The Tampa Police Department is still searching for the suspect who shot and critically injured a patron of Valentines Nightclub in the early morning hours of Dec. 20.
According to police, Juan Pineda of Clearwater left the club on North Armenia Avenue around 3 a.m. with a friend and entered a Jeep Grand Cherokee that was parked in an alley approximately 1,000 feet from the club.
“The men noticed several items missing from inside the car and they both exited and walked to the rear of the car,” said TPD spokesperson Janelle McGregor. “That’s when an unknown individual approached from the south side of the vehicle and shot [Pineda.]”
When police arrived, Pineda was laying in the alley. According to McGregor, there was a large crowd nearby when the shooting happened, but very few witnesses have stepped forward.
“We are still actively investigating this case,” McGregor said. “We’re very disappointed that only one witness came forward when we know there was a crowd of patrons leaving the club.”
McGregor added that the alley is a popular parking area for patrons of Valentines.
Valentines owner Tom O’Rear contacted Watermark via e-mail after a previous story about the shooting and said that the suspect was not a patron of the bar. He also said that the kind of crime that happened “can happen anywhere to anyone and tying this to Valentines is a very good example of misreporting a story.”
The police department desagrees, however, and is convinced that several patrons of the club witnessed the shooting and encourages them to step forward with information.
“The victim is unable to communicate with us due to his injuries,” McGregor said.
McGregor added that it did not appear that Pineda was targeted because of his perceived sexual orientation and that the shooting could be directly related to the vehicular burglary.
According to McGregor, the Tampa Police were called to Valentines 10 times in 2010 and of those 10, five calls were related to battery. The Dec. 20 incident was the only weapons assault related to the club last year.
A return email to O’Rear seeking further comment was not returned by press time and a call to Valentines went unanswered.
Anyone with more information on the shooting is asked to call the Tampa Police Department’s non-emergency line at
813-231-6130.
