May
3
Update: Boyett’s owner still not conscious (St. Pete Times)
Filed Under Brooksville, Florida Crime | Leave a Comment
Just following up on my posts from last week regarding the condition of the owner of Boyett’s Grove, shot during a brazen daytime robbery by a couple of nimrods. Here’s a bit from the St. Pete Times:
Jim Oleson remains in critical condition a week after he was shot during an armed robbery at Boyett’s Grove and Citrus Attraction, a relative said Wednesday. Oleson lost consciousness shortly after he was shot in the chest April 25 and has not woken up. “We’re a long, long, long way from being out of the woods, ” said L.E. Boyett, Oleson’s father-in-law. “That was the last thing the doctors said to me.” Meanwhile, the investigation into the armed robbery continues. A Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman said deputies are pursuing a number of leads. Anyone with information is asked to call the anonymous tip line at (352) 797-8477.
Apr
29
Boyette’s Update, and a reminder to catch these numrods…
Filed Under Brooksville, Florida Crime | Leave a Comment
Update:
Family says Boyette’s Grove owner is still alive
By TIMES STAFF
Published April 28, 2007http://www.sptimes.com/2007/04/28/Hernando/Family_says_Boyette_s.shtml‘SPRING LAKE’
Jim Oleson, the owner of the iconic Boyett’s Grove and Citrus Attraction on Spring Lake Highway, is alive, but his family said little else about his condition on Friday. Oleson, 58, was shot once in the chest during a robbery Wednesday afternoon. A family member spoke to reporters at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa on behalf of the family, saying they wanted to thank everyone for their words of concern and encouragement. Oleson is listed in critical condition. The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office is still seeking the three men involved in the armed robbery. On Friday, the agency released composite sketches of two individuals sought in connection to the incident. The first man is black, 20 to 25 years old, clean shaven and was wearing a white shirt. Authorities also want to question a person of interest, a black man with dreadlocks tied atop his head. Anyone with information can call the anonymous tip line at (352) 797-8477.
Apr
26
Catch the nimrods that shot the owner of Boyett’s Grove
Filed Under Brooksville, Florida Crime | Leave a Comment
My wife sent me this article from the St. Pete Times. Boyett’s Grove is a small roadside attraction in Hernando County, a few miles outside of Brooksville. It’s a working citrus grove that sells their own produce, as well as a small zoo and souvenir store
(mostly just stuff only a tourist would buy - you know what I mean). My kids loved going there, and the animals were surprising well-kept. In fact, there was once an episode of “Simple Life” filmed there where a 
monkey went all pissy on Paris Hilton. Funny as hell.
Anyway, catch these mother-effers, y’all!
Attraction owner shot, robbed
By JOHN FRANK
Published April 26, 2007SPRING LAKE - A manhunt continued into the night for three suspects who robbed a Hernando County tourist attraction and shot the owner in the chest Wednesday afternoon.Jim Oleson was tending the cash register at Boyett’s Grove and Citrus Attraction on Spring Lake Highway at 2:43 p.m. when three young black men, two of whom wore Halloween masks entered the store, according to witnesses and a preliminary investigation by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
The suspects took an undisclosed amount of cash and shot the 58-year-old owner below the heart with a handgun. Oleson was airlifted to St. Joseph’s hospital in Tampa where he underwent surgery in the evening and was listed in critical condition, authorities said.
A patron in the store was also robbed, but he was left unharmed. Oleson’s wife, Kathy Boyett Oleson, also was in the store.
Perched on a hilltop of citrus groves in southeastern Hernando County, Boyett’s Grove is part citrus stand and part Old Florida tourist-trap, complete with a small zoo featuring live alligators, monkeys and parrots.
Carol Francis was just finishing a tour of the zoo portion behind the shop with her daughter and two young grandchildren when someone at the back door told them the owner had been shot.
Francis, a retired nurse, told her daughter and grandchildren to go hide while she went inside to try to help Oleson, who was bleeding but conscious.
“He was behind the counter,” she said. “There wasn’t much I could do.”
Ritch McFerren, 69, was pulling up to the shop to get some oranges when a man rushed out the door and told him to call 911. “I ran out to the truck to make the call,” the Spring Hill resident said between cigarette puffs. “And I was on the phone with 911 when the first deputy arrived.”
McFerren came from the south but said he didn’t see the suspects or the white vehicle authorities were trying to locate.
Authorities described the first suspect as a black male, 20 to 25 years old and about 5-foot 10-inches. He is clean shaven and was wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants. The other two suspects wore Halloween-type masks and dark clothing, authorities said.
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Donna Black said investigators are trying to locate a vehicle spotted at the scene at the time of the shooting. She described it as a late-80s model white Mercedes, a two-door coupe with a red hard top last seen driving south on U.S. 41.
Deputies spent the afternoon and evening searching the surrounding area by air in a helicopter and by ground with canine officers. Spring Lake Highway was closed for a time between State Road 50 and Powell Road.
