Anthony Joseph Giancola is accused of colliding with three women and one man at this duplex in Lealman Friday morning. Two of the women were seriously injured and all three taken to Bayfront Medical Center for treatment.
Photo courtesy of FHP
Kole Price, 13, is left with a bandaged ankle after allegedly being struck by Giancola just east of U.S. 19.
Anthony Joseph Giancola’s abandoned 2005 Ford 500 Limited is parked in the Egg Platter Restaurant, 6767 U.S. 19. Witnesses told the FHP that he then took off in an older Ford Ranger pickup and fled along U.S. 19.
LEALMAN – Law enforcement officers from three jurisdictions spent the weekend piecing together exactly what happened after a St. Petersburg man went on a rampage Friday, June 22, that left two people dead and nine others injured.
Anthony Joseph Giancola, 45, is accused of the stabbing deaths of a man and woman who lived in a group home for the hearing impaired in the Lealman area. Two other women who lived in the home also were stabbed and taken to Bayfront Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
Afterwards, authorities believe Giancola traveled to Pinellas Park where he assaulted another man and woman before heading to a third location in Lealman where he used his vehicle to run into four more people, before hitting a 13-year-old boy as he fled the scene.
He was tracked and arrested by a K-9 Unit with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office a couple hours later. Giancola remains in the Pinellas County Jail without bond. He is charged with two counts of murder in the first degree and four counts of attempted murder in the first degree.
A report from the PCSO shows events beginning about 10:48 a.m., when deputies responded to a call of a stabbing at a group home for the hearing impaired on 35th Way North in St. Petersburg. Detectives say one of the stabbing victims, Justin Lee Vandenburgh, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mary Anne Willis, 59, was transported to Northside Hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Two additional stabbing victims, Danielle Gilbert, 25, and Denise Rhoden, 43, were transported to Bayfront Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
Pinellas Park Police are in charge of the investigation for the next piece of the timeline. Authorities believe that after Giancola left the scene of the stabbings, he traveled to Kenvin’s Motel on Haines Road in Pinellas Park where two people were assaulted.
Pinellas Park police and fire department responded to Kenvin’s Motel after a report came in about 11:30 a.m. from a tenant that a female was lying face down in a room with a gash in her head and was bleeding.
Once on scene, officers began checking the rest of the motel and found another victim, a male, lying on the floor with a head injury. The victims were identified as Kanu A. Patel, 57, and Indiranden Patel, 57, who are husband and wife, and owners of the motel.
They were transported to Bayfront Medical Center. Pinellas Park Police Capt. S.A. Forseth said the weapon used during the assault was a hammer. As of Monday, Mrs. Patel’s condition is stable, while Mr. Patel remains critical. Pinellas Park filed two counts of attempted first-degree murder against Giancola.
The Florida Highway Patrol reports that about an hour after the stabbings, about 11:40 a.m., Giancola was parked in his 2005 Ford 500 Limited in the parking lot of HCF Foods Discount Store, 5705-B 58th Ave. N. in Lealman. He allegedly reversed abruptly in the parking lot and collided with a 4-foot tall wooden pole. He then drove across the street to a duplex where he talked to several people standing outside before leaving abruptly.
FHP reports that he circled the block, returned to the duplex and collided with three adult females and one adult male head-on as they sat or stood on the front porch of the duplex. He then reversed his truck, drove west on 58th Avenue North and struck a 13-year-old child just east of U.S. 19.
Tammy Miller, 46, Tammy Dollar, 45, and Sherri Ray, all of St. Petersburg were taken to Bayfront Medical Center. Sgt. Steve Gaskins, FHP public affairs officer, said Dollar and Ray received serious injuries. Darrell Edgar, 45, of St. Petersburg was treated at the scene, as was Kole Price, 13, who was hit as Giancola east of U.S. 19.
Next, Giancola reportedly drove to the Egg Platter Restaurant, 6767 U.S. 19, which is located across the street from Kenvin’s. Witnesses told the FHP that he then took off in an older Ford Ranger pickup traveling on U.S. 19. Forseth said a Pinellas Park undercover officer spotted the white pickup near the area of 62nd Avenue and 66th Street North. A PCSO K-9 unit located Giancola about 1 p.m. in the area of 56th Avenue North and 66th Lane North in St. Petersburg. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail about 7 p.m.
Giancola is a former principal at a Tampa Middle School. He was fired in 2007 after an arrest for crack cocaine. He was arrested in 2010 by the PCSO for loitering and prowling and possession of cocaine with intent to purchase, which was a violation of his probation with Hillsborough County.
Revised to add details of events in Pinellas Park.
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