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Man stops breathing, dies during fight

By JODIE TILLMAN
Published June 26, 2006

PORT RICHEY - A man died after a late Saturday night altercation with another man at a mobile home park off U.S. 19, police said Sunday.

James Graves stopped breathing during the physical altercation at a residence at 7525 Carpenter St. He was pronounced dead by paramedics.

The cause of death is pending a report from the medical examiner.

Port Richey police said Graves was fighting with David Poligo. Police have not charged Poligo in the incident.

Graves, 47, lived next door to the mobile home where the fight took place, said his mother, Maggie Gerhart-Tuohy, who lives in Reno, Nev., and had flown to Florida after police notified her of her son's death.

Graves' family members said Poligo lived at the mobile home where the incident occurred. The two men had know each other only a few months, they said. Police on Sunday would not disclose the home addresses of the two men.

A woman who identified herself as Poligo's wife said by phone Sunday that Poligo had no comment.

Graves, who worked for a local leather company, moved to the mobile home park in January. On Sunday, someone had erected a white wooden cross at the end of his driveway. "Jim Graves We will miss you," it said.

His longtime friend, Peggy Bumpass of Spring Hill, said police had revealed little to her or his family about his death. But she said she found it difficult to believe that he had been in a fight.

"He was a fun-loving guy," she said. "He'd give you the shirt off his back."

[Last modified June 26, 2006, 00:27:56]