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Deputies: Man Beaten While Camping

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By LISA A. DAVIS

ldavis@tampatrib.com

Published: December 6, 2008

CRYSTAL SPRINGS - A Zephyrhills man camping on a 60-acre piece of property owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District was seriously beaten early Thursday morning, deputies say.

The 38-year-old man heard someone outside his tent off Deems Road about 2 a.m. A man told the camper his name was "Joe" and the camper asked what he wanted, according to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report. The stranger said he "was making sure he was OK."

"You won't be all right if you come into my tent," the camper said before hearing Joe walk away.

The camper went outside and then saw two men walking toward him from a copper-colored, older four-door Chevrolet Caprice. As they got closer, he could tell one of the men was Joe, who was carrying a shotgun; the other man was carrying a tire iron, according to the report.

Joe hit the camper in the face several times with the butt to the shotgun while the camper tried to fight back. The other man hit him in the head with the tire iron, the report states. The camper grabbed the tire iron and hit the man a couple of times before the other man took it back.

Joe told the camper he was in a gang and that the members were "making him" beat him up.

"I hope they don't make me kill you," Joe told the camper.

Then Joe told the camper, according to the report, he was going to hit him one time in the back of the head with the tire iron and warned him not to move, "or they would make him come back and kill him," the report states.

"OK, Joe," the camper said, and he didn't move until he heard the car drive away.

One of the men had set his tent ablaze, according to the report, and the camper feared the men would come back and kill him. He then realized he was badly hurt and walked to the nearest home and asked for help.

When deputies arrived, the camper, whose name isn't being released, was not moving and covered in blood. His face and eyes were swollen, several teeth were missing and he had a large cut on his lip and several other cuts on his body. His left hand also appeared to be broken, according to the report.

The man was taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the report. A spokeswoman at the hospital on Friday said the man was not at the hospital, and he couldn't be reached for comment.

Detectives are investigating the incident.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.

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