By BAIRD HELGESON

bhelgeson@tampatrib.com

Published: March 14, 2009

TAMPA - Maybe Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White misses his old line of work.

White was driving home on North Boulevard on Friday evening when he saw a man beating a woman in the 3700 block.

The former Tampa police officer flipped his car around and saw the man dragging the bloody woman by her hair across four lanes of traffic.

He called 911.

White confronted the man as he tried to drag the woman into a house.

"What the heck are you doing?" White recalled asking.

The man lunged at him, White said.

By that point more than 15 cars had stopped and drivers were calling 911.

The man refused to stop fighting with the woman, so White restrained the man and kept him from getting into the house.

Police arrived about 15 minutes later and arrested David Rodgers, 40, on charges of domestic violence.

Police say Rodgers had been arguing with a roommate in their home at 3701 N. Boulevard when his girlfriend, Christina Hill, 26, ran out the door. Rodgers chased after her and started fighting with her, at one point trying to strangle her.

"I couldn't just watch this happen and not take some kind of action," White said. "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I'd turned on the evening news and saw that something tragic had happened and that I didn't do something about it."
Valrico Bank Robbed

An armed bank robber threatened a bank customer Friday morning in Valrico, demanded the keys to the man's silver minivan, then used the van as a getaway vehicle.

The robbery occurred at 11:30 a.m. at Valrico State Bank, 102 W. Robertson St., according to Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies.

A man approached a teller, demanded money and got an undisclosed amount. He then turned the gun on a customer and took his car keys. The robber fled in the customer's minivan, which was recovered on Mason Street near the bank. There, deputies say, the robber entered another vehicle and left.

Anyone with details should call deputies at (813) 247-8200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-8477.

Dead Bicyclist Identified

A bicyclist who was run over by a tractor-trailer on West Waters Avenue on Thursday afternoon has been identified as Barry Lee Boger, 56, of 6407 River Road.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies said Boger died at Waters Avenue and Florida Mining Boulevard after he was run over by a 1993 Mack truck driven by Osvaldo Gonzalez Mosteiro, 44, of 9818 Willow Way. No charges have been filed.

The incident occurred shortly after 2 p.m. when Mosteiro, southbound on Florida Mining Boulevard, attempted a sharp right turn on Waters Avenue and ran over the bicyclist, who was standing on the sidewalk.

A staff report

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