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Family's Life-Support Choice Leads To Violence, Arrest

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By JOSH POLTILOVE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2007

TAMPA - Thomas L. Brackett was furious when he found out his 70-year-old mother decided his brother's ventilator should be unplugged. He snapped, shoving her to the ground and punching his other brother, who is physically disabled, Tampa police say.

Police arrested Brackett, 49, at his Tampa house at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday. He lives with his mother and brother.

His mother, Maryln Frederick, told police she had decided Tuesday that the ventilator should be removed from her son, who is in a hospital, an arrest report states. Thomas Brackett thought his brother was getting better, and he yelled at her and his other brother, saying they killed the man.

Reached outside the family's house Wednesday, Brackett's brother John said the family declined to comment but that the hospitalized brother, whose ventilator has been unplugged, is still alive.

Brackett's mother told police Tuesday she was in the kitchen when Thomas Brackett cursed at her, pushed her to the ground and pushed her a few more times, the report states.

When his brother, who uses a wheelchair, tried calling 911, Thomas Brackett "slapped the phone out of his hand and punched him in the face," a criminal arrest affidavit states. The punch with his closed right fist caused a minor cut to his brother's nose.

Then his mother tried calling 911, and Brackett took the phone from her, according to the affidavit. He threw the phone through the kitchen window and walked out of the house.

Brackett's mother wasn't hurt, and his brother refused medical attention.

An officer smelled alcohol on Brackett's breath and said the man had bloodshot eyes. While being transported to booking, Brackett told an officer he was stabbed in the stomach by his brother, according to an arrest report. The officer could see "a small scratch about the size of a pen and it did not appear to have been caused by a knife."

Brackett, of 8314 N. Edison Ave., was charged with battery of a person 65 or older, aggravated abuse of a disabled person and tampering with a witness.

He was in Orient Road Jail with no bail set.

Researcher Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691 or jpoltilove@tampatrib.com.

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