February 22, 2019 22H:28 GMT/ZULU
The mayor of a Gulf Coast Florida city was lucky to be alive, albeit in jail, on Friday after firing two shots at sheriff’s deputies when they tried to execute a search warrant at his home, authorities said.
Dale Massad, Mayor of Port Richey, Florida, U.S., appears in a booking photo provided by the Pasco County Sheriff's Office February 22, 2019. Pasco County Sheriff's Office/Handout via REUTERS
After Port Richey Mayor Dale Massad refused to open the front door to his home during a pre-dawn raid on Thursday, SWAT team members forced it open and were met with gun fire, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said.
“He shot at our members, he’s lucky he’s not dead,” Nocco told reporters hours after the brief standoff in which no one was injured.
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Massad, 68, who authorities had a “strong suspicion” of being on drugs when he fired two rounds from a .40 caliber handgun, surrendered along with other occupants just as deputies were about to launch tear gas into the house, Nocco said.
“We did everything we could to make it a peaceful resolution,” Nocco said, praising deputies for their restraint after being shot at. “If someone’s firing at us, we have every means and every right to fire back at them.”
Nocco said Massad would likely be charged with attempted homicide, although the decision would rest with the office of Florida State Attorney General Ashley Moody. A spokeswoman for Moody’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
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A spokesman for Nocco’s office said Massad, who is being held in Pasco County jail, was scheduled to appear in court later on Friday. Authorities said they did not know if he has an attorney.
Sheriff’s deputies were serving the warrant as part of a state investigation of whether Massad had been practicing medicine without a license in his community of about 2,700 people some 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Tampa.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said its agents spent four months following up on information that Massad had treated patients for various conditions, including one that led to a hospital visit. Massad gave up his medical license in 1992 before it was revoked.
Massad, who appeared on the Port Richey ballot as “Dale ‘Doc’ Massad,” was elected in a special election in October 2015 with 182 votes, a 20-vote margin over his nearest competitor in a three-way race.
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Nocco said his deputies were prepared for the worst when they approached Massad’s house because he was known to use drugs and previously had been charged with domestic violence.
“The reputation was there that you’re not dealing with the most upstanding of elected officials,” he said.
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