PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Port Richey Mayor Dale Massad will stay in jail without bond. That’s what a judge ruled Friday, saying there was probable cause for the attempted murder charges and that Massad was a flight risk.
Massad’s defense attorney Marc Salton reacted to the ruling.
“I think we expected that. The judge is going to look at the four corners of the probable cause affidavit and he’s not going to look further than that. That’s what happens at advisory hearings,” Salton said.
But Salton took issue with the severity of the premeditated attempted murder charges.
“You fire a gun in an occupied house and that could be an offense but a significantly minor offense. As for attempted homicide, I think there are serious issues with those charges in this case,” Salton said, “If you look at what premeditation is, you have a form of intent to kill which we didn’t even get into the details about today.”
Salton also said the allegations didn’t match his client’s character. But one neighbor 10News spoke with says she suspected some of the allegations against Massad due to all the constant visitors he had.
On Thursday morning, Pasco County deputies and FDLE served a search warrant for Massad for allegedly practicing medicine without a license. Deputies say Massad fired two shots at them, so he was charged with five counts of premeditated homicide – one for each of the five deputies at his front door.
“I just want to thank God, his will came through and his angels were looking over us this morning and thankfully all of our deputies will go home to their families,” Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said.
Massad’s defense attorney says he expects Massad will hire another attorney to replace him, but he did not go into detail as to why.
On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order to formally suspend Massad -- effective immediately.
“Dale Glen Massad is clearly unfit to continue serving as Mayor for the City of Port Richey,” Governor DeSantis said. “It is in the best interest of the residents of the City of Port Richey and citizens of the state of Florida that Dale Glen Massad be immediately suspended from public office.”
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