TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Fight Brings Year's First Arrest

ADVERTISEMENT

By KYLE MARTIN, Hernando Today

Published: January 4, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - A trailer park fight that sent two to jail is the likely winner of 2008's first arrest.

At two minutes past midnight, the sheriff's office got a call about a brawl at the Big Tree Mobile Home Park on Broad Street.

Deputy Timothy Mock was the first one to show up and was told by the victim, Eric Lanham, that Amanda Murray had stormed inside his home and started slapping him after dumping two cups of champagne on him.

Another person inside the trailer attempted to pull Murray off Lanham and the three started wrestling inside the home.

Lanham wound up with a bite on the arm from Murray and a trailer full of broken possessions, according to the deputy.

Both Lanham and the other person, a 16-year-old who was not named in a report, told the deputy they had been hanging out with Murray earlier, but they had no idea what prompted the alleged attack.

In the midst of the fracas, a friend of Murray's, Elvis Anderson, came to her rescue and began pushing Lanham, Mock reported.

The manager of the trailer park broke it up and separated everyone until the authorities arrived.

Anderson sustained a minor cut to his hand, Murray had a large bump on her forehead and a black eye, and the minor had some redness on her face, Mock said. Everyone refused medical treatment.

Both Anderson, 33, and Murray, 18, were charged with burglary of a structure, a felony.

Brooksville police clocked their first arrest four hours later, after a stolen vehicle report turned into a marijuana charge.
David Zacharias called police around 4:30 a.m. after waking up to find the car he was borrowing from his brother-in-law missing from the driveway.

After confirming that the car did belong to Zacharias' relative, Officer Darren Bridges began taking a sworn statement.

It was at that time that the car in question pulled into the trailer park on Ponce De Leon Boulevard where Zacharias lives.

Zacharias pointed it out to him, so Bridges went over to question the driver, Jerome Griffin. The first thing Bridges said he noticed was the odor of burnt marijuana coming from the car and later a plastic bag holding marijuana on the floorboard.

Griffin, 24, was charged with possession of marijuana, along with driving on a suspended license. But the suspect was adamant that Zacharias had given him permission to drive the car.

When the officer began questioning Zacharias about that, he changed his story and said he allowed Griffin to take the car, but he didn't want him driving to Tampa to buy drugs, according to a report.

Zacharias, 42, was then arrested and charged with filing a false police report.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT