[Bazf]

Looks like its catching only we catch people without a fishing licence, oh yeah no civil liberties person to complain here.





Unlucky Winners Get Handcuffs
By THOMAS W. KRAUSE
[email protected]







TAMPA - The young red-haired woman smiled broadly as she walked through the curtain into the rear of an Ybor City storefront.

Why wouldn't she be smiling? She was just informed she had won her choice of three prizes: season tickets to the Bucs, a 42-inch plasma television or $1,000 cash.

Once behind the curtain, the young woman's face sank and her shoulders dropped.

``Oh no,'' she moaned as Tampa police officers placed her in handcuffs.

The woman, 32-year-old April Green, was one of 11 people arrested Wednesday in a law enforcement sting intended to lure area residents who have outstanding arrest warrants. Green was charged with violating her probation by writing worthless checks.

Charges against the others included domestic violence and dealing in stolen property. A sexual predator was charged with violating probation, police said. One 19-year-old man, Joshua Cain, was arrested on a warrant for fishing without a license and not having a life preserver.

Cain's mother, Beverlee Cain, said she thought it was ridiculous that police spent the time and energy to arrest her son on such a minor charge.

``Go get people who are real troublemakers in this world,'' she said.

Despite the small number of people arrested, police deemed the operation a success.

Last week, about 350 people received fliers inviting them to the opening of a new business in Ybor City. All Star Sports promotions, listed on the flier as ``a ticket broker of sorts,'' offered one of three expensive prizes. The business, however, is fictional. The prizes do not exist.

When the suspects walked into the lobby, they were asked to sign in and show a photo identification. Officers, posing as employees, ran the names through a computer to ensure the warrants were still outstanding. In a back room, more officers waited.

``They knew they had the warrants and it was just a matter of time until we caught up with them,'' said Tampa Officer Jamie Bryant, who borrowed the sting idea from similar operations in other cities. ``One lady just started laughing. She said, `You got me.' ''

Serving warrants the more traditional way, by knocking on suspects' doors, can be a difficult and dangerous job, Bryant said. Often people aren't home or they've moved. Sometimes, he said, the suspects have weapons hidden in their homes.

A few would-be winners arrived with friends, relatives or even children. Capt. Jill Ramsten said all of the suspects who came with children also came with another adult who could drive the children home. No children were allowed behind the curtain where the arrests were made, she said. The storefront, on 16th Street just off Seventh Avenue, was decorated and painted Tuesday by officers with the District 3 street crime unit.