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Police: Man Who Started Melee With Homeless Is Charged

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 31, 2008

Boris Elroy Sampson

ST. PETERSBURG - Police have identified a man they say was beaten unconscious by homeless people Tuesday night after he attacked two of them as they waited for free food outside city hall.

Boris Elroy Sampson, 54, was charged in the attack on the two homeless people, said St. Petersburg Police Department spokesman George Kajtsa.

He was charged with battery for striking Richard Gibson Jr. and with aggravated battery for hitting Jessica Freeman, 26, with a sticklike object, Kajtsa said.

Sampson was still at Bayfront Medical Center today.

About 10 p.m. Tuesday, the homeless people were waiting to be fed by a church group when Sampson approached and began screaming at them, Kajtsa said.

First he punched Gibson, Kajtsa said. He then left and returned with a stick or branch, striking Freeman with it after she told him to leave, Kajtsa said. That's when the crowd closed in on Sampson and beat him until police arrived, Kajtsa said.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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