Police reports

Carnival worker charged with shooting colleague

LAND O'LAKES -- An argument between two traveling carnival workers early Wednesday ended with one of them shooting the other, deputies say. Sheriff's deputies said Ray Jurgen Tchorz, 45, of 8141 Land O'Lakes Blvd., and a 37-year-old Hispanic man, whom deputies didn't name, started arguing about 1:15 a.m.

They said as the argument escalated, Tchorz grabbed a handgun and fired one shot near his head as a "warning." He then fired a second shot that hit the man in the left thigh, a report said.

The victim was flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, where he remained in fair condition.

Deputies said Tchorz fled, throwing the gun into a pond along the way. A police dog found him later.

Tchorz faces charges of aggravated battery.

He was taken to the county jail in Land O'Lakes, where he remained Thursday in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Deputies seek man who stole store's donation jar

DADE CITY -- Pasco County sheriff's deputies are looking for information about a man who stole a donation jar from the Circle K convenience store at 13749 21st St.

Store clerk Gaudalupe Hernandez told deputies the man came in the store just after 9 p.m. Wednesday and asked Hernandez for a pack of cigarettes.

When she turned to get them, the man grabbed a cerebral palsy donation jar that was on the counter and fled on a bicycle.

Hernandez described the suspect as a black man, 25 to 30 years old, 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. She said he was wearing a long-sleeved black and white shirt, black pants and a black hat.

No arrests had been made as of Thursday night.

Son robbed while trying to get mom's jewelry back

HUDSON -- Jimmy Golden Jr. said he just wanted to get his mother's jewelry back. Instead, he got beaten up and robbed.

Golden stole his mother's jewelry to buy crack cocaine, according to Pasco County sheriff's deputy reports. When she found out Wednesday, she sent him to buy it back from his drug dealer.

The reports say Golden gave deputies this account:

On Wednesday, he called his dealer, who agreed to give the jewelry back for $50. That night, Golden drove with his girlfriend and father to meet the dealer by the Kash n' Karry at Little Road and State Road 52.

When he got there, he got a call on his cellular phone from the dealer: They couldn't meet because Golden had too many people in the car.

Golden dropped off his girlfriend and father and returned.

About 11 p.m., when he got out of his car, someone hit him on the side of his face. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

When he awoke, he checked his pockets. His wallet and money were missing.

He reported the strong-armed robbery early Thursday morning to the Sheriff's Office. He was taken to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, where he was treated and released Thursday afternoon, a hospital spokesperson said.

Two teenage girls arrested after fight at high school

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Two 17-year-old female Mitchell High School students were arrested Wednesday morning after an argument in the school cafeteria, deputies said.

A deputy and a school official tried to break up a "verbal altercation" involving at least two girls about 11:25 a.m., arrest reports say.

One 17-year-old, who is not being named by the Times because of her age, had to be knocked to the ground to be restrained, and then she bit the deputy as he tried to restrain her, the reports say.

She faces charges of disruption of a school function and battery on a law enforcement officer.

The other 17-year-old, who also is not being named because of her age, would not back away from the argument and was found to have a key chain pocketknife, the reports say.

She faces charges of resisting an officer without violence and possession of a weapon on school property.

Hudson woman cleared in home arson case

NEW PORT RICHEY -- A Hudson woman who was accused of trying to set fire to a bedroom of her home has been cleared of wrongdoing in the incident.

Michele Jane Clark, 53, was arrested on a felony charge of arson on March 31. She was accused of lighting a piece of paper and trying to push it under the bedroom door of a man who lived in the house.

Prosecutors reduced the charge to criminal mischief, a misdemeanor. On July 31, the day of the trial, the State Attorney's Office announced it would not pursue the case.

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