POLICE HUNT SUSPECTS IN BID TO CURB CRIME

PLANT CITY - Police hope that a pre-holiday "sweep" will clean up the
streets in time for the Christmas shopping season.

After months of hard work, Police Chief Bill McDaniel is optimistic for a
bountiful harvest one week before Thanksgiving.

But McDaniel isn't talking about strawberries. He's talking about 35
assorted felons the Plant City Police Department has tracked for months in
anticipation of last week's daylong sweep of the city.

"We've been building cases against these people for the past two months,"
McDaniel said Thursday. About 25 officers are involved in the sweep.

Officers Thursday visited the last known addresses for many of the
suspects, in addition to some of their local hangouts, McDaniel said.

Since most of the suspects are wanted on drug charges, McDaniel said he
hopes that getting them off the streets will reduce other kinds of street
crime. Many users steal to support their habits.

"We're coming up on the holiday season and there's a lot of robberies and
thefts that go on while people are shopping so we want to take these people
off the streets," McDaniel said.

Already in custody late Thursday were Angelo Jackson, 20, Devon Wall, 23,
Ileshia Crumbley, 31, and Willie Stewart, 39. They each face one count of
possession of cocaine with intent to sell and deliver.

Jackson was already in Hillsborough County Jail on other charges including
five counts of resisting an officer without violence, battery on a law
enforcement officer, four counts of driving with a suspended license,
fleeing to elude an officer, felon in possession of a firearm and
possession of cocaine. He was being held on $2,500 bail.

Wall also was already in custody. No information was available Thursday
about Crumbley or Stewart.

Also, Paula Sutton, 31, and Pamela Maxwell, 30, were arrested on one count
each of possession of cocaine while Ricky Armstrong, 39, was arrested for
violation of probation.

Sutton was released Thursday on $1,000 bond.