Posted on 12/14/2007 4:23:32 PM PST by Main Street
Friday, December 14, 2007
'heartless, absolutely heartless' Invader Burns 2 Women At Lake Wales Business
Police Say Robber Threw Gasoline onto Employees, Who Are in Critical Condition
By Bill Bair
The Ledger
LAKE WALES | Two women were severely burned and a man who came to their aid was shot in the nose during a robbery at a Lake Wales insurance office Thursday afternoon.
Wales Police Report on the Attack Women, Baby Still Struggling to Live After Attack
Police said the robber threw gasoline on the women and set a fire inside the Nationwide Insurance office, injuring Juanita Luciano, 23, who was six months pregnant, and Yvonne Bustamante, 26.
They were flown to an Orlando hospital and were in critical condition Thursday night, Lake Wales Police Chief Herbert Gillis said.
Leonardo Suarez, a friend of Bustamante's husband, Mike, said an emergency Caesarean was done on Luciano to save the baby. Gillis confirmed that report.
The robbery was the most violent this southeast Polk County town has seen for years, Lake Wales police Capt. Troy Schulze said.
"I've worked in this business for 13 years and not seen or heard of anything like this in my career here," he said. "I've never seen anything come close to this, violence-wise. It was heartless, absolutely heartless, for someone to do something like this."
A massive manhunt for a suspect, Leon Davis Jr, whose 30th birthday is today, ended about 7 p.m. Thursday when Davis turned himself in at the Polk County Sheriff's Office substation on Thompson Nursery Road.
Gillis said police and the State Attorney's Office were discussing charges Thursday night.
He said he expects Davis to at least be charged with three counts of attempted murder and arson.
Lake Wales police Sgt. Joe Elrod said a robber entered the Nationwide Insurance office at 124 W. Central Ave. and demanded money from the two women working there.
Scott Headley, the owner of the Nationwide office, said when the robber did not get enough money, he became frustrated, threw gas on the women and set them on fire.
"They are good girls," a tearful Headley said.
He said Bustamante has worked for him for nine years, and Luciano has worked for him for two years.
"I can't imagine someone can do something so cruel," Headley said.
The two women are sisters-in-law, said Angela Torres, the former office manager and a cousin of Bustamante.
Suarez said he was driving by the business Thursday as the incident occurred. He said one of the women came out screaming "help, help." He said most of her clothes had been burned off.
About that time, two people on Stuart Avenue, immediately behind the business, heard the commotion and ran to assist.
One was a woman who identified herself only as Fran. She and the city employee, Brandon Griesman, 33, went to the building and Griesman was shot through the nose with a handgun.
Fran, an unemployed nursing assistant, said she applied pressure to Griesman's bleeding nose, then went to assist the women. It appeared one of the women had been shot in the hand, she said.
Witnesses said two or three shots were fired. Suarez said the gunman pulled the pistol from an orange lunch box.
After the shooting "he just walked away," Fran said.
Griesman was treated at Lake Wales Medical Center on Thursday night and officials said they expected he would be released and taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center today for corrective surgery.
Police said Davis is an Eagle Lake city employee who lives in the Winter Haven area. He was suspended from his city job after his arrest Nov. 30 on larceny charges. He was on three years' probation after a July 6 grand theft conviction, according to the Florida Department of Corrections Web site.
Davis had been a client at the Nationwide office, and Torres said he seemed like a nice man. He came in last week and canceled his policy, although Torres said she did not know why.
Police said they received a call about the assault at 3:39 p.m. Officers closed off Central Avenue and helicopters circled over the city as police hunted for Davis.
Davis has been booked into the Polk County Jail at least five times. The most recent was Nov. 30 on charges of grand theft. He was released Dec. 3 on $5,000 bail.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/350307.html
the women are not going to make it, sadly.....
my, such a big, strong manly type.....must have taken a lot of courage to basically kill two women.....
I guess that’s what I get for not reading the whole thread first....the baby and the young women are all gone....what a tragedy that such a piece of dirt is free to attack civilized society...
So thats five murders in the month since he was fired from his job for theft.
RIP Jane and Yvonne 
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