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Hernando Today

Student Drop-Off Fracas Results In Arrest

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: September 19, 2008

SPRING HILL - Two arrests were made Thursday at the newly-opened Explorer K-8 school on Northcliffe Boulevard.

The day started with a vehicle abandoned in the student drop-off lanes. Deputy Deena Groves, school resource officer, was writing down the vehicle's tag information when the driver returned, "irate and belligerent," a report states.

The driver, identified as Harry Johnson, 54, of 3152 Maxwell Ave., turned on the car and, when Groves informed him she was performing the equivalent of a traffic stop, replied, "Yeah, right. Have a nice day," a report states.

Johnson began to drive off and finally stopped when Groves threatened to arrest him. The suspect "aggressively" got out of his car and yelled "You will not tell me what to do," at the deputy, a report states.

His behavior was alarming enough that Groves requested backup and asked the suspect to return to his car. She notes in her report that Johnson's actions disrupted school and "placed children in an unsafe situation."

Backup arrived and arrested Johnson on charges of assault on an officer, resisting arrest without violence and disrupting a school function. An assistant principal requested Johnson be removed from the property.

Also Thursday, a 13-year-old boy was arrested after two fellow students at Explorer K-8 complained he molested them.

The girls told the school resource officer that the suspect grabbed their buttocks several times and brushed their breasts on several occasions beginning in August.

The teen, who is charged as a juvenile with battery and two counts lewd and lascivious molestation, said he was just trying to tickle them.

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

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