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There for pal's bail, man returns to jail

A jailhouse visitor, fed up with the wait to bail out his friend, expresses his frustration by flinging liquid at a guard, deputies say.

By MOISES MENDOZA
Published July 20, 2006

LECANTO - He says he only wanted to bail his buddy out of the Citrus County jail. But Raymond Edward Skuta found himself locked up after a corrections officer accused him of splashing him with an "unknown type of liquid."

According to an arrest report, it happened like this:

Skuta, 58, went to the jail Tuesday to bail out a friend, Curtis Pratt, 24, who had been arrested on a charge of driving with a suspended license.

Skuta said he got frustrated by the wait, which lasted more than four hours.

Pratt and Skuta left the jail about 4 a.m. Pratt was getting into the passenger seat of Skuta's car; Skuta already was seated.

Skuta yelled an expletive at a guard and splashed the guard with the liquid, which was in a cup that Skuta held.

Later that night, sheriff's deputies tracked Skuta down and took him back to the jail - for booking.

He was arrested on a charge of battery on a law enforcement officer, and later released on $5,000 bail.

Reached by telephone at his home Wednesday afternoon, Skuta denied the charges.

He said he complained to the guard about the wait but didn't go any further.

"My daddy taught me better than to throw stuff at people," he said.

[Last modified July 19, 2006, 22:16:28]