Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - More Bucs = More Trouble!

By Nicholas Dorsten, Esq.

While this season has been an umitigated disaster for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, at least the players are still getting in trouble like champions! This follows a long line of Tampa Bay arrests that we have blogged about here before (see here, here, here, here and here...Also here, here and here (Did I mention the Bucs are getting arrested a lot)?

Postscript: As of this writing, the charges against this player looks like they will be dropped...

TAMPA — The victim of a severe beating said Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back LeGarrette Blount was "the leader" of the assault and directed the two men who attacked him, according to a Tampa police report.

The report said Blount refused to cooperate with the investigation of a possible felony battery, which took place in the parking garage of his apartment complex.

Blount, 25, was not charged in the Sept. 11 incident, nor was he accused of any direct violence.

Blount's attorney said his client "didn't do anything. There was an altercation, but it didn't involve LeGarrette. He wasn't ring-leading anything. But what LeGarrette does do is play in the NFL.

"When this guy found out who he was,'' the attorney continued, his (the victim's) attorney called the Bucs and asked for $95,000 in compensation and warned that if that was not forthcoming, the attorney would go public. The request was rejected.

According to the police report of the incident, the victim, 34, and his girlfriend, 29, both wearing Bucs shirts, drove a 2008 Toyota pickup into the Visconti at International Drive apartments not far from Raymond James Stadium about 6:30 p.m. They were returning from that days' Bucs game against the Detroit Lions.

Their pickup hit the mirror on a 2005 Ford Expedition, next to which Blount and two men were standing. The "victim" told police he did not want to stop next to the Expedition because his pickup would block traffic. He pulled around a corner, stopped and rolled down his window.

He said the Expedition came around the corner and cut him off. Three men got out and one of them "reached in and punched me several times on his eye, nose and jaw,'' according to the report. The man "realized a second male was on his hood and was jumping onto his windshield and ultimately shattering the glass."

The "victim" said the third man "was the leader and directed the actions of the other two.'' The girlfriend supported that version of events.

The man told police "the third male was very large." That man, who turned out to be the 6-foot, 247-pound Blount, never hit anyone or touched the victim's pickup, the report said.

The man told police he feared he had a broken nose. He "also stated that his jaw is misaligned and he believes his jaw bone is swollen or displaced because he cannot chew food.

When police contacted Blount, he made a statement about the crash but days later would "not discuss his involvement in the'' attack, according to the report.

The report said police did not pursue possible charges of "burglary for the purpose of committing battery, felony battery and felony criminal mischief'' at the man's request.

Blount perceived the man to be drunk that day. Police noted beer cans in the bed of his truck. In January 2008, the victim was arrested and accused of DUI. The charge was later reduced to reckless driving.

The man told police investigating the September incident that he went to the Bucs game with friends and was the designated driver, a detail that his girlfriend, supported.

The victim said in a statement released Tuesday night that he just wanted to recover his "medical expenses and damages." His attorney later denied that this was a "money grab," adding: "The facts … in the police report clearly reflect that our client was the victim of severe bodily injury and property damages."

Blount, who played college ball for the University of Oregon, gained unwanted national attention in 2009 after his team lost its season opening game to Boise State 19-8. TV cameras caught him sucker punching a Boise player. Oregon suspended Blount for most of that season.

Blount, despite the apparent battery, has no criminal record in either Oregon or Florida.

No NFL team picked Blount in the 2010 NFL draft. He signed as a free agent with the Tennessee Titans and got into a practice field fight with a teammate. Tampa Bay picked him up after he was released by the Titans. He was the Bucs' leading rusher last year.

Buccaneer communications director issued a statement that said: "LeGarrette Blount immediately informed the organization of this situation back in September. We have reviewed the incident report and spoken with the police. The Tampa Police Department confirmed that the case is closed."

Have you or a loved one been arrested for a battery or a DUI? Then contact the Clearwater criminal defense attorneys of Blake & Dorsten, P.A. for a free consultation!

For more information, or to speak directly with experienced Clearwater criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - Car Chase in St. Petersburg Equals Drugs

By Nicholas Dorsten, Esq.

Very similar to a past post we blogged about, a simple traffic stop in St. Petersburg became a violent chase with guns and drugs recovered...

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Police found 4 pounds of marijuana, prescription drugs, cash and a high-powered weapon after a traffic stop turned violent Monday night.

At about 9:45 p.m., St. Petersburg police covert street crimes officers began following a silver Kia. They saw the driver, suspect, 25, of St. Petersburg run a red light at 22nd Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. St. N, and proceeded to have a marked police unit pull the vehicle over a few blocks away.

The driver got out of the vehicle and began fighting with officers. The suspect turned out to have warrants in Hillsborough County on charges of home invasion robbery and other charges, he was armed with a handgun, police said.

An officer was treated for minor injuries because of the fight.

As the fugitive was struggling with officers, his passenger, a 22-year-old female, hopped from the passenger side to behind the wheel and sped away, striking a police cruiser.

Police were then given permission to pursue the Kia and followed the vehicle to 40th Avenue NE and Birch Street, where the pursuit ended without further incident.

Police found 4 pounds of marijuana, more than 100 Xanax pills, 66 oxycodone pills, nine hydrocodone pills, more than $5,000 in cash and a loaded, high-capacity weapon, police said.

The driver faces charges of battery on a law enforcement officer, carrying a concealed firearm, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, resisting arrest with violence and felon in possession of a firearm. He was being held without bail at the Pinellas County Jail.

The passenger now faces three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, possession of marijuana, carrying a concealed firearm, leaving the scene of an accident and aggravated fleeing and eluding. She was being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $90,250.

Have you or a loved one been arrested for a possession of marijuana or fleeing and eluding? Then contact the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys of Blake & Dorsten, P.A. for a free consultation!

For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - Chase and Shooting in St. Petersburg

By Nick Dorsten, Esq.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Two men wanted in a robbery and shooting last week were arrested quickly right after they led police on a high-speed chase.

Police say that the two men, 28, and , 24, tried to rob the victim, who was shot twice, police said. The victim was later listed in critical condition at Bayfront Medical Center.

Witnesses told police the robbers fled in a dark Nissan Altima and a car of that description was seen at 4:17 a.m., getting onto Interstate 275 in south St. Petersburg.

When officers tried to stop it, police said, the vehicle sped off, heading north on I-275, at speeds of up to 100 mph. As the Altima got off at 22 Avenue N, it crashed into a concrete median hard enough to disable it.

The two men inside got out and ran, (a fleeing and eluding).

A five-block perimeter was later set up as officers searched for the men, eventually closing the westbound lanes of 22nd Avenue N for about an hour, as reported byBay News 9.

The driver was arrested after a brief foot chase, but not before trying to punch the arresting officer (battery of a law enforcement).

The passenger slipped out of the area but was later tracked by a police dog and found hiding behind a fence in a yard. The police dog had bit the passenger in his lower left leg, it was reported.

Both men were in custody just before 5 a.m.

A 9 mm handgun was found on the driver's side floor of the Altima, police said.

The car is registered to a St. Petersburg woman whom police did not identify.

The two men denied any involvement in the robbery and shooting, police said.

The driver was charged with fleeing and eluding, being a felon in possession of a firearm, resisting a police officer with violence and marijuana possession.

The passenger, who already was wanted for failure to appear in court on an obstruction of justice charge, was charged with marijuana possession and resisting arrest without violence.

Records do show both men have a history of arrests in Pinellas County.

Have you or a loved one been arrested for a possession of marijuana or a child abuse? Then contact the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys of Blake & Dorsten, P.A. for a free consultation!

For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - Hit and Run and Hit

By Nicholas Dorsten, Esq.

In Pinellas, what started as a simple "Hit and Run" led to a chase and another wreck...

PINELLAS — A 33-year-old man from Palm Harbor was arrested early last week after a hit-and-run crash led to a chase that ended in a wreck on the Dunedin Causeway with no injuries.

The incident began about 6:45 a.m. when the suspect, driving a Hummer, struck a parked pickup off the side of Causeway Boulevard near the drawbridge, deputies said.

The victim, a foreman for Roland Inc., was doing paperwork at the time his vehicle was rear-ended. After the crash, deputies said, the suspect backed up and fled the scene.

Deputies then spotted the suspect shortly afterward as he traveled south on Alt. U.S. 19 near San Jose Boulevard in Dunedin. They tried to conduct a traffic stop, but he refused to stop, deputies said, instead fleeing and eluding.

Deputies tried at several points to try and use stop sticks to disable the Hummer, but the suspect was able to see them and drive around them. In one case, the suspect even saw a deputy deploying the stop sticks and drove off the road at the deputy, committing an aggravated assault!

The suspect then also tried to ram and force pursuing deputies off the road several times throughout the chase.

The chase eventually came back onto Causeway Boulevard, reaching speeds of more than 55 mph.

The reckless driver then crashed through the gate to Honeymoon Island State Park, which was closed at the time. But the park only has one entrance and deputies then deployed stop sticks there. Unable to go anywhere else, the desperate fugitive tried to drive back through the entrance and ran over the stop sticks, flattening his tires, deputies said.

He tried to keep driving, but was then rammed by a deputy's cruiser, forcing his Hummer off the road into a power pole.

Deputies forcibly pulled the suspect from the vehicle. He was wearing only a T-shirt and boxers. According to reports, deputies found several types of prescription drugs, including oxycodone and morphine and eight syringes.

The suspect eventually told deputies he was planning on fishing from the causeway when, for some reason, he went off the road and crashed. Oddly enough, deputies didn't find any fishing tackle.

The expert fisherman now faces charges of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding, leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage, and possession of hydrocodone, diazepam, methadone and morphine.

As of this writing, he was being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $160,250 bail.

Have you or someone you loved been arrested for a fleeing and eluding or 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.