Rosencrantz arrested a day after incident
A 17-year-old Manatee County man has been charged in connection with a homicide that occurred in the city of Sarasota early in the morning of Tuesday, July 7, the Sarasota Police Department has reported.
William David Rosencrantz was arrested by Sarasota Police Department officers on July 8 in Manatee County, the agency reported. Rosencrantz’s address as shown on a Manatee County traffic citation issued to him on Feb. 12 was 4737 Reisswood Loop in Bradenton, The Sarasota News Leader learned.
The victim is an 18-year-old man who “died of a gunshot wound,” the Police Department noted in a news release. “Rosencrantz is facing a felony charge of second-degree murder,” the release pointed out, adding, “Pursuant to Florida State Statute 985.04 (2)(a)1., information about juveniles charged with felonies is public record.”
At approximately 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7, near the intersection of 15th Street and Central Avenue in Sarasota, officers responded to a call about a person lying on the ground who was bleeding, the Police Department said in the news release. Officers performed CPR on the victim until medics arrived with an EMS unit, the release added.
“The victim died on the way to Sarasota Memorial Hospital,” it noted.
“Solving a homicide in less than 48 hours is no easy feat,” said Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche in the release. “We owe this to tenacity of our officers and detectives and their drive to keep our community safe.”
The release did point out, “The case remains under investigation …” Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6067 or Sarasota Crime Stoppers at 941-366-TIPS (8477).
The News Leader was unsuccessful in its July 9 search for a jail booking record for Rosencrantz in either Sarasota County or Manatee County. Further, the publication could find no filing of a Probable Cause Affidavit in the case as it conducted a search of 12th Judicial Circuit Court records in Sarasota County about midday on July 9.
The Manatee County traffic citation the News Leader did review in the records maintained by the Manatee County Clerk of Court said that Rosencrantz was arrested at 2:42 a.m. on Feb. 12 after law enforcement officers stopped him about 11 p.m. after observing that he was driving a Toyota on Manatee Avenue East with the left front headlight not working.
The citation noted that Rosencrantz reached near the center console of the vehicle while asking one of the officers what he had done wrong. “The driver continued to move around checking to see where officers were located while still moving his right arm,” as he appeared “to be grabbing [an] object near his center console,” the citation explained.
When one of the officers checked a law enforcement database for any criminal history regarding Rosencrantz, the citation continued, the officer learned that Rosencrantz, who was 16 at the time, “did not possess a valid driver’s license.”
Further, the citation pointed out, at that age, he was “not old enough to have a medical marijuana card or a firearm.”
A page appeared to be missing from the citation; thus, no further details were available.
On June 16, a document in the court docket shows that Rosencrantz pleaded “No Contest” to a lesser charge of Displaying a Cancelled, Revoked, Suspended or Fictitious License and was ordered to pay $268 in fines and fees.