By HOWARD ALTMAN
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - James Clanton was worried that his bank account was being pilfered, so he withdrew all his money and put it into a safe in his house.

Turns out the safe was no safer than the bank.

Clanton says he found that out on June 4, when he went to get some lunch money.

“I didn’t have any money with me, so I went to the safe,” says Clanton, a retired Navy engineer. “Everything was scattered around. My safe was gone.”

Clanton says his first thought was that he was robbed.

“Then I said, no, I was robbed, but it was my grandson. He had the keys to my house.”

Clanton’s grandson, Austin Clanton, is now in the Orient Road Jail, charged with entering his grandfather’s 3904 W. Estrella Street home last month, breaking a window to make it look like a burglary and stealing the safe – which Clanton says contained $200,000 in cash, plus at least another $100,000 in jewelry, bonds, collectible coins and other valuables.

Clanton says he suspected his grandson.  Police began to suspect that there was no break-in, because while the window was broken, it was shut and no one could fit through it, according to police spokeswoman Kristin Molina.

A few weeks ago, a Tampa Police dive squad found the safe in the water behind the Derby Lane dog track, according to Sgt. James Contento. Though police recovered some of the grandmother’s jewelry, the cash was gone, says Contento. The bonds were missing as well, says Clanton.

Austin Clanton, meanwhile, skipped town, according to Contento, but his girlfriend and another friend began cooperating with police.

Armed with that information, plus Austin Clanton’s MySpace page, police surmised that Austin, who Contento said has a gambling problem, might be in Atlantic City. Tampa detectives contacted authorities there and learned that Austin set up an account at one of the casinos.

He was arrested a few days ago at one of the gaming tables, Contento says.

The money, he says, was all gone.

Austin was just extradited back to Tampa.

He is charged with grand theft of $100,000 or more and is being held in the Orient Road Jail on no bond.

James Clanton, who says he would give Austin money anytime he asked, including about $50,000 in the past two years alone, is pressing charges.

The next time he sees his grandson, Clanton – who didn’t even know his grandson was back in the area until called by a reporter - says he has a few questions.

“First, I would ask him why he did this,” says Clanton. “He had access to me and anything he wanted.”

Then, says Clanton, he would ask Austin to get help.

“He needs help desperately,” says Clanton. “If it would keep him out of jail, I would spend everything I have, but I am still pressing charges. He needs help bad.”

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