Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 60

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damn SlUlllA Mill aW-at Camaraderie is unmatched during deputy's illness with cancer, his fellow officers volunteered to work in his place on their own days off so Cooper wouldn't lose any pay. They also asked to donate their own sick leave and comp time to Cooper so the paychecks would keep rolling in. The offers were turned down by the sheriffs department for administrative reasons, a department employee said. But it turned out they weren't needed. Sheriff Mel vin Kelly has said he will keep Cooper on the payroll until the sheriff leaves office Jan.

1. COOPER'S OWN accumulated sick leave will last through November, according to department records. The deputy, now recuperating at home, hopes to return to work in two months. Law enforcement officers claim a camaraderie unlike any other profession, and Cooper, a Hernando deputy for four years, is not unaware of that sentiment. "They've really been good.

It was really nice. "It was like a convention there (at the hospital). Everybody kept coming in and out," he said about his coworkers. Hernando deputy Lanny Corlew said the sworn officers' response was typical of police work. "We all try to help each other out as much as possible, especially in a situation like this," Corlew said.

But, he added, the situation of his good friend, James Cooper, was unlike others the deputies had faced. COOPER, 32, learned he had cancer Nov. 9 after doctors at Lykes Memorial Hospital removed his appendix. He had gone into the hospital the day before complaining of stomach pains. The organ was 12 times its normal size, Cooper said.

Tests showed it was malignant. To make certain all cancer was removed, doctors operated a second time Nov. 16. Tests for cancer were negative, he said. Pleas DEPUTY, Page 3 By KAREN DATKO Harnando Timaa StaH Writar BROOKSVILLE When Hernando County deputy James Cooper was hospitalized this month Pasco jail escapees still loose LiL-f 1 r- By DANIEL LeDUC and DAVID K.

ROGERS Harnando Timet Staff Wrrtara 4 Pmr Men had records of other jail escapes 4L If 4 1 1 By DANIEL LeDUC Harnando Timat Staff Writar It DADE CITY Off-duty sheriffs deputies were called in Tuesday to continue the manhunt for two inmates who escaped from the East Pasco Detention Center in Dade City Monday night. About 35 additional officers joined the usual daily complement of deputies as the search expanded beyond Dade City early Tuesday morning. By 7 p.m., they still had not found the escapees, one a convicted rapist, the other convicted of trying to kill a Zephyrhills police officer two years ago. Both men have escaped from other jails before. "Just about everything," Lt.

Tom Pisut answered when asked what was being used to search for the two men who had overpowered four guards, stabbing one with a screwdriver. HE SAID that deputies in cars and on foot were establishing roadblocks and that the sheriffs department helicopter was being used in the search. But Pisut was reluctant to say just where in the county the search was continuing Tuesday. He said he was concerned that information might aid the escaped convicts. "We don't want to go into that," he said.

"We're afraid it'll go to the wrong people." He did say that deputies were paying special attention to any reports of stolen cars or break-ins in the county, in case they might involve the escapees. Several break-ins had been reported Tuesday, but so far no connection to the escapees has been made, Pisut said. Monday night, the search was concentrated in the heart of Dade City, especially in the 15-block residential area around the jail at the Please see ESCAPEES, Page 7 Wait your turn, there's plenty to go around One of two birds, above, seems to be at odds over who gets the first drink from a leaky faucet as the other decides to go ahead and heads upside down. But it doesn't seem to sit too well with bird number one. At right, the confrontation over water rights takes place at Pine Island Park.

Hernando Timaa CINDY BROWN DADE CITY They still haven't built a jail that can hold Ricky Seal for long. Or, for that matter, Morris Lee Smith. Or, even Arthur Steven Collier III. The three men made a daring escape from the Pasco County jail in Dade City Monday night. On the way to a religious service in the jail's first floor meeting room, they overpowered four guards, stabbed one of them with a screwdriver and broke through a back gate.

Within minutes, Collier was captured a few blocks from the jail after a fight with two corrections officers. But Tuesday night Seal and Smith were still at large, and the search for them with more than 30 deputies, bloodhounds and a helicopter was continuing. PRIOR TO Monday's breakout, each of the three inmates had earned the title of "escape-artist." Collier, 30, was scheduled for trial this very week in Pasco Circuit Court. The charge? Escaping from a Zephyrhills Correctional Institution van at the intersection of U.S. 301 and Chancey Road July 8.

Please see RECORDS, Page 3 ii Spring Hill VFW takes hospitalized veterans for a day's outing Oak Hills golf course is site of crime spree 1 iiiiiw' 'Wmm iwi in By COLLINS CONNER Harnando Timaa Staff Writar By KAREN DATKO Harnando Timaa Staff Writar 0" SPRING HILL There's a crime spree going on at the normally sedate Oak Hills golf course near Spring Hill. Under cover of night, vandals and burglars have stolen golf carts and tools, and driven over the delicate greens. Hernando County sheriffs reports say the value of damage and stolen property in the past two weeks has amounted to between $8,400 and $13,400. "It's getting to be a personal thing," golf course manager Chuck Almony said Tuesday about the crimes. In the latest incident, Harnando Timaa CINDY BROWN Vandals left their auto marks at the 1 8th green at Oak Hills golf course.

WEEKI WACHEE Tuesday, the mermaid sat dry-docked and gave her camera-ready smile. She was posing for pictures with Arthur Medina, an animated 27-year-old who soaked the moment for all its worth, and Johnnie Arowood, a 21-year-old who tried to hide the medical equipment hanging from his wheelchair. The two were among 18 patients from Tampa's Veterans Administration hospital, brought to Weeki Wachee Spring by members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Spring Hill Post 10209. Medina said Arowood was his "good friend." He wheeled the disabled man through the attraction, lit cigarettes for him and talked to him. They met only that morning, just before 9 a.rr..

when they boarded a van. Medina said he was immediately drawn to Arowood. "I don't know why. That's just the way I am," he said. The post members eight of them are at Weeki Wachee with a 10-woman contingent from the VFW Auxiliary.

This is the fourth year they've sponsored the outing. DON'T ASK them why either. They just do it, like they do a monthly song-and-dance performance on the hospital's grounds. Their group paid $3.50 for each visitor's entry ticket, $1.50 for each lunch. But, after all, the visitor-patients served their country; organization members served their country.

What other explanation is necessary, they ask. 'It seems tike somebody knows what's going on and they slip in here whenever nobody's around. Chuck Almony, golf course manager vandals hot-wired six new golf carts Sunday night and went on a joy ride around the greens before dumping the carts on the course. The fiberglass bodies on the $2,800 carts will have to be replaced, Almony said. Damage to the grounds was estimated at $5,000 to $10,000.

The following night, someone drove a car Culprits broke into two vending machines at the clubhouse, taking $55 in cash. They also stole cigarettes and food valued at $252, and a television and microwave oven. They left two partially eaten sandwiches in a trash can. The maintenance building was also hit that night. Tools and equipment valued at $2,114 were transported on a golf cart to a vehicle waiting at the intersection of Puritan Lane and Keysville Avenue.

THE CRIME spree continued the next night. A vehicle driven to the 18th hole spun its wheels, causing $100 in damage to the grounds. Sheriffs Lt. Tony Perez said Tuesday there is not yet enough evidence to determine whether the same culprits are involved in each incident. "That's hard to say," Perez said.

He said because of the location and period of time, it's possible that the burglars are the same. But, Perez added, "There's a lot of burglars out there." IN EACH case, burglars went straight to the valuables without having to rummage around. "It seems like somebody knows what's going on and they slip in here whenever nobody's around," Almony said. But, he added, "We haven't fired anybody lately or anything." The course and its buildings have been burgled three times within two weeks. According to sheriffs reports, the first incident happened early in the morning of Nov.

12. Burglars broke into the maintenance building through two windows and took 18 cases of beer. The total loss in that burglary was $180. THREE SETS of footprints were found around the building. The next burglaries occurred either late last Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, according to the sheriffs department.

Please see VETERANS. Page 3 around the 15th hole, ruining the grounds, Almony said. Last week, a burglary took more than $2,000 in tools and equipment from the maintenance shop, according to a sheriffs report. Almony told a sheriffs investigator he thinks the same culprits have committed each crime. He said Tuesday he doesn't know who they are.

"Thinking is one thing. Knowing is another," he said. Jean Tallman's food column will return next week..