PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Attorneys for the ex-mayor of Port Richey said the evidence shows their client never intended to hurt deputies when he shot at them.
Dale Massad was arrested for attempted murder after Pasco County deputies said he shot at them while they tried to arrest him on charges of practicing medicine without a license.
Massad is in jail without bond, but his attorneys opened his house to the media. Denis deVlaming and Bjorn Brunvand said they want Massad’s side to be public. They claim that their client and his friend, Peggy Pollard, thought an intruder was breaking into the house. The attorneys said Pollard’s call to 911 backs that up.
“They say that there's a bust going on here. I don't know what's going on. I'm scared,” Pollard told a dispatcher.
Denis deVlaming was detailed as he walked the media through Massad’s home. Starting at the front door he described how deputies broke through the door, threw in a flash-bang grenade and retreated. He said up several flights of stairs and in a closed-door bedroom, Massad and Pollard were asleep.
“He was woken from a sound sleep, the explosion went off, he fired the shots all in 38 seconds according to the police,” said deVlaming.
The attorneys showed how Massad opened the bedroom and fired a shot into the elevator shaft in the hallway then continued forward shooting into another wall parallel to the front door. They said deputies were outside and nowhere near the danger.
“They were never ever, ever at risk. A bullet would have had to take a right, hard right-hand turn to hit anybody that was down those stairs," said deVlaming.
They said Massad was firing warning shots. He wasn’t trying to hurt anyone.
“Firing shots up in the air or firing a warning shot or firing because you think someone is coming into your home, that’s not attempted murder. These were warning shots. His house had been burglarized twice and from the 911 tape you can tell that both of them didn’t know whether these were real cops or fake cops,” said deVlaming.
Pasco County prosecutors said the testimony and evidence will not support what these attorneys seem to be saying. They say there's footage from the body cameras worn by members of Pasco Co. SWAT on the morning of February 21. Pasco County deputies would not comment on the attorneys' claims. They told us there are about 14 hours of footage that they need to redact before they'll able to make it public.
Massad is charged with attempted murder in the second degree, practicing medicine without a license and criminal conspiracy. The conspiracy charge stems from a recorded jailhouse phone call in which prosecutors say Massad and the interim Port Richey mayor discussed targeting a Port Richey police officer involved in the initial investigation into Massad practicing medicine without a license.
Brunvand and deVlaming would only discuss the shooting.
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