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Police reports
By Times staff writer Man charged with raping 16-year-old girlA 43-year-old Hudson man was arrested Monday night after investigators said he raped a 16-year-old girl, according to a Pasco County sheriff's report. Deputies said that on two separate occasions William Joseph Maxwell Jr. of 10625 Houston Ave. No. 19 had the girl perform oral sex on him. On one of the occasions, about three weeks ago, he also had intercourse with the girl inside a 1987 Ford LTD parked in the woods in Shady Hills, deputies said. The girl told deputies that the acts were against her will but she didn't physically resist. Maxwell faces two counts of sexual battery, deputies said. A sheriff's spokesman declined to comment on the girl's relationship with Maxwell but said she was not kidnapped and taken in the car. Maxwell was being held without bail Tuesday night at the county jail in Land O'Lakes. Deputies seek suspect in knife attackLAND O'LAKES -- Pasco County sheriff's deputies are seeking the identity of the man who stabbed a 32-year-old Land O'Lakes man twice on Monday. The victim, whose identity is being withheld by the Times because of the nature of the crime, told deputies that he had spent the day at a friend's house for a Labor Day barbecue. He said that about 7:30 p.m. he walked to a nearby Hess station at 11224 Land O'Lakes Blvd. to pick up more beer. The victim told deputies that he walked past a man on his way to the store, then heard the man yell to him from behind. As the victim turned, the attacker swung a knife at him. The victim put his hands up in defense and was stabbed twice in the left hand with what appeared to be a pocket knife, according to reports. He ran back to his friend's house, where he was taken to University Community Hospital in Tampa for treatment and later released. The victim told deputies he had never seen the man who attacked him. He described the man as Hispanic, about 5 feet tall, 140 to 150 pounds, with a flat top haircut. Deputies are investigating. Security guard dragged at I-75 rest areaWESLEY CHAPEL -- Pasco sheriff's deputies are trying to locate the driver who dragged an Interstate 75 rest area security guard more than 150 feet during a scuffle early Monday morning. Charles Havlicek suffered only minor injuries in the incident, but they easily could have been more serious. Havlicek, 72, said he noticed an unoccupied 1980s model Plymouth Acclaim in the picnic area of the rest stop off the northbound lanes of I-75, near Wesley Chapel. Because the area has a history of people parking and trespassing in nearby cow pastures to pick mushrooms, Havlicek called deputies. Before they arrived, two men emerged from the woods, and one got in the car. Havlicek said he asked the man to wait on deputies and held his hand out, requesting the keys. He said the man grabbed his arm and drove away, dragging Havlicek about 150 feet before stopping and letting go. The other man then jumped in the car, and the pair fled north on I-75. Havlicek suffered scrapes to his left knee and right arm. He described the man who grabbed him as white, about 18 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 150 pounds, with short brown hair and wearing pants and a red T-shirt. He said the other man was white, a couple of inches taller, also wearing pants and a red T-shirt, with medium dark-colored hair. No arrests have been made in the case. Suspect name withheld for safety, police sayNEW PORT RICHEY -- Police explained on Tuesday that they had not released the name of the suspect in an Aug. 10 rape because they believed the suspect had specifically targeted his victim. And, police said, the suspect's name would have helped identify the victim. "If there's a potential of identifying the victim, I'm going to err on the side of protecting the victim," Capt. Darryl Garman said. He said he knew he would have to release the information if reporters asked but he was not required to release it otherwise. The Aug. 10 rape case came to light on Thursday when Damien Lee Knight, 37, was arrested on charges that he terrorized for 24 hours a woman he knew. Police said he broke into her home, drove her around and raped her repeatedly. "This girl was targeted by him for a reason," Garman said. Knight was captured Thursday in the crawl space above the garage of a home near New Port Richey. On the day of the arrest police Chief Aage Madsen and Garman were out of the office and could not explain the 18-day lapse in notifying the public of a suspected rapist.
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From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters Letters |
