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Teen in video beating case jailed again

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By HOWARD ALTMAN and JOSH POLTILOVE

haltman@tampatrib.com jpoltilove@tampatrib.com

Published: July 3, 2009

LAKELAND - One of the teens in a videotaped attack on another youngster is back in jail after driving on a neighbor's lawn during a dispute, authorities say.

Mercades Nichols, 18, was arrested Wednesday night after her probation officer filed a warrant, Polk County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Donna Woods said.

Nichols is serving probation on a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from the beating of the teen. She was being held Thursday without bail and has an arraignment set for 8:30 a.m. July 23.

Sheriff's records state that Nichols' neighbors on Calendar Court had asked her to stop harassing them by phone.

On June 14, after cursing at neighbor Heidi Dease, Nichols drove her grandmother's gold Toyota Camry onto Dease's lawn, heading toward Dease and her husband, David, who were feeding fish in a pond.

The Camry left tire marks on the grass.

Tuesday, the probation officer got word that charges were being filed.

The probation issue includes Nichols' failure to file paperwork on her community service, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger.

Nichols pleaded guilty in January in connection with the videotaped attack on Victoria Lindsay in March 2008 at the home of Nichols' grandmother. She was sentenced to three years of probation, 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay restitution to Lindsay.

In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped kidnapping and witness tampering charges, which carried maximum sentences of life in prison and five years in prison, respectively.

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