Massage Worker Accused of Unwanted Sex Act

A Port Charlotte man went into a Charlotte County massage parlor, sorry, “spa,” and requested a massage from the ‘masseuse’ there, Ms. Dong. That’s really her name, though I won’t list her first name. He took off all his clothes and laid down on the table, where the worker started rubbing his shoulders. She asked him to flip over, and he did so, fully naked and without a covering towel. He says he was surprised when the massage worker grabbed his genitals. Shocked, I’m sure!

The alleged victim told deputies he paid $100, when massages were only listed for $70. He told the cops he called after she refused to give him his money back. That’s probably about the end of the truth in his story.

She told deputies that she was giving him a massage when he started asking for sexual favors. She says she refused, and he became angry, and gave him $50 back hoping he would leave so she went to the back room.

So, either the guy had NO IDEA that this strip mall ‘massage parlor’ was a haven for sexual favors -OR- he knew it was and asked her to do things she didn’t want to do. Which situation is more likely? Generally, when stories differ, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. The more plausible story is probably nearer the truth. However, the cop arrested her for Battery and for Unnatural and Lascivious Act, because the dude was the one who called the cops. Good luck proving that one.

Charlotte County Teacher Charged with Harboring a Runaway Minor in her Home

Charlotte County teacher Kelly Simpson, 31, has been charged with Interference with Custody of a Minor. Charlotte deputies allege that she picked up the minor from an unknown location, and knowing his missing/endangered status, concealed him inside her home. That’s all the details available right now. It’s important not to jump to conclusions of guilt, perhaps the minor had fled an unsafe circumstance (or convinced her as much), and she was acting in the child’s interest. She is innocent until proven guilty.

Body Cams are Coming to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Department

Crimcourts has long advocated for expanded use of body cams by law enforcement agencies. They have been added at some major departments in Southwest Florida with a great deal of success, including city police for Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Punta Gorda. The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office has been working on instituting body worn cameras for it’s deputies, and with funding in place, expects to have them in use by the end of the summer. We applaud this effort by Sheriff Prummell and his department.

Not only do body cams provide for accountability for law enforcement, they also provide protection when there is an officer wrongly accused, as we’ve covered before on crimcourts. They can provide more evidence in cases, especially DUI cases that are very subjective. And when officers do violate rights, that can help lead to accountability, as we saw this week in Minneapolis. Another case seems to demonstrate the live risk of an officer where a body cam shows that a suspect who was shot was armed. While undoubtedly a tragedy, body worn cameras will help accurately determine the facts to resolve the investigation. As I’ve said in this space many times before, the pros far outweigh the cons.

We are glad to see CCSO is joining the ranks of camera wearing agencies, and encourage other agencies to do so, as well.

Punta Gorda man Charged with Manslaughter in Accidental Drowning Death of Child

An arrest was made this week in the tragic death of a 1-year-old in Charlotte County in October. Deputies have charged Shahzad Sayed in relation to the drowning of his young child in the pool of their Deep Creek home on October 3, 2020. The primary charge Sayed is facing is Aggravated Manslaughter: the charge is aggravated because a child was the victim. The bigger hurdle for the state will be convincing a jury to convict the grieving father of manslaughter for a tragic, accidental drowning.

The Florida statute on manslaughter does permit a conviction for manslaughter by culpable negligence: it does not require an intentional act if the negligence of a caretaker is especially egregious. That is, someone can be found guilty of the crime by omission instead of an act; but the law saw the omission must evince a state of mind so wanton or reckless it could be considered intentional. Case law has said that the state must prove a gross and flagrant violation of the duty of care that causes injury; a course of conduct showing reckless disregard for human life or the entire want of care raising the presumption of indifference of consequences. A jury may find that the facts support such a finding, but it’s a high bar.

According to news reports, detectives claim that Mr. Sayed “knowingly” went to bed while his two small children were still up. The resultant injury to the child is per se evidence of negligence, but whether it rises to the level of culpable negligence is less clear. The child opened a door and went out to the pool area, where there were no safety devices. Certainly, pool gates are expected safety devices in homes where small children reside, but that omission alone is not enough to rise to the level of culpable negligence. Does the fact that the father fell asleep demonstrate a reckless indifference to life? It’s an issue on which reasonable minds could certainly disagree, and will likely be difficult to convince a jury beyond and to the exclusion of any reasonable doubt.

Mr. Sayed has also been charged with some drug related offenses, reportedly due to videos the detectives found that purportedly show drug transactions, and evidence of drugs in the common areas of the home. However, there’s no indication that there was any harm to the children due to the drugs, which means it’s a non-factor as to the manslaughter charge. Those charges may even be severed from the other for trial, so that the jury doesn’t consider them together. (Though, if they have evidence of his drug use the night of the accident, that may be admissible.) The legal aspects of the case are interesting, though the loss of a young child is obviously tragic. Regardless of what Mr. Sayed is convicted of, he will have to live with this the rest of his life.

CCSO had to Fish a Truck out of the Pond at the Jail

One of the officers working at the Charlotte County Jail spotted a pickup truck floating in the pond in front of the jail Tuesday night. He approached a man standing there watching it, but the man was uncooperative and walked awawy. Deputies were afraid that someone might have been in the truck, and jumped in the pond, but it had sunk too deep for them to reach. A dive team was called, the truck fished out, and fortunately there was nobody inside.

Tristin Murphy

Deputies located the man who walked away, Tristin Murphy. Murphy denied any knowledge of the truck, but was arrested for Littering of Over 500 Pounds of Hazardous Material. I think they will have a proof problem charging him with dumping just because he was watching it sink, unless they can find some more evidence to link him to the truck. (It’s unclear if the truck was his, maybe there was an envelope with his name on it.) And while the truck contains oil, gas, and other fluids… I’m not sure if it meets the statutory definition of ‘Hazardous Waste‘. While it looks bad, the dude has some defenses an attorney can work with. Either way, he is facing a felony littering charge, which could potentially impair his ability to serve in the army and get his fingerprints sent to Washington, provided Officer Obie took the 27 glossy colored photographs to convict him.

Finally, I couldn’t help but notice that CCSO describes the pond as a ‘catfish pond,’ which begs the question… how is the fishing? Do the inmates get to give it a whirl? Do they stock it. The pond outside the Lee County airport reportedly has excellent fishing, but you don’t have to take my word for it.

Woman who had a Gator in her Yoga Pants Sentenced

Ariel Marchan-Le Quire

A few weeks ago, we brought you the story of a Fort Myers woman who tried to hide an illegally taken alligator by stuffing it down her yoga pants. She also had several dozen turtles stuffed in a Ninja Turtles backpack. This week in Charlotte County Court, she entered a plea and was sentenced to 2 years of probation for several wildlife violations. She will also have to complete 200 community service hours and make a $500 donation to FWC’s Wildlife Alert fund. The money may be a challenge, as records indicate she is homeless. She missed her first court date and spent a little time in jail, probably because she couldn’t afford to bond out. Still, it’s important for wildlife protections to follow regulations on fishing or collecting wildlife.

Let this also serve as a reminder, as always, the ‘not my pants’ defense is not a strong claim.

The alligator, after pants-removal

Earlier coverage.

Charlotte County Man Arrested after Filming Cops, Harrassing Witnesses

Ian McGuire

Charlotte County Deputies served a warrant today on Ian McGuire, accusing him of three counts of Harassing a Witness, two counts of Obstruction of Justice, and Breach of the Peace. McGuire showed up at an investigation in April and started filming deputies who were searching a warrant. They’d have a hard time charging him with anything related to that, due to his First Amendment protections. However, he took it a step farther by stepping into the crime scene area, arguing with Deputies, and allegedly mocking witnesses that were speaking to deputies. He has a First Amendment right to film public interactions, but he may have crossed the line if his words or actions interfered with the deputies’ lawful investigations (they were responding to a report of an aggravated battery). McGuire posted a 19 minute video of the incident, online. McGuire has previously been in the news for his activism.

Yoga Pants are not an Efficient Way to Smuggle An Alligator

Is that a gator in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?

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A couple in Charlotte County were pulled over when they failed to come to a complete stop at a stop sign in the wee hours of the morning. The deputy gave them a warning for the sign and asked where they were coming from. They told him they’d been collecting frogs and snakes. The deputy then asked them if he could see what they caught, to make sure they were complying with the rules. The woman opened a backpack to reveal 42 small turtles; one softshell and the rest three-striped mud turtles. The deputy then asked her if she had anything else, and she pulled a foot long alligator out of her yoga pants!

The deputy called in FWC to take over the wildlife investigation. The driver and passenger were cited for possessing protected species and for a bag-limit violation and released. The animals were returned to the wild.

It might seem silly, but wildlife management is key to protecting the flora and fauna of our habitat. These guys don’t seem like pros, but there is a black market for some protected animals. Just a couple years ago, an alleged alligator poaching ring was busted up, recovering 10,000 gator eggs. Investigators created a fake alligator farm as part of the sting operation! One of those defendants has been sentenced to three years in prison for racketeering and other wildlife related offenses. Know the rules before you fish… or collect reptiles! (Some people call reptile and/or snake collecting “herping“… now you know.)

photos via CCSO

Yoga pants do not seem like the best place to stash a gator… or any wildlife, for that matter.

Punta Gorda Lawyer Suspended due to Incarceration

Steven Burch

Attorney Steven Burch, who had about 44 cases pending, primarily in Charlotte County, has been suspended indefinitely by the Florida Bar. Burch was indicted on federal drug trafficking charges in 2016, but continued to practice until recently. He was incarcerated after new charges were added, and his bond was revoked for violation of pretrial release conditions. Burch had arranged for a client to send the drugs, allegedly to then try to cooperate with law enforcement to get out of his own DUI charge. He had his client arrange to ship heroin, which he then disclosed to law enforcement. Unbeknownst to him, his client’s wife recorded the arrangement, and Burch ended up going down. He entered a plea to conspiracy to distribute, and faces up to 20 years in prison on that charge.

I’m going to tag this “reverse entrapment”, as it wasn’t law enforcement that set a guy up… it was his own attorney. And this will almost certainly, hopefully, be the only time I use that tag! Though, it is kind of similar to the Easter case from California…

Still Another Inmate Died at Charlotte Correctional Institute

Yet another inmate has died at Charlotte Correctional Institute. The News-Press reports this is the fifth inmate death this year, several of which are still apparently under investigation. That’s on top of three more last year, and several more in recent years. One of the earlier deaths was ruled a homicide at the hands of the guards, but no charges were brought. This raises yet more questions, still with few answers.

Reports indicate the latest death was a local man, Broderick Campbell, from Fort Myers. He was serving only a 3-year sentence for Burglary and Theft from a conviction last year in Lee County, and DOC records indicate he was a minimum security inmate. His sentencing Scoresheet did not indicate any criminal history other than this charge. He initially was placed on probation, but got violated and ultimately sent to prison where he had less than two years remaining until his release.

For more on the troublesome history, here’s the link to our CCI-tagged posts.