On 17 Mar 2022, Lefty Lundquist <lefty_lundquist@ggmail.com> posted some
news:t10cg0$ip3$7@dont-email.me:

> This is the result of Lincoln being manipulated by East Coast bankers.

The victim of a Bradenton armed home invasion is charged with murder in a
revenge shooting, according to the St. Petersburg Police Department.

Last March, Bradenton police say they investigated a robbery that saw
three armed men �ransack� a house, stealing jewelry, cash and a cell phone
from a home near Braden River. Two months later, the victim helped target
and kill one of the alleged suspects in what police call an act of gang
violence, according to an arrest report.

Police say the armed robbery in the 400 block of Cantabria Trail happened
when several victims were inside the home, including two adults and three
children. One victim, according to an arrest report, was Troy Lassiter.

Masked intruders tied Lassiter up and held him at gunpoint before making
away with �several thousand dollars in cash, a large amount of jewelry and
designer bags,� a police report said.

But police say Lassiter drove to St. Petersburg to retaliate against the
men who robbed him, leaving one man dead.

Lassiter faces a first-degree murder charge. He remains in custody at the
Pinellas County Jail, according to court records.

Robbery leads to fatal shooting, police say
Police responded to a May 19 call around 5:39 p.m. at the Baypointe
Preserve condominium complex in North St. Peterburg. According to a police
report, officers found 32-year-old Derrick D. Mims in the parking lot with
a gunshot wound.

Mims was taken to a local hospital where he died, according to an arrest
report.

Police said they did not believe the shooting was random. Mims� girlfriend
told investigators that Mims was shot in retaliation for a Bradenton armed
robbery he took part in earlier, according to a police report.

Mims� girlfriend said a gray BMW followed them on the day of the shooting.
Security footage showed the BMW enter the Baypointe Preserve complex
before leaving a couple of minutes later, an arrest report said.

Additional footage also showed the BMW follow the couple to the grocery
store, court records say.

When Mims returned to the complex after running errands, his girlfriend
told police that she got out of the car while Mims stayed near the trunk
and began talking with someone that it �sounded like he knew.�

Revenge shooting in St. Petersburg, police say
That�s when she heard a pop and Mims called out for her and she �froze�
and �was unable to move�, she told police.

When Mims� girlfriend looked, she told police she saw the same gray BMW
from earlier with the driver�s window down. The driver and front passenger
wore white shirts as masks over their faces. The front passenger of the
car appeared to be leaning out with a gun, she told police, and he
appeared to be shooting.

Mims� girlfriend said she heard three or four shots fired, according to an
affidavit. After that, she said the driver then pointed the gun at her and
pulled the shirt he was using as a mask down from his face, revealing
himself.

Mims� girlfriend was able to identify the driver and shooter to police via
Facebook photos, according to an affidavit.

Police say she knew the driver as the boyfriend of someone she knew on
Facebook. When she pulled her profile up, she was able to find photos of
the driver and identify him to police, before doing the same for who she
said was the shooter.

Troy Lassiter, who she said was the driver, was arrested and charged with
being principal to murder in the first degree. His uncle, who she said was
the shooter, is facing first-degree murder in Mims� death.

Bradenton robbery linked to gang violence
Mims� girlfriend told investigators she heard about her boyfriend�s
involvement in the Bradenton home invasion, but when she confronted him
about it, he denied any involvement. According to a police report, Mims
told her that he knew who was involved.

But when police showed doorbell camera footage from the Bradenton home
invasion, she identified Mims as one of the suspects. Mims was wearing
white sneakers, black pants a white T-shirt under a gray sweater,
investigators say.

Detectives say Mims was known to be part of a �crew� that was initially
suspected of the home invasion, according to an arrest report. Police say
Mims� girlfriend said he was part of the �TRE6� gang in St. Petersburg.

Troy Lassiter told Bradenton police that he and his son had just taken the
trash out before three men invaded his home. When he returned to the
garage, he heard a noise behind him and saw people armed with guns.

Lassiter followed their orders and got on the ground while one of the men
went through his pockets and removed his jewelry and pointed a gun at him,
police say. Lassiter also told police that they men forced him into the
living room, according to an arrest report.

Once inside, investigators say the men put Lassiter on the couch and
searched through bags and cabinets looking for valuables. At one point,
police say one of the three men hit Lassiter on the side of the head with
a gun.

Police say the men also restrained Lassiter�s girlfriend and children.

Arrest made in home invasion case
The Bradenton Police Department recovered DNA samples from the house,
according to an affidavit. Blood recovered from the garage floor was
identified as belonging to James Flowers Jr., 37, of Tampa, police say.

This led to Flowers� arrest on Jan. 19, where he was charged with armed
home invasion and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, Bradenton
Police Department announced in a news release.

Flowers has multiple prior felony convictions, court records show, with
the most recent being in August 2021 in Hillsborough County for stolen
property. Police also said Flowers had been released from prison in
December 2017 after serving a sentence for throwing a deadly missile,
possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a
controlled substance.

Flowers remains in custody at Manatee County Jail. He is charged with
armed home invasion and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon,
according to the Manatee County Sheriff�s Office website. His bond is set
at $7,500.

https://news.yahoo.com/bradenton-home-invasion-leads-revenge-
105000081.html