A SIGN THAT PORT RICHEY VOTERS ARE STUPID

Arrested again: Ousted Port Richey mayor, with acting mayor, accused of intimidating police officer

By Justin Trombly

Tampa Bay Times
March 14, 2019

PORT RICHEY — Former mayor Dale Massad conspired with acting Mayor Terrence Rowe to intimidate a city police officer involved in Massad's Feb. 21 arrest on attempted murder charges, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Massad and Rowe discussed the Port Richey police officer on March 3 about 10:50 p.m., using a recorded jail phone, FDLE agents said.

"I don't know why, but he is in on everything," Massad said of the officer, in reference to his arrest, according to FDLE.

"I'm on it," Rowe replied.

When Massad said that anything Rowe could do would be "good," according to FDLE, Rowe replied: "You know, this doesn't go down without somebody answering for it."

Two new charges were filed against Massad on Wednesday.

The first is for criminal attempt, solicitation or conspiracy. The second is for using a two-way communication device as part of a crime.

Those charges were filed the same day Rowe was arrested by the FDLE on charges of obstructing justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and using a two-way communication device as part of a crime.

An FDLE agent said Wednesday that Rowe had been "conspiring to inject himself into an active criminal investigation.”

The fresh charges and arrest come as Massad's legal team is slated to attend a court hearing Thursday for previous charges. He was arrested on Feb. 21 after authorities said he fired a handgun at a Pasco County Sheriff's Office SWAT team that showed up at his home in Port Richey.

Those deputies were there as part of an FDLE investigation into whether Massad was performing medical procedures on people without a license.

Massad is not expected to appear in court.

"This is incredible," City Councilwoman Jennie Sorrell said. "All I can say is, ‘wow.’"

The City Council will consult with the city's lawyer about what to do next, Sorrell said. Unless Rowe resigns, she said, he is still mayor. She said the city might consider changing its charter to address situations like this.

"This is uncharted territory for this little city," Sorrell said.

Massad's lawyers — Bjorn Brunvard and Denis M. deVlaming — plan to argue in court that the former mayor believed "someone posing as the police" was trying to break into his home on Hayward Lane, according to documents filed Tuesday.

Massad and a female guest were awoken by the deputies outside, the lawyers say, and because Massad had reported burglaries at his home in the past, he believed intruders were at the door.

He thought that he and the woman were in danger, lawyers say, so he armed himself. When he heard an explosion in his house, he fired two warning shots down the hallway, striking an elevator wall and an area in front of him, Massad's lawyers say.

The lawyers claim it would have been impossible for Massad to shoot toward the door as deputies claim, according to the document.

"No police officer was ever in danger," the attorneys wrote. They also argued that Massad didn't know who was at his door, so he couldn't have attempted to commit premeditated murder. They want Massad released from jail.

In a search warrant affidavit filed earlier in court, a detective said bullet holes at the scene show the handgun was aimed toward the front door.