ZEPHYRHILLS - Two men were charged after one led police on a chase and the other tried to run over a police officer.
Zephyrhills officers tried to pull over a black Trans Am that did not have a visible license tag Saturday night when the car took off, according to a report with the Zephyrhills police department.
The driver refused to stop and continued driving north on 20th Street, failing to yield to a stop sign at the intersection with County Road 54, and then turning east onto County Road 54, the report said. The car and officers reached speeds up to 80 mph.
The car stopped at Sundance Drive, and the driver got out and ran, the report said.
The passenger refused to obey officers' orders to put his hands on the dashboard and instead backed up the car, nearly hitting an officer before crashing into a patrol car.
The passenger, Richard Metcalf, 32, of Brandon, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, the report said.
The driver, Christopher Shive, 30, of 10th Street in Zephyrhills, was caught and charged with fleeing to elude, driving with a suspended driver's license, resisting arrest without violence and possession of marijuana, the report said.
Both were transported to the Land O'Lakes jail, where Metcalf remained in lieu of $2,500 bond and Shive remained in lieu of $12,013 bond.
Two men sought after trucks runs through yard
PORT RICHEY - The Sheriff's Office was searching Sunday for two men after a dark-colored pickup was driven into another man's yard and the driver tried to run him over.
The victim, 43-year-old Darrick Morlen of Grant Drive of Port Richey, told deputies that he woke up around 1 a.m. Sunday to the sound of the truck driving through his front yard, according to a report with the Sheriff's Office.
He named the two suspects in the truck as Joel and Brian, two 25-year-old men whom he doesn't know but who had been at his home visiting a roommate earlier in the evening before an argument broke out, the report said.
The truck ran through the yard twice, running over a $100 plant, when Morlen stepped out of the house, the report said. The truck came directly at him, swerving at the last minute as Morlen threw a cement bock through the front windshield.
The men fled south on Grant Drive toward Ranch Road.
Woman arrested in disturbance at Crab Shack
PORT RICHEY - A 41-year-old Hudson woman was charged with disorderly intoxication and battery on a law enforcement officer after police said she kicked an officer who was trying to arrest her for causing a disturbance at the Crab Shack.
Marion Berdon of Shadow Ridge Boulevard had refused to pay for her meal Saturday evening at the Port Richey store and later swore at a Port Richey police officer who was called to calm her down, according to a report with the police department.
After Berdon continued to yell obscenities at the staff and patrons, to the point where customers left, the officer threatened to arrest her, the report said.
While being placed in handcuffs, Berdon kicked the officer in the knee and thigh several times, the report said.
Berdon remained in the Land O'Lakes jail Sunday in lieu of $1,250 bond.
New Port Richey woman charged with DUI, battery
NEW PORT RICHEY - A 41-year-old woman was charged with DUI and battery on a law enforcement officer after police said she struck an officer while being arrested for drunk driving.
Donna Hellman of Missouri Avenue, New Port Richey, had backed out of a parking stall at a Main Street bar when she crashed into a parked car, a report with the New Port Richey Police Department said.
Responding officers, thinking she failed a roadside sobriety test, began to arrest her when she struck one of the officers on the arm, the report said. The other officer was inadvertently hit in the mouth, the report said.
Hellman suffered a bump to her head after officers threw her to the ground in an attempt to arrest her, the report said.
After she was cleared from a local hospital, police took her to the Land O'Lakes jail, where she remained Sunday in lieu of $5,500 bond.
Woman reported missing found dead in her home
PORT RICHEY - A 58-year-old woman was found dead in her home last week by city police, who say circumstances surrounding the death are suspicious.
A neighbor reported Joanne E. Jacks missing Oct. 26. Police who responded to the call apparently did not enter her mobile home at 7549 Carpenter Drive.
Police returned Thursday to discover Jacks dead inside her home. They have not determined the cause of death. There were no outward signs of violence or trauma, Lt. Bill Sager said Saturday, but he declined to comment further. The body was turned over to the medical examiner.
