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By BETH GADDIS
TBO.com
ST. PETERSBURG – The St. Petersburg Police Chief is paying tribute today to three maintenance workers who helped catch a serial rapist, according to the police department.
Officers arrested Travonti DeBose for sexual battery and robbery after he attacked a teenaged boy walking home from school near 62nd Avenue South and 34th Street South on March 20.
Investigators said the maintenance workers saw the attack and chased DeBose for several blocks while calling the St. Pete police department for help. The men caught DeBose and held him down until officers arrived, according to a press release.
Officers said they’ve investigated three similar sexual attacks on teenaged boys in the past few months. Investigators have charged DeBose with one of those attacks and said he remains a suspect in the other two cases.
St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon will honor all three maintenance workers – Lance Linton, Robert Dietrichsen and Carlos Torres - during his afternoon staff meeting.
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