By Times Staff Writer
Published September 21, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - A 14-year-old African-American boy accused of groping a white classmate at Gulf Middle School in March was given two years of probation after entering a no contest plea in Circuit Court last month.
The case attracted the attention of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who urged Assistant State Attorney Michael Halkitis to use care in dealing with a school disciplinary problem. "We expect to follow this case closely, as we do many others to satisfy our concerned members that due process and equal protection prevail," Jackson wrote in a letter. In addition to probation, the boy was ordered to have no contact with the girl or her family, write a letter of apology, pay court fees and get counseling. Adjudication was withheld, meaning the criminal record will be expunged when probation is completed.
Man tells deputies a friend punched and robbed him
HOLIDAY - A man said he was punched in the face and robbed of $1,500 in jewelry during an altercation with a friend early Sunday. Jerry Matthews, 23, of Palm Harbor told a Pasco sheriff's deputy that he was at Weston Oaks apartments on Alt. U.S. 19 about 2 a.m. when a friend, whom he identified only as Taz, "sucker punched" him, kicked him and ripped chains off his neck. The deputy, however, could not find Taz because he had no information other than his nickname.
Storm recovery worker beaten by angry crowd
DADE CITY - An Atlanta man helping clean up Pasco County after Frances said he was beaten by a crowd outside a bar in Dade City early Sunday.
Jakale Dison, 26, told the Pasco Sheriff's Office he ran into several cars with his pickup in front of Cooper's Place, a bar on Center Street in Carver Heights. It was 3 a.m., and Dison told deputies he had had several drinks, a sheriff's report said.
That's when a crowd - Dison couldn't say how many people - started hitting him with fists and unknown objects. It appeared to be retaliation for damage done to their cars.
An ambulance took the semiconscious Dison to Pasco Regional Medical Center. His injuries weren't severe. As of Monday, no one had been arrested. Onlookers in Carver Heights, among Pasco's poorest neighborhoods, wouldn't give deputies information on the assailants.
