News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 196

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT A2 1 SATURDAY, AUGUST 2007 THE NEWS-PRESS Random violence shatters family Single moms, kids hit hard by reckless gunman HOW TO KELP A fund has been established at Bank of America that would be used strictly for utility, rent and grocery bills for Maffeo, Etherington and their five children. It is called the "Maffeo, Etherington Recovery Fund" and anyone wishing to help can do so by making donations at any Bank of America Location. LEE COUNTY Lee income jumps 4.1 percent Lee County residents saw their personal incomes grow 4.1 percent on average from 2005 to 2006 and the area ranked No. 58 of more than 300 metropolitan areas with per person average income of $38,079, according to data released today. The greater Naples area ranked fourth overall with per person average personal income of $53,265, with growth of 7.6 percent growth from 2005 to 2006.

The data, compiled by the US. Bureau of Economic Analysis, ranks per capita income in 363 metropolitan statistical areas. Overall, personal 1 income grew 6.6 percent in the metropolitan areas in 2006, up from 5.3 percent in 2005. Personal income growth accelerated in 252 of the metropolitan statistical areas. The Bridgeport-Stamford-Nor-walk, area ranked first with per capita personal income of $71,901, up 6.9 percent in 2006.

The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas area ranked last with per capita personal income of $17,111, up 4.6 percent in 2006. FORT MYERS Teen can list war dead A Fort Myers teen has proved you can not only fight city hall, but win. On Monday, city officials reversed themselves and decided Willie Filkowski, 15, could resume listing the names of those killed in Iraq on city sidewalks. "I'm pretty excited," Filkowski said. "I stuck to my guns and I got results." A week ago police told Filkowski and two of his friends they had to stop writing the soldiers' names on city sidewalks.

The reasons were a little vague. Some officials said they worried about property damage. The police said something about sidewalk obstruction and the city manager said it just wasn't allowed. It seems some folks in the downtown district called the police as Filkowski and friends were decorating the concrete, according to police. Some were concerned about the writings, terming them grafitti.

Others questioned the motives behind the brightly written names of American Thorpe called for reinforcements and followed the Lincoln throughout the neighborhood with lights and sirens on. Another deputy encountered the Lincoln on Eisenhower Boulevard and had to swerve to avoid a head-on collision, the report shows. Eventually, Ortiz lost control of the Lincoln when turning on Kanuga Avenue. He struck a large tree and ran into the woods, with Thorpe following behind. Thorpe followed Ortiz about 50 yards into the heavily wooded area, when at one point, Ortiz stopped and turned around, causing Thorpe to think he meant physical harm.

Thorpe reacted by using force to arrest Ortiz. The report does not indicate what kind of force was used. Deputies found a clear plastic bag containing a "cookie" of crack cocaine in the Lincoln. The substance tested positive for cocaine, weighed 8 grams and was organized in such a way that it appeared to be for distribution, Thorpe said. Also, deputies found $2,385 in cash with Ortiz.

When asked, Ortiz said he did not have a job. NAPLES SuperTarget opens in Naples The second-biggest SuperTarget in the nation opened this week off Immokalee Road in North Naples. At 174,000 square feet, only a SuperTarget in Jacksonville is larger. The new store, just east of 1-75, anchors Tarpon Springs Plaza. The SuperTarget includes a full grocery store, a pharmacy, photo center, garden center and optical shop, a Star-bucks and a Pizza Hut along with all the usual Target merchandise.

And SuperTarget is just the beginning of what Tarpon Springs Plaza will soon offer. Future tenants in the 260,000 square foot shopping center include A.C. Moore, an arts and crafts shop, All That Glitz, Cost Plus World Market, Chili's Bar GrilL Hair Cut-tery, Matress Giant, Snyderman Shoes, Sport Clips, Steak 'n Shake, Quiznos Staples, Tarpon Springs Cleaners, Today Nail Spa, and Panera. The News-Press staff war dead, according to police reports. The Cypress Lake High School student said he is only trying to ensure that soldiers killed in Iraq will be remembered.

He also hoped the displays would raise people's consciousness about he Iraq War, he added. A week ago, city officials said it wasn't allowed and wasn't going to be allowed. BBONITA SPRINGS Bonita man charged in car chase A Bonita Springs man was arrested early Monday morning after authorities say he led them on a high-speed chase in residential Lehigh Acres, nearly striking two deputy cars. Steven Luis Ortiz, 24, of 11350 Red-bud Lane in Bonita Springs, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, one count of fleeing from police and one count of cocaine possession with intent to sell Ortiz had prior warrants for his arrest in Lee County and elsewhere, involving resisting an officer and Mure to appear in court for a felony charge. This morning's incident began at about 1:47, when Deputy Jamie Thorpe was patroling along McArthur Avenue in Lehigh Acres, according to the arrest report.

Thorpe noticed a black 1999 Lincoln Town Car driven in an area where there have been several home and vehicle burglaries. The deputy turned off the patrol car lights to watch. Thorpe noticed the Lincoln stopped at an intersection for about one minute when there was no traffic. The deputy followed the Lincoln to McArthur Avenue and East. Second Street, where it is well-lit, and noticed that the Lincoln's windows were darkly tinted, That's when Thorpe turned on the overhead emergency lights to do a traffic stop, according to the report.

The Lincoln appeared as if it was pulling over, but then suddenly turned around facing the patrol car, driving directly toward its driver's side door. "Seeing the vehicle traveling directly toward me, I was placed in fear that serious bodily harm was going to occur to me," Thorpe wrote in the report The deputy had to quickly accelerate the car to get out of the way. BY RACHEL MYERS Things were just starting to look up for Ondrea "Kim" Maffeo last month. The 30-year-old single mother said she escaped an abusive relationship last and her best friend, Jodi Ethering-ton, 29, and their five children moved into a duplex, and Maffeo was offered a job after several months of temporary employment But now, with two crushed vertebrae and several bruised ribs caused by a car accident followed by a gunfight on Del Prado Boulevard, she can barely walk to answer the door. "These men had total disregard for human life," Maffeo said.

"I was just starting to get my life in a good place, and these two just take it all away like it was nothing." Those men are Sean Joseph Juliano, 24, and Ricky Nerris, 22, and police said the two had been feuding for weeks after some marijuana was stolen from house. Juliano blamed Nerris, and spotted him on Friday, July 27, around 6 pm, driving down Del Prado Boulevard. Maffeo, Etherington and their five kids were driving home on the same road and they were rammed by Nerris' car into a utility pole, which came crashing down on their car, and gunfire rang out Police said Nerris swerved his vehicle into Maffeo's car to get away from Juliano, and Juliano pulled out a gun and began shooting at Nerris from the cat Juliano missed and fled, police said, but they later arrested him at his girlfriend's house and charged him with attempted murder and culpable negligence. He is currently at Lee County Jail without bond awaiting an Aug. 27 trial date.

Nerris, who was not charged with a crime, could not be reached for comment Monday. Etherington and the kids, ranging in age from 2 to 10, were not seriously hurt, but Maffeo, who was driving, wasn't so lucky. Doctors told her if the injury had been one-eighth of an inch to the right, she could have died. "We were innocent in all of this," Maffeo said. "We were just living our lives, trying to get by, and these guys are driving around wrecking cars and shooting each other like it's 'Miami Vice." As the sole support for the family (Maffeo works while Etherington watches the children), she said the effects of that day have been devastating.

"I get so tired, and Tm in so much pain I can't even pick up my kids," she said, her neck in a brace. "I'm working now, but only because I don't have a choice. But I can only go about an hour or so at a desk before the pain is just unbearable." She said her car, the family's sole source of transportation, was totaled. She's now relying on her father to get her to work and help with tasks like physical therapy and grocery shopping which she can scarcely afford. She said the fathers of her and Etherington's children are not involved in their lives, and do not pay child support She dreads the possibility of having to apply for food stamps because of an inability to work regular hours due to the accident "I just don't know what to do," she said.

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