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78-Year-Old Man Threatens Contractor With Machete

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By HALLE STOCKTON

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: February 25, 2009

Francisco Ortiz

MANATEE COUNTY - Authorities say a 78-year-old man charged at a contractor with a machete, threatening to chop him up and throw him in a pond because the man did not want fish removed from the neighborhood lakes.

Francisco Ortiz, of the 500 block of Country Lane, was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in the Tuesday afternoon attack.

Deputies say Ortiz reported the contractor to authorities around 3:30 p.m. when he noticed the man removing fish. Ortiz was notified by a deputy that the homeowners' association had hired a contractor to remove tilapia from the neighborhood's ponds.

Ortiz, 78, told deputies he had pushed the contractor out of his yard last week and intended to do it again, the report said.

Ortiz entered his home and retrieved a machete while a deputy questioned neighbors about Ortiz's demeanor, according to a report.

After the attack, Ortiz ran into the home and locked all the doors, but Ortiz's wife let the deputy into the residence to arrest Ortiz.

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