One of the two Apollo Beach restaurant workers who were kidnapped and raped in August said she was able to save herself from further assault by convincing her attacker she had a fatal sexually transmitted disease. ...more

November 13, 2008

Nylon rope, black electrical tape and a condom were among items seized during a search of an SUV linked to the rape and kidnapping of two Apollo Beach restaurant workers, according to documents released today by prosecutors in Hillsborough County. The evidence will likely be used in the case against Rigoberto Moron Martinez, Vicente Reyes-Carbajal and 13-year-old Jose Walle. The trio are charged with the Apollo Beach rapes on Aug. 15 as well as a similar attack at a St. Petersburg restaurant in July. The evidence was listed among 300 pages of discovery typically shared among lawyers prior to trial. The documents also reveal that one of the Apollo Beach rape victims had duct tape in her hair when deputies found her along I-75 in Manatee County just hours after the rape. The women were held for several hours against their will and repeatedly sexually assaulted, then dumped along the highway, where they used a roadside phone to call for help. ...more

November 13, 2008

Immigration officials confirmed Thursday that Hillsborough County deputies and St. Petersburg police contacted them Aug. 5 about the immigration status of Rigoberto Moron Martinez, who later would be charged in the rapes of several women. ...more

August 29, 2008

Immigration officials confirmed today that Hillsborough County deputies and St. Petersburg police contacted them Aug. 5 about the immigration status of Rigoberto Moron Martinez, who later would be charged in the rapes of several women. ...more

August 28, 2008

Like the politician she is, Republican Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, who represents the swamps and woods of Hernando, Citrus, Sumter and parts of Pasco counties, sent out news releases to the media the other day, attacking Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee and his office for not digging into the identity of Rigoberto Moron Martinez, a suspect in a series of violent attacks across the Tampa Bay region. ...more

August 27, 2008

July 3: A Gibsonton woman is raped, and her boyfriend is attacked. ...more

August 27, 2008

Politically motivated and naive is how Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee described a congresswoman's call for a federal investigation after last week's arrest of a Mexican national in rape cases. ...more

August 25, 2008

Rigoberto Moron Martinez had worked at one of the restaurants where he is accused of raping an employee during a robbery, and investigators believe he did so, at least in part, because of a dispute over money he had had with the owner. ...more

August 22, 2008

The day before Rigoberto Moron Martinez was charged with in the sexual attacks of two Apollo Beach restaurant employees, he called his ex-girlfriend and told her he knew he was about to be arrested. ...more

August 21, 2008

The records were identical, but the margin of goals suggested that the Metrostars might be the team to beat. That proved to be true May 3 as the Under 12 Boys league Metrostars rolled the Revolution 5-0 to take over first place in the Plant City Recreation and Parks Department and Optimist youth soccer play. ...more

May 10, 2008