Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - What NOT To Do

By Nicholas Dorsten, Esq.

A quick blurb about a man who celebrated his release from jail by picking up ANOTHER criminal charge in the parking lot...

A local man was taken to jail Sunday evening after a drunken disturbance at a neighbor's house. He was then released on his own recognizance just a few hours later.

Yet for the man, the night was still young.

He was arrested again after deputies say he tried to break into two cars — that happened to be in the visitor parking lot at the Land O'Lakes jail. He wasn't released this time.

Sheriff's deputies initially found the suspect, 48, crawling out from under the bushes at his neighbor's house in Jasmine Lakes about 6:30 p.m. His shorts were on backwards and low on his hips. A witness had complained he was urinating on the bushes.

According to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office arrest report, he was "extremely intoxicated" and admitted to drinking six beers and taking six Oxycodone pills. He was arrested for criminal mischief after a witness saw him bang on the neighbor's doors and shake a porch light until the glass panels fell out and broke. The witness also saw the suspect pull the light's electrical wires out of the wall.

Deputies said the man told them he was looking for cans of paint in the bushes, then changed his story and said he was trying to replace the porch light.

Fast forward to 10 p.m. when he was released from the Land O'Lakes jail and went to the visitor parking lot to wait for a ride.

A woman drove up and left her 2003 Acura in the lot. The suspect, she said, went up to the car and tried to open the door. She yelled at him to get away. He said he thought it was his car.

He tried again, this time with a 2002 Mitsubishi. A sheriff's lieutenant watched the second attempt and called detention deputies. This time he was arrested at 11:45 p.m. — less than two hours after he was released. He remained in jail Monday afternoon on two counts of attempted car theft, with bail set at $10,000.

After his second arrest, the suspect said he hoped a deputy was "not mad at him for attempting to get into the cars."

Have you or someone you loved been arrested for a theft or a criminal charge? Then contact the law offices of Blake & Dorsten, P.A. to speak with an experienced Pinellas criminal defense lawyer now!

Our office is located at 4707 140th ave. N, Suite 107, Clearwater, FL 33762, across from the criminal courthouse and minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg. You can contact your St. Petersburg criminal defense attorney by phone at 727.286.6141 or online at info@BlakeDorstenLaw.com.