The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • B3

Orlando Sentinel: PRODUCT: OS DESK: LOC DATE: 07-06-2006 EDITION: FLA ZONE: VL PAGE: B3.0 DEADLINE: 20.6 OP: wjackson COMPOSETIME: 23.02 CMYK Orlando Sentinel Volusia THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2006 B3 VOLUSIA CENTRAL FLORIDA MILES 0 10 The Area i in Brief DeLEON SPRINGS Suspect faces charges after confrontation RICARDO RAMIREZ BUXEDAORLANDO SENTINEL Juan Lynum (from left), Orlando police Officer Derwin Bradley and Deputy Chief Val Demings participate during a forum Wednesday at New Covenant Baptist Church in Orlando. Lynum contends he has been a victim of racial profiling by police. Lynum, officers discuss profiling times in nine months by Orlando and Orange County officers but ticketed only once for not having his 4-year-old son in a car seat on Father's Day. He thinks he is being stopped because he's a black man sporting dreadlocks and tattoos. "If you stop me, it should be for a reason.

If I'm breaking the law, then give me a piece of paper that says I broke the law," Anderson said. Three of Anderson's traffic stops were while he was driving his 1994 Chevrolet pickup. Each time, he was told by Orlando police and Orange County deputy sheriffs that he was stopped because they could not read his license plate. Anderson said he was never told why they couldn't read his plate, nor was he given a ticket or written warning before he was allowed to go. Jeff Kunerth can be reached at 407-420-5392 or jkunerthorlandosentinel.com.

misconduct. 'We need you to call when you feel an officer didn't do what he or she should have done," she said during the forum at New Covenant Baptist Church in Orlando. Lynum's mother, Orlando City Commissioner Daisy Lynum, has been soliciting cases of racial profiling from the black community. Commissioner Lynum contends that racial profiling by Orlando law enforcement is a widespread problem. Orlando Police Chief Mike McCoy argues that racial profiling complaints have declined significantly since he took over in 2002.

The difficulty in telling who is right is illustrated by the case of Rodderick Anderson, a 33-year-old black man who lives in the upscale City View Apartments in Parramore. A truck driver who works two jobs to support his wife and two children, Anderson said he has been stopped six By JEFF KUNERTH SENTINEL STAFF WRITER Juan Lynum and officers from the Orlando Police Department which he accuses of racially profiling him during a May traffic stop sat side by side Wednesday night at a forum on community policing. Lynum said a culture exists within law enforcement that unfairly targets minorities. He also told of being stopped "while driving black" in Holden Heights when he was 17. "They found nothing because as with most black males pulled in under the culture of racial profiling, I had done nothing wrong," said Lynum, a 30-year-old lawyer.

Deputy Chief Val Demings countered that times have changed since police departments were tools of oppression in minority communities and OPD encourages residents to report police Her husband held a knife to her throat for 45 minutes and threatened to burn the house down around them, the woman told deputies Wednesday. Now 45-year-old Daniel Losa is facing aggravated assault, false imprisonment and arson charges following a confrontation in a burning house that ended when a deputy fired his Taser at the man, a report shows. Deputies arrived at the Grouse Place residence just before 1 p.m. The woman told deputies that Losa suffers from depression and had threatened to kill her after an argument escalated to violence, the Volusia County Sheriffs Office said. The woman escaped and ran to a neighbor's house and called 911.

That's when she saw the smoke coming from the second floor of her home, a report states. The woman told deputies she then saw Losa jump from a second-story window he had broken. Deputies searched the area with their dogs and a helicopter, determining that Losa had re-entered the burning home. Firefighters attempting to douse the blaze were called from the home while deputies attempted to coax Losa out, the report states. He refused and was struck with a Taser.

Losa was treated for his injuries and was to be held at the Volusia County Branch Jail. Sheriff's Office spokesman Gary Davidson said Losa's injuries were not life-threatening, but the man did suffer "some pretty deep gashes" from his two-storyjump. DAYTONA BEACH New shooting range to open Volusia County officials will celebrate the opening of a state-of-the-art shooting range at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Robert L.

Strickland Shooting Range is at 1180 Indian Lake Road, just west of Daytona Beach. The range is built to National Rifle Association standards and includes fans to keep shooters cool and help keep the air clean. The 10-acre site was donated by Consolidated Tomoka Land Co. Consolidated Tomoka requested that the old range, which was northeast of Clyde Morris and LPGA boulevards, be moved. The company wanted to sell nearby property for residential development and was concerned that new neighbors would object to noise from the range.

The range cost $1.5 million to build. PALM BAY Reward doubles in slaying case The reward for information about the slaying of a Palm Bay liquor-store owner has been doubled to $10,000. Ken Patel, 49, owner of The Beverage Store, 2200 Port Malabar was killed during an armed robbery June 11. A customer was entering the store when he spotted three suspects before they fled in a blue, mid-'90s model sedan or sports car. He alerted Palm Bay police, who found Patel dead on the floor.

Police think the crime is linked to an armed robbery at Malabar Discount Beverage, 6165 Babcock St. They have released surveillance photos from that crime. Town's long saga shows power of lakefront VOLUSIA DeLand' Deltona Tavares Sanford SEMINOLE Orlando ORANGE Kennedy Space Center LAKE Haines City POLK BREVARD OSCEOLA ORLANDO SENTINEL Detectives also announced Wednesday that they are expanding their search to Volusia and Polk counties, as well as parts of the west coast of Florida They are working about 50 leads and need more information, Detective Ernie Diebel said in a news release. The reward is for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information is asked to call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.

ORANGE COUNTY 2 missing vehicles are found Investigators have found two vehicles missing from the home of a woman killed Tuesday. The vehicles found in different spots in the county were burned, but the tires and fancy chrome rims that police had thought could have been a motive in the killing were still on them. Orange County deputies found what they thought to be the victim's vehicle, a 1998 Mitsubishi Montero Sport SUV with chrome rims, about 5 a.m. Tuesday on Rose Avenue and Clarion Drive. Detectives think the vehicle was taken at 3 a.m., about the time of the woman's death.

Anna Mae Plummer's 17-year-old son found her body in her bedroom about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The mother of four would have turned 35 later this month. About 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, officers at Matterhorn Drive and Wil-lowwood Street found the burned 1998 Chevrolet Astro van they say belongs to one of Plummer's brothers, who is in a jail work-release program.

Both vehicles had low-profile tires and 22-inch rims which can sell for about $2,000, police said. Orlando police spokeswoman Sgt. Barbara Jones said of the cars: "It would be too coincidental that they both caught on fire." ORANGE COUNTY Deputy fires bean bags at man Two Orange County deputies opted not to kill a suspect who threatened them with a rifle at point-blank range Tuesday. The confrontation happened at 1 a.m. when the deputies attempted to arrest Helmut Worms, 40, on charges of trying to run over another deputy, according to sheriff's records.

"Gun!" yelled Deputy Rick Carson upon seeing Worms aim a rifle at him and other squad members in a hallway, reports state. Deputy Ed Toporek responded by firing a shotgun loaded with bean bags at Worms in his home on Cove-dale Drive in Pine Hills. SWAT team members later arrested Worms and seized the rifle, another firearm and a Molotov cocktail, according to records. Worms remained in the Orange County Jail on Wednesday on a variety of charges. Erin Ailworth, Etan Horowitz, Mariana Minaya and Henry Pierson Curtis of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Mike THOMAS SENTINEL COLUMNIST son, John, was arrested in Texas last year on charges of public intoxication and resisting arrest. Bush chafes at media interest in his family's personal problems. Such coverage would be magnified tenfold in a COMMENTARY Folks in Windermere have finally stopped slugging it out over 2 ribbons of land. By WES SMITH SENTINEL STAFF WRITER WINDERMERE Mark and Liz McKee set out nearly five years ago to build a dock behind their home on Lake Bessie so they could watch their children wakeboard. But even simple plans can get complicated in this often contentious town where lakefront land is precious.

It took more than five years of rancorous debate, two petition drives, a town referendum, a ruling from the Florida Attorney General's Office, two lawsuits and two negotiated settlements before the McKees and 16 other homeowners won access rights to waterfront land in their backyards so they can build docks. The McKees were among nine Lake Bessie residents and another seven on Lake Down who recently reached legal settlements with Windermere after a long battle over two strips of town right of way that separated their homes from the water. "There is a small, small group of very verbal activists who objected to the city accepting our initial offer, and it created a whole lot of hassle," said Sue Hurley, who has lived on Lake Down for 40 years. At the center of the long-running dermere activist Thellie Roper, said the homeowners really wanted the right of way because their properties would be more valuable as "lakefront" rather than "lake-view" lots. Roper, a real-estate agent, noted that the difference is more than aesthetic in a town where waterfront lots sell for 1 million and up.

She suggested that the town should hang onto the right of way, build its own docks and lease boat slips to the homeowners or other residents for hefty fees. After years of wrangling, both the Lake Bessie and Lake Down homeowners filed lawsuits against the town last year. Settlements were reached in both cases just as depositions were to get under way last month. Mayor Gary Bruhn described the agreements as as "win-win" because the town retained use of the land for hiking and biking for residents. The McKees and other homeowners noted that the cash-strapped town gave them what they wanted without making them pay much for it.

Instead of kicking in for a $900,000 purchase, the homeowners agreed to pay a total of $50,000 for the town's legal costs. "For all intents and purposes, the town gave up a large, six-figure settlement offer," said Matt Sullivan, a neighbor of the McKees who joined the Lake Bessie lawsuit. Wes Smith can be reached at 407-420-5672 or dwsmithorlandosentinel.com. more alike than people might think, both being men who pride themselves on following principles over politics. Playing second fiddle allows Jeb to stay engaged while we recover from the George hangover.

It acclimates his family for the coming presidential run. As for McCain, his problem isn't beating Hillary Clinton as much as it is getting to that point. Jeb gets him there. Jeb's presence eliminates any serious opposition within the Republican Party. For McCain, the only drawback from Jeb would be if the Bush name penalizes him in a general election.

But come on. Jeb's dad won with Dan Quayle. John and Jeb. It works. Mike Thomas can be reached at 407-420-5525 or mthomasorlandosentinel.com.

LAND DISPUTE Two narrow slivers of right of way on 2 lakefronts led to years of conflict between homeowners and Windermere officials. The battle has recently been resolved. I Right-of-way land I owned by Windermere Lake Down Lake Butler East 6th Ave. 8 Lake Bessie ORANGE COUNTY Map area ORLANDO SENTINEL controversy were two innocuous strips of land; each narrow and only about 800 feet long. Both were originally platted early in the town's history for roads that were never built.

Early in negotiations, the two groups made a total bid of nearly $900,000 for the two slivers of land. Opponents, led by longtime Win Republican nomination. But given his brother's lagging popularity, the name that got Jeb where he is could stop him from going any further. Diluting that name with McCain's makes it more palatable for a Bush-weary nation. It gives Jeb a chance to get people to look beyond the name.

If they lose, that sets him up for 20 12. If they win, Jeb would fit the new VP mold of an Al Gore or Dick Cheney, an active participant. He would be deeply involved in setting education policy. He would be a natural for overseeing disaster preparedness, whether from terrorism or natural events. He would share McCain's passion for fiscal sanity.

Both have little tolerance for the pork-barrel spending that is creating massive deficits and threatening the country's future. I have a sense that Jeb and John are McCain, Bush could make pretty good case for White House in 2008 national campaign. But the bottom line is that families don't get in the way of political ambitions. Lastly, being McCain's vice president would make Bush a second fiddle. Bush is not a second-fiddle kind of guy, which is why he never considered a run for U.S.

Senate. But Bush might play that role to become president. And make no mistake: That is his eventual goal. On paper, he is amply qualified, at least from a Republican perspective. Bush has been a zealous tax-cutter.

Florida's economy is booming. He has overhauled the education system. He ably got the state through an onslaught of hurricanes. His wife is from Mexico, and he speaks fluent Spanish. Religious conservatives love him.

If he had any other last name, Bush would be a front-runner for the 2008 John McCain and Jeb Bush in 2008. The whispers have started, and for good reason. Both Republicans want to be president and can help each other get there. John is old, so he goes first. Jeb is young, so he can wait.

But before we put them on a ticket, let's look at why it might not happen. McCain, the senator from Arizona, has clashed with Bush's big brother. That is old news, fences have been mended, and besides, personal feuds don't get in the way of political ambitions. There are family issues. Bush's wife, Columba, is no Barbara or Laura.

She is practically a recluse. Bush's ini- tial run for governor put a huge strain on the marriage. Imagine the stress of a White House run. Bush's daughter, Noelle, has had problems with drug addiction, and his.