70 years ago…
July 25, 1936 – Gus Perez, an Ybor City furniture proprietor whose testimony sent four Tampans to federal prison in an arson ring, is killed in apparent retribution by a shotgun blast from a passing car. Perez was shot in the back of the head as he cruised along 15th Street near North Bay Street with two female passengers. The women, who were sitting in the backseat, were covered with shattered glass but unharmed, and fled the scene after the car came to a rolling stop. The women were brought in for questioning by the police, but their names were not released and no charges were filed against them. Thomas Perez, the victim’s brother, speculated that the women lured his brother, who had spent the evening drinking, into an ambush.
Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.
