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© St. Petersburg Times, published January 4, 2003
Man beaten with bat during home invasion
MOON LAKE -- Pasco County sheriff's deputies responded Thursday night to a home invasion in Moon Lake.
According to a Sheriff's Office report, three men, all in their 20s, forced their way into a home at 10830 Barrett St. and beat 60-year-old James McDonald with a baseball bat.
When deputies arrived about 7:40 p.m., the report said, McDonald refused to cooperate, saying the men would kill him if he identified them. A lieutenant for Pasco Fire Rescue who was among the first on the scene told deputies that he saw McDonald inside the house hiding what appeared to be marijuana plants, according to the Sheriff's Office report. McDonald suffered bruises and cuts in the attack.
A Sheriff's Office helicopter responded to the initial call of a home invasion. It later crashed-landed on a street in River Ridge.
PORT RICHEY -- A New Port Richey man was beaten and robbed of jewelry as he walked along Forest Lake Drive early Thursday morning.
According to a Pasco sheriff's deputy report, Raymond Miller, 18, was jumped by two men in a blue Toyota about 1:45 a.m. The men pulled alongside Miller and asked him whether he "smoked weed." Miller told deputies that he attempted to walk away, but the two men jumped out of the car, hit him with a bottle and robbed him of a watch and a necklace.
A Napier man is in serious but stable condition after a motorcycle accident in New Port Richey on Thursday.
Justin Maurer, 18, was headed south on Sterling Lane about 5:30 p.m. when he lost control of his 2001 Suzuki motorcycle as he rounded a bend near Ridge Road. He was flown by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.
A family member at the hospital on Friday said Maurer, of 5331 Executive Drive, Napier, suffered a severe head injury. He was not wearing a helmet, according to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol.