I missed out on the first and second parts of this story when they ran originally, but I got tipped off to part three by way of Peter Bonilla on the twitters.
So, part one: a few weeks ago, the police went to serve a warrant on the mayor of Port Richey, Florida. Dale Massad was charged with practicing medicine without a license.
The Florida Department Law Enforcement says the Port Richey Mayor was treating people at his home even though he lost his medical license in 1992.
…
In December of 2017, Massad removed a fish hook from a “patient” who returned to him in April of 2018 to get a shot of cortizone, according to the arrest affidavit obtained by ABC Action News. On August 24, 2018, another “patient” came to Massad for a “surgical procedure” to close a laceration on his left ankle. During that procedure, Massad administered a local anesthetic and gave the “patient” stitches.
Apparently, they sent a SWAT team to arrest the mayor for practicing medicine without a license. That seems a little excessive to me, but it leads us to part two of the story:
The mayor shot at the SWAT team, and has been charged with attempted murder.
But wait! The story gets even better!
So with the mayor in jail and facing attempted murder charges, someone has to fill in, right?
The acting Port Richey mayor is out of jail after being arrested by FDLE agents on obstruction charges Wednesday.
Agents received information that 64-year-old Terrence Rowe, the vice-mayor of Port Richey, was conspiring to interfere with an active criminal investigation.
And what active criminal investigation was he conspiring to interfere with? Go on, guess.
An arrest report says Massad contacted Rowe earlier this month on a recorded jail phone line. During the call, deputies say Massad told Rowe, “I believe (Officer) Howard was hired illegally, fired legally and re-hired illegally.”
According to the arrest report, Massad then added “I don’t know why but he is in on everything,” referring to his arrest.
Deputies say Rowe replied that he was “on it” and Massad told him, “anything you can do is good.” Rowe then said, “You know this doesn’t go down without somebody answering for it,” the arrest report says.
By the way, Massad (who is still in jail on the attempted murder charge) is also now charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and “use of a two-way communication device to facilitate the commission of a crime”.
Port Richey city councilman Richard Bloom tells News Channel 8 he is “shocked and confused” by the news of his colleague’s arrest, adding he “doesn’t understand all this.”
You’re not the only one, brother.
