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Family Ties Are Key In Preventing Tragedy

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Jerry Lofstorm

Published: December 18, 2008

PLANT CITY - It was like something out of the movies — a high-speed police chase, 30 seconds of flying lead from the rat-a-tat-tat of rapid gunfire and bloodshed.

But this was no movie; it was real-life drama played out on the streets of Plant City.

The title of the movie could have been, "Seven Hours of Hell In Plant City," pitting murder slaying suspect Fransisco Rangel, who took this city by storm, and against law enforcement officials police determined to take the city back.

The drama started when Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives spotted Rangel driving a white Ford Expedition and gave chase down Collins Street. Rangel, a reputed gang member, was wanted in the for fatally shooting of Michael Mike Longoria and critically wounding another man the day before.

During the chase, according to authorities police, Rangel suddenly stopped his vehicle at the intersection of Collins Street and Henry Avenue and opened fire, spraying 17 rounds of steel-jacketed bullets from an AK-47 high-powered assault weapon, disabling two detectives' cars and killing a bystander, 58-year-old Candelario Lagunes.

Rangel then fled north on Collins Street toward downtown and abandoned his sport utility vehicle at the intersection of Palmer and Calhoun streets, authorities said. He disappeared into the historic district on foot.

The aftershock of fear from the gunman's escape turned the charming nooks and crannies of the historic district into ominous places to hide.

Within an hour, authorities police established a central command post in the parking lot of the First Baptist Church of Plant City. Four law enforcement agencies — including the U.S. Marshals Service — gathered at the church. Dogs in K-9 units, including five German shepherds and two bloodhounds, started sniffing through the wooded area just north of Tever Street.

Two helicopters hovered overhead to train an infrared camera on the historic district in search of the killer.

The neighborhood was locked down and residents were told to secure their doors as heavily armed SWAT teams went house-to-house hunting for Rangel.

The city's historic district with its nostalgic setting looked more like a war zone.

After six hours of searching, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee made the decision to continue the manhunt into the night, given the probability Rangel was still within their web.

City Manager David Sollenberger made the announcement that the Plant City Christmas Parade scheduled for that evening was canceled.

The community was waiting for some good news.

At 3:45 p.m., it happened.

After nearly seven hours of searching, Gee's decision and the effort of 400 law enforcement officials police officers paid off. Rangel was captured by a deputy who spotted him sneaking between two houses near Tever and Collins streets.

Rangel's capture brought an end to the fear he imposed on the community.

The toll: two people dead, one critically wounded, and a community paralyzed by fear.

Police officers spend their careers preparing for moments like this. The community cannot. Any clues or motives to this tragedy will offer no solace to the victims' families, and thin comfort to a city caught by surprise.

For most people, the memory of what happened Dec. 5 will fade. The time and place of this tragedy will blur into the endless stream of breaking news and other senseless acts.

It won't be that way for the family of Candelario Lagunes. The unthinkable events of that day will be forever seared in their minds.

What can we learn from all of this?

Most people cannot think of Plant City without some whistling in the background and a freckled-faced, barefoot boy named Opie carrying a fishing pole and throwing a rock into Myers Lake.

In the old days in this peaceful little town, the local gang might have gotten together and rolled a hapless kid in the mud on his first day of school, ruining his new clothes.

Those days are gone in Plant City.

Just take a look at graffiti around Plant City and you should have no doubt gangs are here, and they are violent. According to Police Chief Bill McDaniel, there are five organized street gangs in Plant City: Sur 13, KCS, CK, Norte 14 and Dover Locos.

The tragic events on Collins Street show that gangs can scar Plant City as much as New York's meanest big city streets.

Candelario Lagunes, 58, was an innocent bystander who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been you, it could have been your wife, it could have been your child at that intersection on that fateful Friday morning.

Here's the million-dollar question: What can the community do to stop such acts of gang violence?

The list of potential solutions is as long as the list of possible reasons behind the problem — and no program has worked all the time, in every case.

Some believe the answer to gang violence can be found in our community, schools, churches, recreation facilities or gang intervention programs.

But in the end, there is no substitute for family. The way a child really grows and develops is through the family. It's America's first and most important social institution.

Correspondent Jerry Lofstorm can be reached at jdlmcl@aol.com.

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