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© St. Petersburg Times, published December 25, 2001
Man faces battery charge in stabbing
NEW PORT RICHEY -- A 23-year-old man was arrested after another man said he was stabbed in a Sunday morning fight in which witnesses implored "put the knife down," an arrest report said.
At 8:30 a.m., witnesses told Pasco County sheriff's deputies that two women and a man got out of a car and punched Paul Ungerecht several times in the head and the left side of his back. The fight ended, and the people involved walked away.
Later that morning, Ungerecht realized he had been stabbed in the left side of his back.
Officers found one of the two women and Scott John Smieleski, of 12475 Terra Ceia Ave., at a home on Myaka Street. There, the woman told deputies that she heard bystanders "yell for someone to "put the knife down.' " Then she said Smieleski had her put a knife in her dresser drawer.
Smieleski faces a charge of aggravated battery. Deputies took him to the Land O'Lakes jail. Deputies also found a warrant for Smieleski's arrest that accused him of violating his probation on a burglary charge. He was being held Monday in lieu of $20,000 bail.
PORT RICHEY -- A 19-year-old Spring Hill woman told Pasco County sheriff's deputies that a man claiming to be an off-duty law enforcement officer yelled at and insulted her Saturday night after she pulled out in front of him on U.S. 19.
The woman told deputies that she was turning onto U.S. 19 going north and pulled in front of a motorcycle she didn't see. The man on the motorcycle began flashing his lights and told her to pull over, the report said.
In a parking lot at State Road 52 and U.S. 19, the man flashed a badge and called her "stupid," "a slob" and an "idiotic driver," a report said. While the woman said she profusely apologized, the man snatched her keys and threw them in the trunk, closed the trunk and then left, saying that the police were coming.
When deputies arrived, the woman was extremely upset and doubted the man was a law enforcement officer.
Deputies took fingerprints from the trunk and are investigating.